4608/17267
As I walked the short distance between our flat and the gig tonight something extraordinary happened. I turned into the road where the Toomler venue is and in the distance saw an old time horse-drawn carriage coming towards me. Just like the ones that Dick Turpin used to hold up. And the people sitting on the top were wearing top hats and old time clothes. I had to look around me at the modern world to check that I hadn’t travelled through a worm hole into the past to emulate my hero Gary Sparrow. But all the modern stuff was still there too, so maybe this was a ghost carriage. There was another similar vehicle behind it so I wondered if this was some kind of funeral cortege. But there was no coffin carriage and the people dressed in old fashioned finery seemed pretty jolly as they got closer, so unless they hated the dead person and he was sitting inside the carriage then that seemed unlikely.
But this wasn’t just a couple of horse drawn carriages. They were followed by buggies and farm-carts and all manner of horse propelled vehicles, all driven by people in old time costumes with passengers similarly attired. There were dozens if not hundreds of the things. A few people waved from their seats,but most just enjoyed the ride, looking smugly superior and staying in character. I could see the carriages still coming round the corner as I descended into the club.
I liked the fact that I had no idea what was going on or what this procession was in aid of (possibly my birthday or maybe something to do with Orangemen who have coopted my day knowing that it will be popular because it’s associated with me- though no one was noticeably dressed in orange). In fact if you know please do not tell me as I prefer the notion that it was just a crazy coincidence and everyone in Amsterdam had thought it was a nice evening for a horse and carriage ride. I went into the club and didn’t mention the horses to anyone.
I am glad my family and I have managed this mini working holiday, though by today we were tired and didn’t really manage to get much done in the way of sight-seeing (but drank and ate more in the sunshine). It is possible to get away and do stuff, but obviously much harder than it used to be. But for all the tiredness and tetchiness that comes with that (mainly for the parents too - I am amazed by my daughter’s almost continual peppiness) it’s just terrific to sit in a cafe with my family. Just as it is nice of the Dutch to celebrate the end of my run at the Toomler with a 1000 horse drawn carriage trot-by.
