Dutch Delights :-) (Groningen)

My wonderful Danish Gentlemen ;-)

I did make it to Holland (or to the Netherlands, as I have been instructed to call it) in the end, and have now spent two days savouring the delights of the Dutch way of doing things. I must say that it really is VERY different from the German way, and this reaches to most aspects of the everyday life, and naturally, to tango as well.

Getting to Groningen on Satuday involved a lengthy ride through the windy plains that began slightly before  the German border, and for all I know, will probably continue well into Belgium. I have no complaints about the flat terrain (I had my share of uphills and forests in Sweden!), although the pretty strong headwind on Saturday did it best to slow down my progress. However, the Dutch (I wonder if this is the correct term either?) have had the decency to plant windbreaks in the plains, and they were a great relief from the gusts that would otherwise have been even more of a hurdle.

I arrived here in early evening, and quickly discovered that all the hostels and B&B`s were fully booked due to the weekend. Thus, I was forced to doing something I tried to avoid; staying at a campsite and still going dancing. So far, I have thought this would be too complicated, as getting dressed up, leaving things in your tent while you are away etc. would all make it the less-than-optimal solution. However, having now tried it both in Bremen and here I can see that this has just been a prejudice as things turned out to go quite smoothly. Admittedly, the campsite being so close to the city helps!

At the campsite, I had the additional delight of the company of not only one or two, but THREE young gentlemen from Danemark. Seeing me cooking on my Trangia stove they invited me to join them, and after my initial hesitation I did go. They had driven down from Aarhus the same morning in one of their dad`s campervan, and were going to do a tour of western Europe in the following 3 weeks or so. In turn, I explained to them about my Tango tour, and we had a really nice time, chatting and laughing until I had to go for my milonga and they for their clubbing.

Posing with Avi, the host at El Ocho Mayo.

The night`s milonga was at El Ocho Mayo, a salsa/tango bar in the outskirts of the city centre. I got there pretty late and it was already quite dark, and was at first a bit startled to see all those ladies standing in windows in their underwear, as well as an obvious drug dealer/pimp if I ever saw one, right on the street where the milonga was. (I mean, I come from a country where buying sex has been criminalised, at least when it can be suspected to be connected to human trafficking). However, I was quickly put to ease by the way everybody else seemed to think it was the most normal thing on earth. After all, why shouldn`t there be live flesh for sale, if there is alcohol, drugs, food and other substances too?

The place itself was a truly lovely one-roomed bar, with an excellent floor, mirrors on one wall and tables all around. There weren`t a lot of people, but I did get to dance a lot. What stroke me as the most impressive thing, however, was the relaxed and easy-going manner these people dance. There seems to be a general sense of acceptance and playfulness, with very few strict rules or Do`s-and-don`ts. This obviously affects the dancing quite a lot, as people can freely experiment with different kinds of styles, and the music itself is of a very varied kind. There was lots of non-tango being played too, including some fado and chanson, and people seemed content to dance through it all. Myself, I was having a good night too, and really enjoyed the easy-going atmosphere.

Even before getting here, my experiences dancing with Dutchmen have been quite similar, and I must say I like this attitude in tango. Don`t get me wrong, I enjoyed dancing in Germany too, but this style does leave a lot more room for creativity. Interestingly, this same sense of easy-going, anything-goes attitude seems to stretch to other aspects of life too, as the people I see on the street are mostly smiling, laughing and joking, and generally there seems to be little tension or agression in the air. It is admittedly still too early to make any statements about the whole country, but based on this, I do feel very good here.

As the milonga was so good and there would be another one on Sunday, I decided to stay for one more day. This meant I could for once really sleep late, and then go for a leisurely breakfast with the Danes. They really were quite a hilarious bunch, and the more we talked and joked around, the more I liked them. My plan had been to go to town, sit in a street cafe and watch the world go by, but I ended up hanging around with them until they had to leave as they were headed for Asmsterdam the same night. I must confess that when they offered to take me and put the bike in the bicycle rack at the back of the camper van, I was tempted. As one of them pointed out, this could well be the best offer I would get on the whole trip...:-)

The afternoon milonga at Hotel Corps de Garde.

Fortunately, there was the milonga to think about. It started already at five, and was located in the basement of a lovely old hotel building. The floor was pretty crowded and the dancing not quite as relaxed as the night before (probably also because the milonga was organised by tango teachers Peter & Ina, which always tends to suppress the most extreme forms of creativity), but it was a very pleasant place too. Myself, I realised I was getting slightly tired, and was actually quite content to just sit and watch (indeed it was my seventh night of tango out of eight!). The music was lovely though, a lot more Di Sarli-kind of melodious, sentimental tunes, and less of the march-like Donato-kind music that I had heard so much in Germany. I also had an interesting chat with a German woman about how to think about it when on some nights one just does not get to dance, no matter what. She had a really good strategy about it, concentrating on the music instead of letting herself feel more and more annoyed by not getting invited (which is what I tend to do). Interesting, I will need to work on that!

Getting back to the campsite, I realised that I had made a stupid beginner`s mistake, something that at this point of my camping `career` I really should not be doing: I had pitched my tent in a small indentation, meaning that the past couple of hours`downpour had made a huge puddle, AND MY TENT WAS STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF IT! Must admit I cursed at myself, however was amazed that nothing was wet inside. This is where it pays off to have invested in proper gear!

Am now just about ready to ride out of Groningen (and not a minute too early, you might say, as it is past two in the afternoon!). The plan is to get to Leeuwarden today, not more than 60 km from here, and then slowly make my way to Amsterdam by the end of the week.