We wake up slowly and get some porridge and espresso into us. Mowgli and I are wearing kilts, and we're gonna go for a wander in the centre. Living away from home means we put our kilts when we're together. It's a lot of fun and puts you in a great mood, especially when you're just walking around the streets speaking to people.
We get on a tram in the Baarsjes, and everyone is staring. By the time we get off in Leidseplein, we are less self conscious about it. Amsterdam is a liberal city. This means two things. One is that people will holler at you even if they are not drunk, and the other is that people aren't really shocked by people who are dressed funny. This is how you can tell the Dutch/Locals from the tourists. Everyone takes a first glance, when they see two men in a kilt, but the tourists look back for a double take, and usually laugh and say hello. It feels great to be putting a smile on people's faces, adding a little joy to get them through the cold.
Apart from the casual wander, we are in town to put together some fancy dress costumes for the volleyball party tomorrow. The theme is "Cartoon Characters", so I'm going as the famous Scot Groundskeeper Willy:
And Mowgli is going as ...... well Mowgli(Hence the blog name):
I wanted to wear my kilt and I loved the simpsons, so I thought it was the perfect combination. Mowgli is a bit of an exhibitionist, so was attracted to the idea of turing up to club dressed in nothing more than orange Y-Fronts and a wig. After picking up some orange dye in a chemist, we head over to the Rosengracht to the party shop. This gives us a good walk along the Prinsengracht. It's an icey cold day. Suddenly the sweaty kilt of Bulgaria in august is a distant memory, and I'm glad of my scarf and wooly socks.
This is the first time Mowgli and I have been alone(except for a few drunken conversations last night), so it's a great walk to catch up on old times. Eventually, we arrive at the party shop on the Rozengracht. When we go in, the woman behind the counter seems pretty chuffed to have two kilted scots in the shop. It seems ironic that we are in looking for something to dress up in.
We start with the Mowgli wig. There are various black wigs but we settle on one called "The Sandra". It's a black bob, and Mowgli looks like transvestite, or no worse than some of the transvestites that I've seen in my time in Amsterdam. Next, we ask for body paint. Mowgli asks if there is a colour called "indian boy 5". She offers us a small water based colour tub. We tell her that it's for the whole body. She's laughing by now. She realises that we are full on nutters.
Next is Willy. We get a tub of yellow paint the same as "Indian boy 5". This one's probably called "springfield nuclear power yellow". We try for a red beard, but don't get too far. The girl suggests trying the Albert Kuijp market. We do however get some body glue for the beard. I want to make sure, that I'm not going to be covered with flecks of red fur all over my chin when I head off to conferences and meetings on wednesday. She sells us an alcohol based make up remover but tells us that we probably won't need it. Mowgli tells her it might come in useful for removing lipstick stains from his willy in the future. The woman now knows that we are her best customers of the day.
From here we need to go to the Albert Kuijp for red fur. We walk towards Dam Square to get a tram. Before I get on the tram, I need to get some strippenkart, so we head to Albert Heijn. As usual, the queue takes and ages and Mowgli(Like Nine Inch Nina), starts to talk to the people around him. It turns out the girl in the queue behind us is from The Gambia in West Africa, she is amazed that I've heard of her country, never mind been there when I was 16.
We head off to the tram, happy to have brightened yet another person's day.
The Albert Kuijp is a little more out of the centre, so as we arrive, we start to get more looks as we walk along the open market in our kilts. After trying a a few dressmaking shops, we find the livid red fur we are looking for. The shop assistant is quite impressed by the fact that we are dressing up as willy and Mowgli.
From here, we head off back towards the centre, where we are meeting the girls. We get a few dusk photos of Museumplein....
.......and make it Leidseplein in time to have a few beers before the volleyball players have to head off to Amstelveeen to drop off their bags before heading back to the centre for a friday night.
Sitting in a warm bar for a few beers in a bar leaves a few interesting designs on the stools:
I head back to the flat, shower and fill my belly with some of yesterdays leftovers before heading off to meet them on Leidseplein again. Also coming along for the ride is the girl I went to uni with who I was drinking with on Tuesday.
There's lots of options for the evening, but I decide that the best one to show my guests, is our usual haunt; The Gollem.
When we get there, The Kiwi and his dutch colleague are already sampling Belgium's finest. We settle down and make some introductions. Before long, Dagenham Dave comes along and we get started on the La Chouffes, Lucifers and Satans.
We have the usual great drunken fun. Mowgli is a good addition to our drinking crew.
The bar is so busy, that it's easier to go to the women's toilet than it is to go to the mens. We have long hair and skirts, so we're half way there anyway. At one point, Mowgli comes out of the toilet and there's a Dutch woman waiting to go in. I tell her that if there's pee on the seat, that it was Mowgli. She takes me seriously and grumpily demands that he come in and clean the seat.
After he follows her in. He sticks his kilted leg out of the door and shakes it, then his head, and shouts "I'm being violated". The Dutch woman is pretty pissed(Appropriate) off and protests her innocence. Mowgli just rants about how rough and wonderful Dutch women are.
Once our Bulgarian Beer connoisseur arrives, I get some russian prompts from the Space Cadet and her sister and shout them across the bar. I tell him he's a drunk!!!
He comes over and joins us, not before advising a few beers. Our drinking party is spreading across a few more tables, and we are gradually taking over the bar.
A few beers more and Marilyn the Argentinean Munro Bagger comes down to join the fun. She's a good addition to the table. Unlike the Dutch woman, she has a sense of humour, and is amused rather than annoyed when Mowgli continually refers to her as mexican.
He asks her where she's from; Buenos Aires. She asks if she knows where that is. He says Florida. It's a subsidiary of Disney(Buena Vista)
Eventually it's time to get the volleyball players to their game in Amstelveen. We have a hilarious drunken walk to the bus stop where I deposit them before heading off to the bar the kiwi girl works in where The Kiwi and Dagenham Dave are already drinking. Everyone is very impressed with the kilt, and I stay for a few beers before heading home after a long but wonderful day.
