The only thing you need to think about when ordering a drink at the pub

With a bit of nostalgia, I think back to the times when I cycled through rain and wind to Leidseplein to get, yes, ten shots for ten euros.

A bargain. You did have to go to a somewhat rundown sports bar where some lost and drunken Englishmen were watching a football match on a tiny screen, but hey, we were willing to do that. And then we would continue on to Bubbels, Joop's Party, the Little One. Hop, inside, to that bar. To the regular spot. Left at the back. We knew half the pub. What did we do there? Ordering drinks. Letting guys order drinks for us. Talking to the bartender to get free drinks. Dancing. Singing along. Only going home when it was already very, very light outside.

The most beautiful thing about ordering those drinks in the pub, you don't realize that yet. You don't notice it when you're hanging at that bar. You only find out many years later what is so beautiful about that stinking beer stench. What is so special about those ten shots for a tenner. Why tequila is always a good idea. That is because it passes. You might think that life will never change. That you will always go out with your group of girlfriends, partying and pub crawling. Of course, you will, you will never become boring and old and dull and sluggish. You think that life never changes. But it does. Sneakily. Slowly.

I told you: a bit of nostalgia. Because how different life is now I couldn't know at nineteen years old and very thirsty. I also thought: I will do this forever. This partying on Friday nights at Leidse, come on, you can never be too old for that, right? Ten years later, I barely remember what wine is because of the two boys in my belly. And the chance that I will be there again next year, when I'm no longer pregnant, among the Flügels and Jägers, I also consider quite small. How times change.

I therefore wish all nineteen-year-olds extra fun this weekend. Be sure to check out a sports bar, believe me.