Karaoke Night in De Sade's bunker - Hotel

We marched back to the hotel and to my relief, Eddie didn't do a Julie Andrews.  We got back to the room and we both had a kip before we got ready for supper.  When we woke, there was still a hour before we needed to get ready, so we got ready and took a walk down the lane and into the forest.  It was so still, just bird noise and the sun was just above setting.  We went so far and paused, as there was a noise in the bushes.  We moved to the fence, and much to our delight a large herd (?) of pigs appeared.  They weren't like babe but more like porcupigs.  Their coats were all spiky, and they rushed up to the fence, their snouts poking over the wire.  There was quite a few small baby pigs, and much to my surprise, I was quite taken by one of them.  It snuffled along and it had a limp.  Eddie said, "Are you going to count them?" and I replied "33".

We had supper, I honestly can't remember what it was but it was first class.  We then went back to the room.  The brochure for the holiday, said that there was entertainment laid on almost every night, and that the hotel had a bar  We assumed, that was where the entertainment was, so we wandered round the labyrinth, that was our hotel.   We finally found where the entertainment was by following the noise of people enjoying themselves.  It was weird, but  it went from no sounds, to sounds, just by opening one door.  I realised that the hotel had sound proofed the lower part of the hotel, and by the sounds of the singing.  The final door revealed something similar to "Cabaret".  The walls were blood scarlet, and there was alcove after alcove.  Each were lit by a single lamp, which illuminated the occupants faces.  It felt a little weird.  The whole feel to the basement (For that's where we were) was a cross between the KitKatClub and a Stalinist bunker.  Imagine the Stalinist Bunker map as a map of the hotel basement. The alcoves were on the left of the main corridor and then it split into two, more alcoves on the right, bar on your left.

We'd decided that we'd sit at the bar, as there were no male/male in the alcoves, and Eddie didn't want anyone to think we were in a relationship.  He told me, that "if he was, he'd like to think he could've picked up someone better...".  This was funny, as I was thinking the same thing.  I told him that we needed to "watch our drinking, as it was Vienna tomorrow" and "I definitely didn't want to do it with a hangover.".  He agreed and we started to "nurse" our pints.   We couldn't talk much because we were next to the jukebox, but to waste time, and to entertain ourselves, we viewed its selection.  It was like a flashback to all our nights out together.  It had power ballads, heavy metal, stadium bands, Rock'n'Roll and Crooners.  We  were in a world of delight, and we spent some money, choosing our favourites. 

We returned to the bar and we were doing really well.  We'd nursed the first pint for an hour and ordered a second.  The barman, who had a good command of the English language, suggested we tried the local mead. It was a honeyed spirit, but I was a little worried, as I didn't want to get drunk.  He assured us  that it didn't leave a hangover in the morning, even when mixing our drinks.  This was something we avoided like the plague, as it evoked the "Never AGAIN!" curse.  Eddie said, "We'd try it" and so began a night of drunkenness.  As the night wore on, we noticed that people in the alcoves were singing along with the songs being played on the jukebox.  So, in the spirit of camaraderie, we joined in.  Pints and mead, flowed and then our selection, came on the jukebox.  Eddie was joyful, his eyes glazed and he burst into song.  "Start spreading da Nooooes, We're leaving today" and stood up.  There was a part of me that was mildly embarrassed,  but that was quietened down when the alcoves joined in.  We then had a couple of rock songs, and at the end of those, I found myself joining in.  

There was a little hiccup when one of my choices popped up.  I was thankful there were a few of the alcoves had heard of Sid Vicious.  We  finished with two of Queen, (Radio Gaga and Under Pressure).   We then decided that it was time for bed.  The walk back to our room was masked in giggles, and me telling us off for making too much noise.  We found ourselves in a different part of the hotel and it was a little gruesome.  There where animal heads on the wall.  Eddie went up to a stag's head and looked puzzled.  "I bet that poor bugger was travelling pretty fast when he hit that wall", he said.  I told him that, "Maybe it's arse is on the other side".  We managed to get back to our room, fairly quietly and fell into a drunken sleep.  I only hoped the barman wasn't lying about the mead.

 




  "New York, New York"  "Tainted love"