A pub crawls into the dense bars of the wretched North

No, the storm hasn’t started yet. The lure of country ice fun seems to be greater on a Saturday afternoon than eleven parts of molten wine. Although not enthusiastic for the rink as the participant has faithfully sprayed Skatecafé in recent days.

“We have to do something with this,” said Esther Wheeler from Café de Siouxel last Wednesday, when snow and ice wafers covered in old boats laid out in the breeding ground. The idea: Even more than regular customers on Saturday and Sunday, it also attracts people who do not easily come to the exhausted part of Amsterdam-North during Corona time.

Contrition

It is usually difficult to move people through water. With aura and snow again it doubles. By crawling into a pub like this, you can give people a little push. ”Then a pub in the British sense of the word does not crawl, but puts the diversity of food and drink on either side of Noordhollandsch Kanaal in the winter sun.

“All catering establishments are going through a really hard time, but a little longer in the North,” says Wheeler. “We want to help them all.” Animo was right there. Probably too much, because a pub crawl will only fit eleven participants. “Some people regret not being able to participate.”

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On Friday, the Elf stage maps were printed at the eleventh hour: “Intend to get all the tents out. Just have a drink, something to eat and keep going. To the next bar. People aren’t supposed to sit. If you cancel all eleven people, they’ll get it. Award. ”

Since eleven times the thoughtful wine is so much of a hot good, each entrant has to put their own spin on traditional winter fare. “We have biscuits and pastries from the 17th century, with bok beer, rum, cinnamon, cloves and raw eggs. Of course warm. “

It is still very difficult to organize the crawl to the corona bar. ”Some were only open one day this weekend, and are now open both days. And because we all do this together, it will also be a lovely way to walk.”

Indeed, here and there are tufts of tightly packed pub crawlers moving between stops, although the crossing from west to east does not require some perseverance. The term “pub” also needs some grains of road salt. After all, the Hotel de Goudfazant has been doubling as an alternative supermarket for several months now; Or in the language of the golden pheasant: Vendejo.

Outside of boxing

Not everything worked out. Shortly thereafter, Boogieland Boxing School, which made a name for itself at the end of last year by hanging town with punching bags strewn about here and there, just missed the planned setup for a used tent above the outer ring – because indoor sports are still out of the question. Just like the skating rink at the adjacent Skatecafe Café, there’s a little bit of enthusiasm.

It’s always fun up north, says Colin Vlaar of Skate Hall cum. “We all know each other well. This idea is very fun because it also attracts people you see less often. Our regular customers know where to find us. The desire to support their great pub still remains.”

It’s a problem, because the rink itself must remain closed due to the sports ban. “It’s a bar crawling into closed bars,” he laughs. But we have our store to take out. They are making good use of it. ”To celebrate the Eleven Cities theme, today it acts as a medicine against Arctic hardships, a Dutch / Thai blend; a smoked sausage sandwich, sauerkraut and a homemade Sriracha sauce for spices.

For some of the participating institutions, the timing of Corona’s creep is bittersweet. There are a number of occasions that will not make it long. Not only because of the potential financial consequences of a long-term Covid shutdown, but also because of well-defined housing plans in large parts of the former malls in Oud Nord for years.

Housing construction

For example, Skatecafe, Coba Restaurant (now: Mexican Market and Quick Cocktail Bar), Club Garage Noord and Boxing Gym have been temporarily in their barns since 2016, with the full knowledge that they will have to make room for habitation. “We always knew we had to leave September 2021,” says Flare. “With this knowledge, we made our investments, which we could have recovered in such a period. But then Corona arrived and we had to close dramatically.”

He secretly hopes to delay new construction plans so Skatecafé and tenants can see some of their efforts. “The owner is still looking for conditions. It may run out, but we don’t know for how long.”

This owner, Midvast, has given up rent several times over the past months. Between October and February we only had to pay 25 percent, as it did with the first lockdown. This really saved us. But that is now over. From this month we have to pay everything again. They no longer want to offer a discount. ”So he also has to ask the sub-tenants for the full amount again.

There is little chance that companies employing about a hundred people will be selected. “We started Skatecafe because we want to welcome people. I hope we don’t have to go out in awe. Once we are allowed to do so, we open up immediately. It can’t be fast enough for me.”