I was browsing a website called Utsira.com keeping an eye on what jobs are on offer in Norway, when I found a story about a Norwegian ships officer who ran amok on a plane to Kuala Lumpur, a quick translation reads that a Norwegian ships officer (it doesn’t say it was an engineer or a deckie!) drank a whole bottle of 60% liquor, and proceeded thereafter to run amok on a KLM flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, he had to be controlled by the staff on the plane and handcuffed because of his aggressive behaviour towards the crew and passengers hours before the flight was due to land. On arrival he was arrested by armed police and put in the drunk tank, (in a Muslim country!) He will probably get a hefty fine and most likely lose his job.
Others who traveled in the same group as the man however said that it was not so serious and that it was more of a storm in a teacup.
It reminded me of an old ship mate, (using the term loosely) Pinko got so drunk on a plane home from Brazil (click on the link for the Brazil story) that he got undressed and started to urinate in the aisle, he was dressed again by the flight crew and he passed out completely unaware of his behaviour.
The image of the drunken sailor is really helped by these kind of incidents, I don’t know what could possess someone to drink a whole bottle of booze on a plane, or how it could be allowed to happen. Personal responsibility? I ask you.
I only found out after I had moved to Sweden that the state controls the sale of alcohol in “System Bolaget” stores, they are actually very well stocked have decent opening hours and a good selection so it is not all that bad and there are pubs and hotels and restaurants also where alcohol is served but absolutely no carry outs like back in Ireland where a 6-pack at closing time is very popular or was a few years ago anyway.
The System Bolaget is a very popular destination and is always thronged full of people on a Friday afternoon, getting the binge quantity of booze in for the weekend, you’d swear that it was New Years Eve every Friday, unless you have witnessed New Years Eve in the “Bolaget” then it’s like the end of the world. You never see an idle staff member in the Bolaget on a Friday and not many people have less than 3 or 4 bottles, it could be Swedish practicality that one person is buying for many, (and possibly many underage drinkers) unless the gangs of drunken youths are getting pissed on wine gums and low alcohol beer from the super market, they are more than likely getting stuff bought out for them. In the logical manner here they only drink at the weekend, really polluted drunk, then stay sober all week.
Then you have hooch, moonshine or what they call here “Hembrand” or distilled at home, leaves several people blind and dead every year so the technique is not what you would call reliable, but the very expensive spirit price drives production and casualties underground.
Last and by no means least you have private importation. The Swedish drive to Denmark and Germany to avail of the cheap booze there, they have much lower tax in Germany so it is popular to fill up the Volvo Estate with beer wine and spirits, and drive back to Sweden. The customs service is being reduced all the time so nowadays you don’t even have to worry too much about being over the limit, the only thing that you will be done for is overlaoding your vehicle, the cops will stop you if you have more weight in the car than it was designed for, to hell with the booze for a lifetime in the car, the back axle will crack before the customs will get involved. The big irony is that Swedish breweries export vast quantities of beer to Germany in big trucks, to be driven back into Sweden in a fleet of Volvos, so the citizens feel they are getting a good deal, the state feels that it is protecting the citizens from alcohol by controlling the sale and keeping the taxes high, even though the own the company that sells the spirits and they own the company that makes Absolut Vodka , and they have no way of controlling the quantity of booze being privately imported. They also recently lost a case to stop people from importing on the net. If they reduced the tax a bit it would mean that they would make more money from the increased sales volume, but then the anti-alcohol lobby would be bleating about increased consumption, the statistics show an increase as it is, if you counted all the black market alcohol, private imports etc. the stats would be horrible, better to keep the status quo. Never mind about all the waste of petrol and the effect on the environment with all the Volvos shunting back and forth to Germany.
So much for environmentally friendly and logical Sweden.
When you travel around the world on ships you tend to come across interesting cultures and you might end up in a bar or two to taste the available culture! I personally haven’t been to Syria but one of my pals introduced me to the above drink the other night and we had to try it out, it certainly puts a different spin on the 1001 nights. However alcohol is prohibited for believers of Islam according to the Koran, not that I know this for a fact but I have heard it thousands of times in the media, so it must be true? A quick check on the trustworthy sources on the net confirm what I have heard so it must be true! ( except for medicinal purposes apparently)
The above product made by the Syrian Arab Company for Grape Processing, has no less than 51.5% alcohol!
A type of Ouzo or Pastis which is mixed with water before consumption, fairly sweet and a strong taste of aniseed, the good people at Wikipedia have a definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arak_(distilled_beverage)
So it may be forbidden to drink the stuff but there is nothing wrong apparently with making it, and I suppose you have to taste it to make sure it is made well? On further examination the word Alcohol is actually derived from the Arabic “al-kuhl” I don’t think they invented it, but perfected the technique and there are plenty cultures that made the discovery independently, the Romans called it Aqua Vitae, and the Irish Uisce Beatha which means the same as the Latin and becomes Whiskey upon anglification…but that is another kettle of fish, or barrel of malt whichever you prefer! Cheers.
On Christmas day the Wilson Garston ran aground outside Helsingborg in Sweden. The stretch of water between Helsingborg and Helsingör on the Danish side is thick with ferries back and forth between Sweden and Denmark, a place where the traffic heading North and South has to be on full concentration for any eventual manouvres that may be required to give way for a ferry and vice versa.
The mate on the bridge of the Wilson Garston was asleep due to the effects of alcohol, so the ship was running out of control in one of the busiest waterways in the region. Several ships tried in vain to make contact with the ship but to no avail, in the end he ran aground. Fortunately there was not much damage to the ship or the environment, the sleeping watchkeeper got a rude awakening and was arrested suspected for being drunk in charge of a ship, the court case to be held in a week, while he dries off in remand.
The consequences could have been disastrous but this case will go largely unnoticed because of the lack of damage, some Christmas present for the shipping company and the drunken sailor who is cooling his jets in a Swedish prison for the holidays.
It also casts a smear on the trade and gives the general public the image of jolly jack tar the drunkard, sad really because it is not the case.
Report in English from The Local
Seen at the airport in Barcelona
Duty free allowance to UK 3200 per person……….to the rest of the EU 800?
So much for the healthy option! Cigarettes come in the 1000 pack variation. A whole suitcase just for the duty free!
3 litres of “Rare” J&B cost €41 in Tenerife the same sum of money would get you one litre in Sweden.
Or how about a special offer on the Johnny Red Label? with Coke branding for success
and why not get a few tins of corned beef to make a meal of it.
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