[Gypsy Nirvana]

Got up that cold Amsterdam morning at about 4am.....Packed my luggage with clean clothes and a whole carrier bag full of 'freebie' Skunk x South African and Skunk#1 amongst other popular breeders seeds...(D.P......Sensi) to bring back to the UK...it all went into that big blue plastic samsonite suitcase somehow.....then made sure that the cats had enough food/water... and enough fine kitty litter and deodorant in their automatic cat-poop disposal system to last them 2-3 days.....said goodbye to them like an idiot chattering away to these feline creatures as if they understood what I was saying telling them that I would be back soon....and to be good e.t.c.... Then just a moment before leaving I gave them some kit-bits as a treat and left as they were chowing down.....

It was necessary to drag the samsonite suitcase and wheely lap-top case with the green briefcase down 7 flights of stairs that any keen mountain climber would be happy to descend......to a very dirty Warmoestraat.......as I turned the corner opposite the 'Sex Paradise' I saw a Mercedes cab parked up just off Damrak.......walking up to it I saw that there was 2 men and a woman inside thru the murky looking windows......One of the guys noticed me and got out of the cab adjusting his trousers and asked me if I wanted a ride somewhere in a very thick eastern European accent.....'Yeah'...I said 'can you take me to the Texaco on the Marnixstraat?'.....the cab driver said 'sure....no ploblem'...... he got out of the first car and opened the door of the car parked behind it and said 'let's go'.....and so we did.........up Damrak.....left onto Prins Hendrikskade.......and left down Niewzijds Voorburgwaal turning right and up to the Marnixstraat by Dam Square...the car smelt of stale tobacco.......

I was happy when the cab got me to the parking garage to get out and breath the clean, crisp and cold Amsterdam morning air again........as I gave the driver a 3 euro tip......and dragged my luggage to the elavator that would take me up to the 4th floor secure parking area where my car stood......dirty and cold.....with half a tank of gas....but ready to rock as always....

I pressed the Jag key-fob and the trunk opened....then I pressed it again and unlocked the drivers door....After stashing the luggage in the trunk/boot I got into the drivers seat and fired her up slamming the door at the same time.......Outside it was 6.30am.......and still dark.......inside it was getting warmer as the seat warmer got to working and the 4.2 supercharged V8 warmed up......I spoke to the car and said 'C.D.Changer.....disc one....track one'.....and in a jiffy the new R.E.M. album was playing nicely.......

On the sat/nav I touch screened previous destinations.....The Channel Tunnel came up and I pressed that and waited a few seconds as the software configured the route....then I pressed the desired route which would take me thru Utrecht, Breda, Antwerp, Gent....past Ostend and toward the Normandy port of Calais where I would find the train that I would drive onto that would take me under the English Channel.....thru the Channel Tunnel.....and then I could drive the 75 miles back to my apartment in South London... England.

I had done this trip many times before for many years.....usually without let or hindrance from anyone.....this time it was going to be a whole different story.....

[Fuzzy&Sauce BBG]

Gypsy Nirvana- Like FJ....

Uh-Oh, doesnt sound good.

& 'ill add .... Damn what the fu$!..

[BuzzBob]

Ya got me on the edge of my seat... Awaiting Chapter 2...

[Gypsy Nirvana]

....I moved the J-Gate gear lever above the ZF 6 speed gearbox into drive flicked the zenon remote adjustable headlights on....then touched the accelerator...heading out from the cold and damp carpark around its helter-skelter car circular driveway till I came to the barrier that I had to zap with my automatic barrier zapper....before it would let me pass........

I wanted to make Antwerp by 8am......maybe that was wishfull thinking?

is this recently ?

[Dutchgrown]

Hazy.....yeah, how's this for recent.....Yesterday

dg

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Yes......I was in my little international directors world......ensconed as I was within the very comfortable confines of a very familiar 'S' type 'R' Jaguar........Coming out of Amsterdam it was fairly foggy on the motorway heading towards Utrecht....and so I just cruised along at the regular 110 kph......or 120 kph at the most for a while because visibility was not so good because of the fog and some spray at times.......other cars were rocking past me.....in the wet and with limited visibilty I was just in transport mode....

Before I left Holland I stopped at a Dutch gas/petrol station to top up my tank and get a good cup of coffee.....and even from a coffee machine for 1 euro you can get a good cup of coffee at a gas station in Holland.....Then I saw the huge electricity making windmills as I passed into Belgium.....snug in the leather of the purring cat.

Usually Belgium to me is a country that I pass thru on my way between Holland and France........I usually only spend about 2 hours or so in Belgium as I pass thru on my weekly commute..........today I was going to spend more time in this country than I ever have done at one time...........

[Gypsy Nirvana]

.....I was completely sober.....although just a little buzzed on the coffee....so my attention and hand eye coordination towards the driving were good.....I was at ease and enjoying the familiar ride thru the lands of the Dutch....Belgians and the French.......

...I cranked up the new U2 album called 'How to dismantle a Nuclear Bomb'.....as it came on the C.D. changer.....and tried to sing along as Antwerp came up slowing me down to a crawl at times.......but overall it was not a serious traffic jam and soon I was well on my way again....heading towards Gent where I would have to change to the motorway that would take me towards the coast ....then down into France....

[cooked cook]

This doesn't sound like a good day. Glad that at the end of it you still have your freedom.

This sounds like it might be a good one for the "bust stories and close calls"
cook pulls up a chair. Please, tell me more.....

[Gypsy Nirvana]

......When I had almost made it to Ostend the road turns and you can go towards Veurne....which will lead you into France eventually........The road surface is superb here and the sun came out... so I put my foot down and really opened up the Jag ....she seemed to be 'chomping at the bit' as if she wanted to go faster and faster......so I let her go a little and soon I was moving smoothly along this Belgian motorway at a speed that was not exactly legal.........but man was I loving it!......

Far behind me in the fast lane I saw the headlights of what might be some sort of Peugeot car aproaching me fairly quickly......so to counter that I floored my car and could easily keep the little French car at a good distance......I teased it at times by accelerating far ahead and then easing off and letting him catch me up a little till he was maybe 200 meters away.....then flooring the car again leaving him far behind.......but after a while I grew tired of this cat and mouse game.....and just pulled over into the slow lane and let this blue peugeot catch me up..........as soon as he was within 100 meters of me I saw a flash of blue lights across the front grill of their car.......damn it was an unmarked police car!....