They say every man has his poison right? Workaholics and aspiring scientists have their coffee, Brits and South Asians have their tea, Japanese have their sake, Germans and Czechs have their beer, Russians and Poles have their vodka and those down near the Mediterranean have their wine.

Yet for a few others, bohemians like Hemingway and van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire, absinthe (often stylistically referred to as la fèe verte or "The Green Fairy") has long served as both muse and poison (like literally in the case of van Gogh).

Made from three main ingredients, namely fennel, anise (which impart the licorice flavor) and wormwood (the active ingredient that supposedly causes the hallucinogenic effects), it's modern resurgence during the 1990's saw the rise in popularity of the spirit - most of which comes from the Czech republic where thujone (the chemical in wormwood) is legal and is not regulated. As such, no trip to the Czech republic will be complete without experiencing this wonder. 

Who am I to decline a rencontre with la fée verte?

Having been in Europe for more than 2 years now, my perspectives on which places to visit have evolved over time. I started with the disposition that I should travel mostly to places within Italy; there's more time to explore everything else, I'd say. And so I went on exploring cities within my reach (Rome and Naples at first, and small towns in their vicinity). Then, I progressed to nailing various regions within Italy (Tuscany, Lombardy and, eventually, Veneto... Sicily has perpetually eluded me) until seeing every flavor of Baroque, Gothic and Romanesque church had me saying that I probably had enough of Italy (I learned loads though - the North-South divide, facts on the Unification, regional differences and flavors). Time to move on to other places... France, Spain, Belgium (by chance)... easy since I could speak passable Italian (some French from back in my undergrad days, some Spanish from being Filipino)... But then they all started feeling and melding together and sort of being the same.

Anyway, bottom line is that after 2 years of being here, I found it strange that the eastern most city I've been to is... Naples, not only my home base but a city that is as inherently "western European" as any other city I've been to. I decided that this fact had to change.