The Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, once owned by fashion icon Louis Vuitton, has an ornate billiards room befitting its heritage.
I grew up with a pool table in our den and spent my twenty first summer playing pool every night down at the local bowling alley. Back in those days I was, at least in my mind, a clear challenger to Minnesota Fats’ world domination of the sport.
Despite the fact that I haven’t played more than a game or two as the decades have passed, I assumed those skills would rapidly return after I chalked up my cue stick and that I would still be able to sink every ball — bank shots, masse shots, you name it. I thought that you never forgot how to ride the bike.
Hah!
Jamie and I played one game that went on and on and on. Neither of us could put a ball in a pocket no matter how simple the shot. After an hour we had as many balls on the table as we started with.
She finally outlasted me and won the game. Or put us out of our misery. Take your choice.
For me, it’s now my inability to focus both on the cue ball and where I am aiming at the same time.
“Neither of us could put a ball in a pocket no matter how simple the shot.”
As everybody knows, the billiard balls spin in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere. Since Americans are used to the balls spinning the other way, we are clearly at a disadvantage in South America. (At least that’s the excuse I would use.)
Funny as ever, JP.