An Amsterdam moment
Sometimes things happen which really make me aware that this is quite a special place. I had been working last night in the Sláinte, which has incidentally changed owners without my knowing; the previous Chinese owners have handed over to a relative, with whom it should be a little easier to communicate; she speaks both English and Dutch, unlike her predecessor who knows only Chinese.
Having worked until 1am, I had a couple of beers and went to fetch my bike, which was leaning against the wall of “Dirty Dick’s”, a gay club on the other side of the Warmoesstraat. You can be quite easily fined €20 for not having a light on your bike, and since the government have recently announced a crackdown on this, I set about attaching my little plastic L.E.D. light to the front of my light. Before I could do so, it fell from my hands to the ground and broke apart into several pieces.
“‘Dat’s a broken light,” said one of two burly gentlemen standing next to me, stating the obvious. Ignoring this, I set about trying to and eventually succeeding in re-assembling the worthless shitty plastic lamp, while in my left ear I there came a slurping sound as the two guys started kissing. Me on my hands and knees looking for batteries in the dark, while oblivious to my presence a tender moment of man-on-man intimacy took place.
Bicycle repairs, leather-clad loving, and Chinese/Irish pubs. Nothing else like Amsterdam!
