Alcoholic Architecture

As we all know, BuzzFeed is full of awesome stuff, useless information and dream locations to drink/eat/holiday. Nearly all of which you will never ever go to.

But last Saturday, on a whim, my sister, her boyfriend (kind of) and myself headed off to a new bar that I had seen in an article (see here).

The bar is called Alcoholic Architecture and BuzzFeed told me you could breath in alcohol instead of drinking it. I was sold.

After a little research, I found out it was in a basement right next to the site of an old Gothic monastery and thus all drinks were themed around monks. And you could drink out of real human skulls. Morbid? Yes. Was I excited? Hell yes.

Due to health reasons, you're only allowed in the bar for 50 minutes and so you have to book your slot. Late on Friday night when we decided to go, we looked online and the only time we could book was 12 - 1. Fine.

We booked it. 

The next day, after a number of sigh-worthy events, we eventually made it to the bar. We were 10 minutes late, which sucked, but the guy on the door was so lovely - and wearing a rather dashing white cape - rushed us right through.

We descended narrow, winding stairs in almost complete darkness. Organ music played.

At the bottom of the stairs is a room kind of like a school changing room with pegs for your belongings. Here, you have to put on a rather flattering plastic poncho to make sure you don't absorb too much alcohol through your skin and eyeballs. (Note: The ponchos aren't flattering. I lied). 

Once in the main bar, we ordered some drinks which were absolutely delicious and incredible strong. Alas, there were no human skulls left because people kept on stealing them - damn people - but it didn't matter. They played pretty damn good music in the main room, too. Old tunes that make you want to dance but unfortunately, there was nobody one the dance floor. They were all too busy breathing in the drinks! Plus, the fact it was midday might have had something to do with it but I can't say for sure.

So we headed over to 'The Cloud' which is the room where you can do the alcohol breathing. There's a window from the main bar where you can see the ghostly silhouettes of those inside The Cloud. It's very strange and made me wish I had more time stand and take photos of the weird sight but there was no time for that. We had drinks to be consumed and gin and tonic to breath.  I did manage to get some photos of my sister inside, though.

Inside The Cloud, the air was completely thick with alcohol vapour I mean, you couldn't see a foot in front of you. The air itself made me cough slightly at first but you soon get used to it. It's a very strange thing to be standing in a cloud box with a whole load of people you don't know and can't really see. There is no music in here, except the dampened thump of the music being played into the main room and some more of the ghoulish monk music being played as we came down the stairs. Later, this was swapped for thunder noises, the lights flashing on and off to recreate lightening. It was strange and I kind of loved it. 

Soon enough the barmaid came in and told us our time was up. We had to leave. Our hair was damp with alcohol and my make up smudged (of course. We were standing in liquid for quite a while But somehow I didn't see this coming). We threw our ponchos in the bin, gathered our bags and were ushered out the door. The guy on the door (the one with the cape, remember?) bid us farewell and a lovely day. 

A lovely day was, in fact, had. We wandered around Borough Market for a long time. If you're ever in the area, Borough Market is not to be missed. It's fabulous. 

I can't say the alcohol had much of an effect on me which is a shame. We stood in the cloud for way over the 15 minutes they advise but I still didn't even have that happy tipsy feeling that comes after a couple of glasses. But the fact everyone was cheery and happy definitely made it a fun place to be. And how often does one go to somewhere like that? Not very bloody often. 

I don't know if I would say you should definitely go to Alcoholic Architecture. The drinks are delicious and there is definitely a good atmosphere. The guys on the door are delightful and the building itself has a really interesting history.

Am I glad I went? 

Yes. Definitely. 

Would I go again? 

Probably not. 

In summary I would say if you're in the area, definitely pop in. It would probably be a great place to pop by when you're on your way out for the evening or really looking for something different to do. But should you go out of your way to go there? 

I don't know....

Alcoholic Architecture closes early 2016. 

M x