I Thought Bowling was for us Poor College Kids...

You know, bowling, the fun game with the heavy balls that hurt when they run over your hand in the little machine when you're not paying attention. The game with the pins where you can chuck said heavy balls as hard and as angrily as you can down a lane to knock over as many of those pins as possible (or Freshmen living in your hallway, not that I ever did that). The game with the funny shoes for which they charge exorbitant rental prices so high that finally, after years of paying for them, you feel completely justified in stealing a pair of nice neon pink and yellow ones so you can have your very own (not that I ever did that, either). You know, bowling, the American sport of poor high school kids and college kids who just spent their federal loans on PBR.

So imagine my excitement to discover that they actually HAD a bowling alley in this crazy and oh-so-British city! Seriously! A few weeks back we stumbled upon it while meandering back from Ratho about 8 miles out along the old canal. So this week, we decided to see what it was like. And it was like a complete rip-off, without the satisfaction. I mean, who charges 11 pounds (approximately $22) per person for a mere TWO games of bowling??? And then you have the shoe rentals, and the inevitable refreshments and fried party foods. The bus fare home because it’s about 2 miles away and not only frigid, but raining. I mean, in the States, bowling is about $2.50 a game (at least where I come from), plus rental for the shoes which I don’t need to pay anymore because I have my very own pair of nice neon pink and yellows ones (ahem).

Maybe I should give the Scottish some credit. I mean, maybe they just discovered bowling? They’ve obviously just discovered the internet (excuse the dig, but you should really see the Edinburgh University website) and banking, so maybe bowling wasn’t that far off. But is it really $20-for-two-games new?

Needless to say, we did not go bowling. Luckily, this large, modern complex also had AMERICAN-style pool tables, so we headed directly to those and settled in for a few games. It was nice having the normal-sized and –weighted balls, though the pool cues were like sticks of cork. But you can’t have it all, I suppose. And THOSE games were only about $3 a game, so ha! It was a nice treat, but I suppose we’ll stick to the Oz Bar, which is close and cheaper by about $1.50, for European- (Australian?) style pool for regular games. And we’ll stick to the US for affordable bowling.