Leidse Ontzet

I can't remember the last time I last so much and so hard. So much and hard that my head and jaw hurt.

Three days of ongoing celebrations related to the 'Relief of Leiden' (Leidse ontzet) kicked off last night. Some 433 years ago the Spaniards besieged the rebellious town of Leiden for a complete year. Citizens fought hunger, the Catholics and the mercernaries of the Spanish crown and defended their city and their religion and right to freedom of life. On 3 October 1574, Calvinist partisians fended off the Spanish army and liberated the city. Their first act was to donate to each person in Leiden half a loaf of white bread and a herring. To this day this tradition is repeated, and the two days leading up to the 3rd of October is celebrated all over town with a funfair, parades and festivals. The liberation of a city is a worth every moment of joy.

I arrived late at a friend's place where a bunch of us had agreed to meet. It poured and poured outside, and by the time I arrived my clothes and shoes were drenched. I needed something to keep warm. Bottles of vodka and other hard liquor as well as orange juice were already waiting. My friends were already red cheeked, tipsy and rambling. I was soon to join them.

We promised to go out and show our faces in the pubs so that we can say that we were at least there on the biggest day of celebration of the year. One cup of vodka orange led to another, to another, to another. And soon we ended up in someone's room where bottles of wine and martini were cracked opened to the cracking sounds of giggles and laughs. Once the 40% alcohol seeps through the veins, everything becomes funny, and everything came out. Secrets were unstoppable. Someone mentioned she has two boyfriends at the same time, another random stranger none of us met before told us how much he 'loved cock'. I think my reaction to that was 'Oh yeah!', which didn't leave much to the imagination to all those who heard me ...sex, sleaze, secrets and shame all poured out, and once again we dug deeper and deeper into each other's lives and past. Not sure how much of what happened or what was revealed people actually remember, but I think I 'outed' myself in a number of different ways, in a number of different times. Dare I say it was liberation...?

At 1am we decided it was time to head out. We stepped over a puddle of puke and a couple of collapsed flat mates on the way down the stairs, our visions and heads spinning and in total confusion. The cold rain and wind slapped against us, making it seem like the treacherous journey of six crazy adventurers venturing in the dark on their way to the city centre. The pavement was just right next to the canal, and we suprised ourselves for managing to walk without falling in. Some other people were not so lucky.

My head spun so fast it was hard to hear, and I was even unsure what I was saying. We wandered the streets, going from one party event to the next. We greeted people we knew, high-fived people we didn't. Plastic cups and beer cans littered the streets. People crowded in the alleyways and squares dancing to live bands and music. The whole city was under siege by a frenzy of celebration, drunkedness, and the onslaught of the first forces of the autumn weather. When you're so out of yourself, even bad techno music, or the fact that there were plenty of strangers around didn't seem to be a bother anymore. By 4am we were drenched, and cold, and the effects of the alcohol had more or less worn off...but wow, was it a few hours to remember.

Surprisingly we actually managed to make creme cheese penne and smoked salmon (for others lunch-dinner lumped together) at close to 5am. I was not in a mood to take the 1hr journey home. He and I made our temporary beds on the floor of a girl's room. My clothes were so wet we both had to borrow clothes from the girl to wear... two grown and tipsy guys, in girl's pajamas, sleeping on the floor next to each other. Nothing I've experienced recently can beat the hilariousness and surrealness of it all.

The floor was hard, and my head hurt. Altogether I probably had around three hours of sleep last night, and was awakened by a bunch of Americans slamming their doors and raving about what a night it's been at a little past eight. My throat was sore, my mouth parched, the back of my head felt like I had strike myself somewhere and ached with a vengeance. But as I turned my face, he lay next to me, breathing softly. I reached out almost wanting to touch him, but afraid to wake up, and unsure whether he could see me looking at him. A couple of times he stirred and turned, and I quickly closed my eyes tightly to pretend I was asleep. I'm somewhat sure he knew I was watching him. I turned my back against him, curled up my body into a ball, and leaned in closer. But I couldn't sleep any more. And my headache and sore throat soon subsided.