Free Beer & Sangria, Huh?
Guest post this week from Lucy. Can’t wait for summer now after reading all about her travel plans. š Free beer and sangria too with Stoke Travel…
So weāre already in a pretty hip and happening place. Shoreditch is no ordinary neighbourhood. Every night out is different and unique.
Last week, I found myself down the pub, imbibing my third pint on an empty stomach because I have dinner plans and they wonāt be ruined. Unfortunately, this means my tolerance is not at itās peak and already Iām feeling the effects of the gaseous golden liquid. Iāve stumbled across a shaggy blonde Australian and weāve tripped into a full-on debate. Heās a traveler, worldly, waxes lyrical about the beauty of Italian alcoves and the heated intensity and frivolity of a Barcelona night out. Iām firmly holding my ground on the Britain is better frontā¦or not so much Britain, but at least our little piece of it, our beloved Shoreditch.
āIāve never had a better night out than one in this very pub surrounded by my mates with good vibes and good music,ā a point well made I think to myself, despite my slight slur and spit at the end of the sentence.
āOkay, so take that experience, put you and your mates and your beer in a massive beer hall in Munich surrounded by Germans dressed up to the nines, boobs everywhere, beer everywhere, bands onstage kicking out the tunes. The atmosphere is electric. That is Oktoberfest. Itās your favourite thing times a thousand.ā
Damn.
āOkay, well where else in the world can you have loads of little bars and studios and rooms and pavements littered with local musicians and artists just doing what they love for all to enjoy?ā My voice is raising a little. Nowhere is where.
āSziget! Go to Sziget festival in Budapest and itās a week-long tribute to art in every form. Music, painting, dancing, the whole shebang. Any way you can think of to express yourself, youāll find it there.ā
Sziget.
āWell, look at the variety of food here. The best curry in the world. Thai food. Vietnamese. Italian. Greek. Why do you need to travel when you can have the worldās cuisine on your doorstep?ā I realise Iām starting to sound like a stubborn child, but itās the best I can do at this point. How does he so eloquently outmanoeuvre me when heās clearly pissed beyond his bracket?
āYeah alright mate, but look, do you have Basque pintxos like you get in San Sebastian? Can you spend your day in the surf in San Seb and then go into this little town centre and eat some of the best damn food youāll ever taste and wash it down with ciderā¦and thatās the places in between the Michelin-starred joints?ā
Alright fine! So thereās some benefits, but I certainly wonāt be joining one of these contrived tours where they take you from monument to monument and your trip is a series of photos that you have no connection with. And if I were to go alone, I wouldnāt know where to start.
Then he starts going on about Stoke Travel and their passport. At this stage his drunken ramblings and strong Aussie accent are too much to decipher and I have a butter chicken date, so I
politely excuse myself.
Next morning, nursing a hangover and ploughing through my leftover curry, I did look into it and it seems he was right. This company does a passport where you can choose from loads of trips that they do and theyāre all really flexible and allow you to choose your own adventure in a way. They make it easy for you, but donāt treat you like a child and herd you around like cattle. Plus they throw in a lot of free drinks, which pleases me.
So now Iām looking at a five festival pass called the Gypsy and Iām thinking of San Vino, Van Surfari Spain and Portugal,Ā Ā Sziget, La Tomatina and Oktoberfestā¦and Iām grudgingly excited I guess. If you want to check āem out, head here.Ā
Dictionary Hostel has scored you the goods. Book any Stoke Travel trip with the promo code DICTIONARY for freebies like unlimited beer and sangria.