Autumn Pub Crawl 2008

The Pub Crawl is back again by popular demand! This time I will have to write the review in English as we had non-spanish speakers participating.

The Crawlers were given a map with the location of each pub and the time we were departing from each pub. This was to make it easy for anybody that was going to join us once we were on the way. It also served to keep a tight schedule as the distance between pubs was longer than the previous Crawl. The area chosen was around Mayfair and Soho:

The Rule Book had to be extended in order to avoid any misunderstandings:

1. Minimum of 1 drink per venue. (shot/pint/bottle/cocktail/etc)
2. No spillages allowed!! Alcohol is highly taxed in this country so refrain from dropping your beverage to the floor or someone else’s shoes.
3. If you need to go for a toilette de-tour, try to not get caught by the police.
4. You may not, under any circumstances, use an empty beer glass because you can't be bothered to go to the toilet. Some poor sod might end up drinking that by mistake.
5. If you need to vomit, you may do so on the conditions that nobody else finds out.
6. We cannot be held responsible for loss of memory/possessions/limbs/virginity/life etc...
7. Those who may be of a sensitive or nervous disposition are not permitted to complain, vomit or cry.
8. Do not make fun of people more drunk than you, as they are quite at liberty to blame their violent response on the beer.
9. We cannot condone any blackmail activities that take place as a direct result of images being caught on film during the Pub Crawl.
10. Do not complain about who you end up sleeping with. You had plenty of time to see them while you were sober.
11. Absolutely no streaking!! (Unless permission has been granted)
12. Entry into the Pub Crawl is at your own risk.
13. Exit from the Pub Crawl is at your peril.
14. The reading of this constitutes acceptance of all rules noted above
15. All rules above are subject to spot modification.

So we were set to start on Friday 7th November 6.15 pm at the first pub. This time some of us were on time.

A) Hog in the Pound 6.15pm – 6.45pm
If you have been shopping near Oxford Circus you walk passed this pub many many times. For the Crawl it was chosen as its location was perfect as a starting point. It is only a 20 second walk from Bond Street Station!! The weather did not help; it was cold and dark outside, so we went straight inside the first pub. Sabri, Marcelo and I got in at the same time and to our surprise we had two early birds who received a Special Mention (M). Erin and Nick had been waiting for as and had almost already finished their first drink. These last two, however were on complete denial and declared themselves out of the Pub Crawl (which of course is against the rules). Therefore their claim was denied! Sometime after Iñaki showed up late and a few minutes after Gime followed. Gime did not have a drink in this pub as she blamed the barman for taking way too long to take her order. The truth is that she was very late! We had to leave in a rush as we were 10 minutes behind schedule already… Fantastic turnout to the first pub considering it was an after-office do. Good effort to everybody.

1. Erin (M,T) 2 Fosters
1. Nick (M) 2 Fosters
3. Sabri ½ Fosters
4. Nico 1 Fosters
5. Iñaki 1 Fosters
6. Marce 1 Fosters
7. Gime 0

B) The Iron Duke 6.50pm – 7.13pm
Definitely the more obscure pub of the Crawl: Not easy to find in the heart of Mayfair with a good atmosphere. It is quite a traditional pub with very nice decorations, worth visiting if you are around the area for a quick one. However we were unlucky as the bar lady was in a bit of a mood. Nick and Erin decided not to turn up to this pub, breaking the rules of the Crawl, however we would consider them as ‘missing in action’ because of their outstanding performance on the previous venue. Anyway the size of the group increased with Francesca and Michelle, both extremely late at this point, joining us. We also had the pleasure of an unexpected guest: Vale, who was working nearby and went for a cigarette break allegedly earning a Special Mention. This was later confirmed as she drank a zambuka shot. Sabri got a special mention as she kindly asked one of the patrons to take a group picture. Here Gime got the first Penalty (X) of the evening as she did not attended her drink at all times.

1. Nico 1 Carling
2. Sabri (M) ½ Carling
3. Vale (M) 1 Zambuca
4. Michelle 1 Carling
5. Iñaki 1 Guiness
6. Gime (X) 1 Carling
7. Marce 1 Kronemburg
8. Francesca 0

C) Pitcher and Piano 7.19pm – 7.51pm

We were behind schedule and Michelle almost tripped during the route to the next pub, which unfortunately costed her with a Penalty. This is really a chain bar located in a dead end street. It is very illuminated with a long bar and lots of after-work drinkers. Anyhow it was easy to get drinks and the group stationed themselves on one side of the bar. Francesca almost ordered water, however due to peer pressure she got herself a decent drink in the end. She managed not to finish last which gave her a Special Mention. Also Nick and Erin joined us again as they 'got lost on the way'. Sabri was not looking after her drink and Nico almost dropped it, while Michelle acted as umpire touching the floor checking if any liquids had been spilled. In this venue people started going to the toilette (T) trying to trick the rest of the group with white lies. It didnt work as everybody was ratting each other viciously.

1. Michelle 1 Fosters
2. Nico (T) 1 Fosters
3. Gime (T) 1 Fosters
4. Iñaki (T) 1 Fosters
5. Nick (T) 1 Fosters
6. Marce 1 Fosters
7. Erin (T) 1 Fosters
8. Francesca (M) 1 White wine
9. Sabri (T,X) 1 Fosters

D) O'neills 7.56pm – 9.03pm

There was no chance to recover to the planned schedule, we were extremely late. Even more in this well know 'Irish' pub in Carnaby Street we had the opportunity to get some food. Iñaki earned a special mention as he was very quick to get a table for the group which was very difficult in this busy pub. However he also earned a penalty for speaking Spanish while eating. This also applied to Michelle and Sabri, however the latter translated to the non-spanish speaker of the party. Marce managed to find free beer due to a misunderstanding at the bar getting a mention. Nico spent a long time trying to find his pen to take notes of what was happening to end up finding it on his shit front pocket, obviously getting a well deserved penalty. Gime and Iñaki shared the drink getting an unfortunate penalty for each and accounting for half a drink on the tally. Also, we were joined by three more people who had two whiskey shots each in order to catch up with the rest of the group. We achieved an all-time record of 12 people simultaneously in a crawl out of two!! Finally in this pub Nico lost the route map and all the notes, however he found it in the trash behind one of the bars, earning a special mention due to the heroics on the rescue mission.

1. Nico (M,X,T) 1 ½ Fosters
2. Michelle (X) 2 Fosters
3. Nick (T) 2 Fosters
4. Sabri (M,X,T) 1 Fosters
5. Marce (M,T) 2 Fosters
6. Erin 2 Fosters
7. Marcos 1 Grolsh, 2 Whisky
8. Gime (X,T) ½ Fosters
9. Iñaki (M,X,X,T) ½ Fosters
10. Memo 1 Forsters Shandy, 2 Whisky
10. Ricardo 1 Peroni, 2 Whisky
12. Francesca 0

E. John Snow 9.08pm – 9.37pm

A classic of classics, a pub that must never be missed on a crawl. Cheap quality beer, ideal for the unemployed crawlers to get that round of drinks out of the way. Located in the heart of Soho, John Snow, has great atmosphere attracting large crowds on Friday evening. Even though it was a bit cold, we had our drinks outside like true locals wearing our beer-coats, of course. Again Iñaki earned a penalty for giving away some of his beer to Gime. Also in the confusion Marce ordered two drinks at the same time, without being able to finish either of them, costing him a penalty. He had forgotten they sold his favourite wheat beer in this pub. Surprisingly Marcos got a mention for being, strangely, quiet during the stay in this pub! It was very crowded and the group scattered in the street between the civilians, which probed difficult to gather them around to leave in time for the next destination.

1. Michelle 1 Alpine
2. Gime (T,T) ½ Alpine
3. Ricardo 1 Alpine
4. Nico 1 Wheat
5. Sabri ½ Alpine
6. Marcos (M,T) 1 Alpine
7. Iñaki (X) 1 Wheat
8. Memo 1 Alpine
9. Francesca 1 Alpine
10. Marce (X,T) 1 Alpine, 1 Wheat



F. Vodka Revolution 9.43pm – 9.47pm

After much deliberation and with a unanimous vote, we decided to skip this bar. It is a great bar, however it was extremely busy and it would have been almost impossible to order drinks. Also, we wanted to avoid the presumptuous regular city-boys and head straight to the club. On the way, Marcos, very childishly nicked the map and all the notes Nico took during the course of the evening. Nico ran back, to be stopped 50 yards after a mini-sprint to fin d out it was all a prank.

Final Destination: Road House

The night continued as we danced until the club closed!

Many thanks to everybody for participating on the Autumn Crawl 2008.

In order to finish properly, some statistics below:

Michelle and Nico finished first in most number of pubs (2)
Marce finished last the most amount of times (2)
Iñaki had the most penalties (3)
Sabri had the most special mentions (2)
Michelle went the least times to the toilette (0)
Gime went the most times to the toilette (4)
Gime was the only one to go more than once to the toilette at the same venue (2)
Nobody went to the toilette at the Iron Duke
We drank 44 ½ pints, 6 Whiskies, 1 Zambuka and 1 Glass of White Wine in 5 pubs with a duration of 3 hours 32 minutes.
We walk approximately 1.57 km at an average of 859 metres between each pub.

THE END