Your mom and I were ready for some rest after ten days spread thin all over London. She actually caught a bug and needed some real rest, so as she took a lazy day at the flat, I walked a short distance to nearby Chiswick (pronounced like "
chizzik") where one of the few English breweries I knew before coming here was founded and been brewing since 1816, Fuller's Brewery. I had tickets for a tour!
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| It was another beautiful day, so the walk along the Thames was really pleasant. |
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| The tour began here, at the Mawson Arms, named after the founder of Fuller's Brewery who actually built this pub and the homes above it, Thomas Mawson, back in 1715. |
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| Brewers were taking a quick break when I stopped in. I learned later they actually get drink tokens to spend here at the pub as part of their pay! |
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| The tour guide was a comic and did a great job keeping us entertained with history as we made our way through the blended classic and modern brewery. |
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| Fuller's distributes all their own stuff, and they've even taken on the job of distributing Sierra Nevada beers - from very close to our home in California - around London. |
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| The tour ended at this special tap room especially for tour guests, and they let me pour a sample for myself! I sort of misread the situation and when I went back for another one, the tour guide got a little worked up informing me that he'd have to take care of the rest. Woops. |
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| A staple American style from home sitting in the Chiswick brewery's gift shop was actually a nice reminder of how small the world really is and how connected my interests are to this culture here. |
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| After the tour, I knew I had some time to kill, so I meandered the path along the Thames and did some pub crawling. It was early in the afternoon so the five pubs along the way were just opening up. I had to make some choices! |
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| We learned of a play featuring a couple great English actors, Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy in "Skylight," that was running while we were in town. Since it was last minute, we were only able to get tickets standing in the back row! We went ahead and endured it to enjoy a great show, and even got to meet Carey Mulligan behind the theater after the show! More celebrity adventures! |
