Saturday, October 23, 2004

absolut trouble.

last week, andrea and i, we had fun at ikea.
even more fun than usual, actually. it happened to be ikea's 30th birthday, so they were providing cheap champagne and abba music and lots of events and just an overall jolly atmo. the store happened to be packed, and andrea and i strolled through kitchens and living rooms and bedrooms, hung out on beds and sofas ogling people and getting drunk. later we shopped, quite seriously, too.
it was fabulous.

ikea is fab most of the time anyway. ikea on a busy saturday when you're not quite sober anymore is even fabber. looking back, it's a bummer we didn't have a camera on hand.

as in any ikea store, ours features the typical "sweden shop" behind the cash registers, where you can buy those ikea hot dogs (whose appeal i have never quite understood), crisp bread, that almond choc cake you can eat in their cafeteria, daim chocolate, gingerbread and jul beer around christmas time.
that shop where you can also get absolut vodka. in all it's nice packaging and mind-boggling varieties.

all we were looking for was a quick snack, i swear. some crisps or a veggie wrap and a soft drink. but as we were standing at the cash register, a little woozy from the champagne, we saw them.
cute little gift packs. of all five varieties of absolut vodka. right next to the cash register. doubtlessly put there to appeal to drunks like us.

of course both of us could not resist. they were so cute, those tiny bottles. also: we were curious. and don't tell me you've never stood in front of those nice bottles wondering what absolut vanilla or absolut mandarin tastes like.

so we gave in, and bought them, and they've been sitting in our respective fridges since then.
i've dubbed mine as "the absolut trouble army", because they are stnading guard in my fridge, all diligent and tidy looking, and i know i'll open them in a moment when i really shouldn't be having any more booze, in a moment when i'm in company that i should have stayed sober in in the first place.

last night, after i had come back from the gym, after showering and putting on my yoga pants and a t-shirt, andrea came upstairs, with a bottle of wine in tow.

the plan was to just have a quiet night, a glass or two of red and then head to our respective beds, with both of us having plans for the morning and all.
however, conversation was deep, the wine was nice, and the bottle soon empty. we continued on to the cabernet sauvignon merlot leftover from jim and my drinking during the final presidential debate. i had stored it well, it hadn't oxided much, and was still quite delicious. andrea got hungry, craving falafel from the yummy place three houses away.
we thought we'd go just as we were, in baggy clothes and house slippers and with our wine glasses. on our way downstairs, however, we saw that the door of dirk's old flat, where a cute sporty little med freshman called thomas now resides, open. concerned neighbours that we are, we knocked, but thomas was there, all was well, even though it wasn't that well, because he was at home on a friday night, reading the paper. not the rigth thing to do when you're a freshman, i'd say.
he invited us in so we could admire what he had done to the flat, could admire the climbing wall he had installed and the brandnew washing machine we will be allowed to use as well, and rather soon thomas was drinking beer to keep us company. he joined our expedition to the falafel place, his birkenstocks fitting right in with andrea's huge fuzzy slippers and my yoga clothes. i didn't expect lounge outfits and slippers to cause any kind of stir on a friday night in freiburg, but they did: how strange.
people must lead rather boring lives if furry slippers, wine glasses and leisurely outfits create such an stir at a falafel shop on a friday night. i guess few people take lounging seriously enough. he.

the falafel we shared was nice, conversation with the young impressible freshman fun, our respective wine glasses and thomas' beer soon empty. and so we progressed to schlappen, the bestest of freiburgs student bars. bailey's and beers were ordered, strange men approached us, people asked about that shoe thing, funny conversation was had, silly sms were send to people that shouldn't be getting drunk sms in the first place...it was lovely. a lot of fun. turns out thomas is quite cool for a freshman. we left at half past one.

and ended up in andrea's flat. laughing lots, acting teenage, lying around on andreas bed, listening to the soundtrack to "dirty dancing". and getting to know her "absolut trouble army". they were a rather interesting bunch of boys, expect for the vanilla one, which tasted chemical and horrid.
at about 3am, thomas announced he wouldn't be making the way across the hall to his flat anymore but stay in andreas bed instead, and by that time i decided it was time to make my way upstairs into my own bed. and so i did.

getting boozed up, yet again, and corrupting a freshman on his first friday night in town.
that's what i call a "quiet night".
well, mine was doubtlessly quieter than andrea's. i haven't seen her yet. or him for that matter. me: curious and amused.


not just absolut trouble.
absolut fun, too.
he.

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p.s. some flickr stuff:
pictures from frauenchiemsee to go with these tales.

something for kate, karlsruhe 2004