Cats

I have never in the whole of my life ever actively saught out the company of cats. I have never bought one, nor have I rescued one. Despite this I can count on two fingers the percentage of my life that I have spent without a cat to support (for those with bad finger maths that is less than 2% of my life). I read the other day that over the life of a cat it can cost up to ten grand. That means that if I had never had a cat I would have at least 100,000 pounds in the bank. Makes you think.

In Amsterdam you really have no choice. It is like being in Manchester and deciding whether you support Man U or Man City. There is no saying “Oh well I am not sure – let’s see who wins the next match”. You either have mice or you have cats.

A bar without cats

Amsterdam cats have a special European directive that slipped through whilst delegates from outside Nederland were asleep. I think that it happened about the same time that bikes were deified, but then I have to admit that my understanding of Dutch politics is, if anything, worse than my understanding of why Canada isn’t part of the USA…..and I am one of the people that know Canada sent a hit squad to DC and burnt the White House down.

Cats here are happy and looked after, and photographed often. Two of the major celebrities are Molly and George. They live in different parts of town, and are from very different generations, but if only things had been different it would have been a match made in heaven.

Molly (above left) hangs out in Cafe ‘t Spui-tje, Spuistraat 318, (map) and George (on the right) supervises everyone at the Tig Barra, Overtoom 31 (map).

Of all the bars in all the world……??