Conrad Hilton, I Salute You
This next picture is the ship Vasa which foundered on its maiden voyage in 1628. It was designed by a king who was not a trained ship builder and he commissioned a shipbuilder who had never built a ship with double gun decks before. The admiral who tested the ship's balance knew that there was a strong danger of the ship capsizing in even the weakest breeze but did not want to offend the king and let the ship sail anyway. It stayed afloat for roughly 20 minutes before capsizing. It took 2 years and the modern equivalent of about $50 million to build.
As was noted in Pulp Fiction, it's the little things that are different in Europe. Here you'll see that the common goose has different coloration. I can tell you they still crap just as much, however.
The hotel has a deal which would surely put it out of business as a bonspiel hotel. If you're a Hilton points member (and really, if you're just anyone because they don't check your ID) there's an "executive lounge" with hot and cold snacks, beer, wine and cocktails from 6pm to 11pm daily. Free.
That's right, I said free. The room has a big flat screen TV and overlooks the harbor. The alcohol is self serve and at last call they tell you to take a drink back to your room. The booze isn't junk either, a few kinds of Bacardi, a few kinds of vodka, cognac, Bailieys, the only thing that's a bit downscale is the whiskey which is JW red but that's fine mixed with sparkling Swedish spring water.
The free light beer is Carlsberg, the dark beer is Affligem. That's a Belgian abbey ale.
So we're off for a round before we look for dinner.
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