Spent 4 days there and did all the touristy stuff of course. Then closed down a bar and became buddies with all the help. Gave life advise, tipped too much, got a kiss from our waiter, all that American stuff. It was the funniest night. Did the hedonistic stuff one night. Loved the people, architecture, canals, food, etc., I could live there—I don’t say that often.
You’re correct on many of these, but ‘ice’ certainly not. Why, oh why, does every hotel/motel (and maybe many public buildings?) need ice machines in abundance? What do you actually do with all that ice? Especially in winter?
That’s the one we are most correct about. I can’t tell you how many times we requested ice to receive a bowl with 4 to 6 pieces. We finally just gave up.
But what do you do with it? Do you really need it? Must be to numb the taste buds to mask the taste of whatever you’re drinking! We drink warm beer with flavour in the UK. No ice!
My drink of choice is Crown Royal Whiskey with water and ice. It’s impossible to drink without ice. We just drink everything cold except coffee of course. It’s just a cultural thing, when you drink everything with ice your entire life it’s really hard to do without.
I understand completely! I am Scottish, scotch whisky (malt) should never be drunk with ice as the true character is completely masked. Many Scots take a little water with their whisky.
I’m with the Americans on the matter of solid water. Bill Bryson describes the English as ‘dispensing ice as if it were on prescription’.
Obviously, you don’t want it in everything, but if you want a drink cold, you might as well do it properly. A glass of properly iced water on a warm or hot day is wonderful. A glass of water at room temperature with two piddlingly tiny bits of ice in is not.
[I might add that a reversed situation exists on the matter of hot water for making tea. IME, Americans are only just beginning to realise that trying to make tea with water that might once have been hot is an insult to Camellia Sinensis]
The fact that the British seem to deploy them in cooking as if they’re terrifying and dangerous substances, whereas Americans seem happy to use them with a rather more relaxed air. A number of dishes are therefore tastier and more interesting to eat as a result.
