We have been running these informal socials for a few years now and they have settled in to a nice routine.
The regular date, second Wednesday of each month, makes planning ahead easy and meeting at the Czech and Slovak House in West Hampstead means that regional food and drink is available.For me that always means starting with a pint or two of the draft Pilner Urquell and despite my best intentions to try something different I always end up going for the Smazeny Syr (fried cheese) with chips and tartar sauce.
While the food and drink are a constant, the people and the conversations are the unknown variables. This is a drop-in event so we do not ask people to let us know that they are coming which means that we get a healthy mix of regulars and newcomers. That is exactly what we were aiming for when we started the socials and it is one of the reasons that they work.
The atmosphere is convivial and friendly. There is no organiser, no leader and no agenda. We just chat about whatever we want to chat about. And that is just the sort of evening that I like which explains why I keep going to them.
A belated Happy New Year to you Matthew.
ReplyDeleteReading this post makes me realise I should try more local fare when I travel to Ejpovice/Pilsen for work (about once every 6 weeks or so) and I have an 'expert' on my blogroll! Smazeny Smr is going on the list - anything else to recommend (for someone who doesn't eat red meat incl pork)?