Journal Entry 1 by schwester from Wien Bezirk 03 - Landstraße, Wien Austria on Saturday, April 16, 2011

I bought this book for the I-buy-a-book-from-your-wishlist-RABCK for raluk68 in Romania.

I have never heard of this book before, but I thought it to be an interesting idea: the history of the world through 6 beverages.

Beer: They started brewing beer in the stone age! And it seems to have been quite important in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt... and I like the book from the start.

Wine: It´s not only about wine but the Greek and Roman empires and drinking alcohol in general. But a part I especially liked: "[...] Galen believed that illness was the result of an imbalance of the body´s four "humors": blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. [...] That it was utter nonsense only became clear in the nineteenth century." Hehe.

Spirits: Logical, but I would never had the idea: if you´d like to get drunk far away from civilisation, it´s easier to carry a reasonable amount of spirits than a really huge amount of wine or beer. That´s why the hip flask was invented (I suppose) - but that´s why spirits were invented as well, as I learned.

Coffee: Interesting, especially how women were banned from Coffeehouses, and how they developed into centers of politics and commerce.

Tea: I had no idea that the British fought the opium war on actually selling opium in exchange for tea!

Cola: The most interesting chapter, from the very beginnings as an obscure medication to globalization and the U.S. army.

A very interesting book I would never have heard of without Bookcrossing - thank you very much for the idea! I´ll send this copy on its way to Bucharest tomorrow (and I´ll buy a second copy for my boyfriend´s birthday, as he is enthusiastic about five of the six glasses). 

Journal Entry 2 by schwester at Wien Bezirk 03 - Landstraße, Wien Austria on Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Released 1 yr ago (4/20/2011 UTC) at Wien Bezirk 03 - Landstraße, Wien Austria

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

will travel by "economy" mail to Romania (let´s see how long this takes the Österreichische Post) 

Journal Entry 3 by raluk68 at București, Wallachia Romania on Friday, April 29, 2011

Thank you very much for your generosity!
I feel lucky to have won it ;) 

Journal Entry 4 by raluk68 at București, Wallachia Romania on Sunday, July 31, 2011

This was pure history of the humankind! :) Very well documented and written.
My favorite part was the chapter about the coffee houses. Is it because I like coffee?

Thank you schwester for the generosity!
 

Journal Entry 5 by raluk68 at The Harbour of Constanţa in Constanta, Dobrogea Romania on Sunday, July 31, 2011

Released 10 mos ago (7/31/2011 UTC) at The Harbour of Constanţa in Constanta, Dobrogea Romania

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

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