It was 1am. in the morning. On a normal weekday I would be making myself ready to go to bed, but this was no normal weekday. Walking across the Boulevard with 365 palm trees (one for every day of the year) I was wondering what would happen tonight. Last night was quite weird. People walking with pants on their head, free pizzas to get you lured into someone’s club and shady characters selling roses at apartment hallways… But we arrived at our destination. Our first club for the evening. Walking inside with our group it seemed like quite the classy place. We were greeted by a lovely lady, holding a tray full of first, free drinks. As the sour aftertaste of this weird substance drifted away, I started to look around the club. The DJ sat up high in his booth, with the LJ on the other side. After the first few House tracks, dancers came up on stage. Of course they were ladies. Some things never change.
After 20 minutes I started to notice a pattern: the same songs were repeated. And again. Once more Avicii, once more Pitbull. The mixes didn’t feel that live anymore. Somewhere I always hope to stumble upon a DJ who does try to be innovative and original. But at that moment someone walked in who saved the party. It was an Hispanic-looking man with a saxophone in front of him. As the DJ lowered his bass and master volume, the saxophonist started to play. First slowly, along the beat of the DJ’s music, then louder and louder. As I wondered if he played live, he gave the best possible solo a saxophonist could ever give. Judging by the sweat on his forehead, after playing such a magnificent solo on a simple Pitbull song, I knew he was.
Leak in the system
But it was time for us to move on. As I waved my hero goodbye, we walked on across the Boulevard with the 365 palm trees. I tried to count them, but my head was too weary to keep track. After 34 or 43 I stopped counting. Along the way I felt the need to empty my bladder, but I guess I wasn’t the only one. As I strayed from the group, three more guys followed me. After taking a good look I recognized them: they were my friends who stayed in the same apartment as me. What a coincidence. It seemed we were switching roles in the dark. As one person took a leak, another one was standing guard so no Policía would spot us. Pretty professional for the time of night.
As we all walked on, done with our mischievous deeds, we spotted a sign next to the house we stood a second ago. “Public toilets”. Well, that was stupid and unnecessary. After a good laugh, we arrived at our next destination: the Skihut. Being a bar with almost only Dutch music and Dutch people, one might wonder why you would go to Spain for such a thing. I didn’t care that much. As I took a sip of my first beverage (Well, the first one in the Skihut), I closed my eyes and listened to everything around me. It was a full-blown party, with everyone enjoying their selves. I felt good and…Wow, I guess it was my turn to sing in the microphone. “Kom pak je lasso maar! Zo vangen cowboys Indianen!”
You should probably put that into Google Translate, that should be fun.
Unforeseen surprises
After three more hours I guess it was time to head home. Heading outside, we got some flyers I used to wipe the sweat of my forehead. I didn’t even bother anymore to say anything to people on the streets trying to lure us into their club or pub. I was done for. But then I spotted someone along the street. It was a small dark-blond girl with cute cheeks. It was Dana, someone from a long forgotten past of mine. Nearing her presence, I felt I wouldn’t go to my apartment. Indeed we all weren’t. She was working for “Het Gat”, another Skihut-like pub with Dutch music and Dutch people. After a short talk of “long time no see”, we went with her to Het Gat.
On our way to Het Gat, I stayed quiet. Everyone else was talking. How wonderful the evening was, how we never would go home.. Two of my friends were showing interest in Dana by asking how work was in Salou. I just stared in front of me and stayed quiet for the entire walk. My mind was full of thoughts.
As we arrived, we all got in one by one. Just before I walked in the pub last, I got a pat on the back. I looked backwards and received a wink from a small dark-blond girl. My mind relaxed.
I guess the evening wasn’t over yet.
