Me : “Hey Alex”.
Alex : “Minnesota, what’s up”?
Me : “A friend needs a bit of work done on her bike, can I take my tools after work to a bar so I can fix her bike”?
Alex : “A bar?….what’s that”?
Me : “Yeah, I vaguely remember them, I think they were social meeting places where alcohol was served”.
Alex : “Interesting concept”.
Me : “I agree”.
Alex : “I don’t know if bike repair and beer go together (smirkingly said) but you can take the tools, no problem”.
Me : “Cool, and so you know, I believe the bar had a drain the taps night on the 14th so the kegs should be empty”.
Alex : “Bummer”.
Me and Alex : laughter
Thus the stage is set. After work I cycle into town and meet my friend at the bar. The bike itself is in really good shape. An old racing bike that’s ideal for ripping around town but lightweight enough that you can easily carry it inside and up the stairs. It’s too nice a bike to leave outside in the bike theft capital of the world that Amsterdam is.
I tweak the spokes and tighten the brakes a bit but there’s really not much to do repair wise.
What there is to do is be amazed by being inside a bar for the first time in more than three months. The kegs are empty, the liquor is in storage but the coffee machine works and I brought my flask with me so an Irish coffee without the cream is heartily enjoyed as I take in the scene and we just shoot the breeze.
I take off a little before seven and cycle down the canal belt to see if anyone is at the office for Those Dam Boat Guys. I only have a couple of hours because the nationwide curfew which has been active for a few weeks begins at nine in the evening.
This has led to much earlier days on the weekends. With absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go the nights are much shorter and the days begin even earlier. This results in a great desire to stay out as long as possible and do as much as you can before calling it a day.
It’s a little after seven in the evening when I pull up on the bridge outside the office for TDBG and take in the scene.
The bar that is on the ground floor directly under the office has remained open during the lockdown for takeaway drinks only. It being a local bar and not reliant on tourists or visitors coming into town for a day means it has a loyal clientele who stop by for a drink to go fairly regularly.
It also means that the bridge is full of people enjoying their drink without too much care for social distancing. People are spread out in their groups but there’s a lot of interaction between them.
Amidst this scene I spot Neil with a beer having a chat with someone.
I locked my bike and sauntered over to say hi. Within a few seconds I’m handed a beer by Neil’s friend. He’s got a twelve pack of bottles and the two of them are having a beer and a chat.
I join in and the three of us drink our beers and chat about the insanity of….well, you know. Life’s really insane during the winter of 2020–21 in Amsterdam.
After a while we’re checking the time, have to get home before curfew. Fortunately the clock tower on the Westerkerk is clearly visible down the canal.
I’ve got a forty or so minute bike ride home so staying around much past eight is really not an option for me.
Nor is it for Neil’s friend. He has to get home as well so a little before eight he says his goodbyes, gets on his bike with his beers and cycles off through the slowly dispersing crowd.
Me, “Who was that”?
Neil, “I have no clue”.
All kinds of crazy going on.
I should write a book.
