the trouble with gluhwein

so on wednesday night i went out with the intention of getting drunk on gluhwein. this was all good in intention. i went to the christmas market with alexis and spanish carmello to meet a few of their friends and have some drinks. now, as an australian i have that cultural breeding that includes the joy and love of getting quite smashed and merry - something that i have found out is not a world-wide cultural thing, but merely something that only a select few countries are quite fond of. us, new zealanders, the brittish, irish and scandanavian (or northern european). this was fine, i am australian, i like to drink and when i do i like to get absolutely blind. not because i need alcohol to have a good time, or because i am a shy person who uses it as a way to make friends, or any of the myriad of reasons that people use it for, alcoholic or not. quite simply put, i think it's fun. i have been known to on occasions get so drunk that i have forgotten parts of the evening, done things i would normally never have done, etc. the list is pretty long and highly amusing, as i'm sure every one's list is that comes from the land down under. i am by no means an alcoholic, i may have binge drinked occasionally, but who hasn't. apart from this i am no where near the worst drinker in my group of friends or the larger circle. i usually prefer scotch or beer, and sometimes a nice red wine. although i have never been drunk on gluhwein before and after my experience on thursday morning i never will again.

gluhwein, for those that don't know, is a seasonal beverage that is made here in germany and available at the christmas market. it comes steaming hot in a mug and smells like cinnamon and apples (which handily you pay for once and then when you're done you take the mug back for a refund, or you just keep it. i would like to start making a collection of these mugs to bring back home, even though they do look quite gay and christmassy. they have an ad for the christmas market on the front and the handle is a little heart. gay!). it is perfect for drinking outside in the cold german streets. although it is quite funny to see all these uptight and tough looking and sounding germans drinking from these little gay mugs. because it's heated up, the wine itself isn't that alcoholic. to help it in that regard, the hotness of it lets your body soak up the alcohol quicker, but the real trick is depending on which stall you go to, they add vodka or rum to it. quite the little kicker.

now i had a few (by few read 8) of these little beverages in my couple of hours of standing around and chatting to people i don't know. as the old saying goes, 'if you can't talk, you might as well drink up.' and drink up i did. so much so, that i can remember wishing i was here with one of four people, cousin cass, kiwi ben, ballarat katrina or irish pete. these are the people i rather enjoy getting extremely drunk with and i think they would have been brilliant company for this particular outing. plus it would have given me someone to get blind with apart from german oliver, who i quite liked and thought was fun. i was told later on that everyone thinks he's an alcoholic because he likes to get really drunk when he goes out. let none of these people ever come to australia i thought when i was told this. we're a nation of big drinkers and these people would think we all belong in some form of anonymous group for dependants. but i digress, i had a wonderful time getting blind-drunk for the first time since i came to heidelberg. (remember i had gotten absolutely smashed in frankfurt two nights in a row and that was over a month ago! such a long time between drinks. *sigh* so unaustralian.) i wasn't too worried about getting to drunk and being a mess. i've figured out how to say and direct myself home, and as i am generally a happy and cheeky drunk i have no qualms about being blind. i think i've been in two fights while i've been drunk and i haven't started either of them. i sure did finish one of them though. hehehe...

my only regret about this night is the way i felt the next day. gluhwein leaves its mark, just like vodka does. the headaches, the dizziness, the all over craptacular feeling of nausea. dear god it was like i was a teenager again and had just discovered how much fun alcohol could be. that gluhwein is not to be messed with - you can't win that fight. i made a vow with myself that i was going to stick to beer or scotch form now on, and if gluhwein was going to be drunk, i would have one or two and then politely decline anymore. but we'll see how that fares. i've never been too good at saying no to anything. just ask irish pete or melbourne cecilia about nights out. my only problem is that i bought a bottle of gluhwein the other day, but i'm pretty sure i wont be drinking that in a hurry and it should be safe for the return trip back to australia.