Previously: 40 Years in Beer, Part Fourteen: Pilsner Urquell pilgrimage, locked gates, and a taxi driver’s day off.
Back home again in Indiana, the year 1987 came to a rollicking close with a wonderful visit from friends, which in itself wouldn’t have been particularly newsworthy if not for the fact that they traveled to New Albany all the way from Copenhagen, Denmark.
It was a unique experience for all of us, including the somnolent city.
During the summer’s European adventures, Barrie Ottersbach forged an early acquaintance with Kim W., our USSR group leader, while aboard the Aeroflot flight from Copenhagen to Moscow to begin the tour.
I joined them in the heart of the evil empire via a 36-hour rail journey from Budapest. A few days later in Leningrad, Kim introduced us to Allan G., and we bonded by the side of an urban canal, with mosquitos the size of starlings illuminated by the white nights, and a bottle of Russian vodka passed from hand to hand.
