Buying a Bicycle Part II

After the troubles we had yesterday trying to find bikes, we decided to reassess our strategy on how to seek one out. At the grocery store I noticed a small posting on a community bulletin board that said "Herens fiets/Dames fiets €95." (men's bike/women's bike €95. It was still expensive, but way better than anything we saw yesterday so I called.

The man who answered was English and gave me directions to his house. When we finally got there, (we had problems figuring out the bus) someone inside was bombastically playing the piano. At first we didn't want to interrupt--it was so beautiful--but after a couple minutes, we realized we were creepily standing on the stairs outside of a stranger's house. So, we knocked. Obviously, he couldn't hear. So, we knocked louder. . . no answer. We knocked louder . . . still no answer. Ross pounded on the door. . . still no answer. Ross pounded on the door, rattled the mail slot, and pulled this random knob. . . and the playing stopped.

The man that answered the door, Terry, was a 5'3", 90-pound playboy in his late fifties. He was wearing white pants, a white shirt, and a white sport coat with black pinstripes. Picture Steve Buscemi playing Willy Wonka. He invited us in for tea, and seeing how we had nothing else to do, we accepted. His house looked like an antique store. There were Dutch antiques stacked to the the ceiling. I couldn't believe how much great stuff, from old typewriters, to irons, to shoes, to furniture, to kitchen supplies, to china, was in this house. You could barely move without bumping into something.


His wife, who looked like Donatella Versace, passed away 7 years ago. Her (really good) paintings covered the walls, and Terry showed us clothes she made by hand. It was obvious that he missed her very much. It was kind of sad, but didn't take away from how bizarre the mannequins wearing her clothes were.


In the middle of tea, he abruptly excused himself. He was suddenly inspired to add to the piece of music he is in the midst of composing, and went to the piano. The song he is composing is incredible; very passionate, emotional, and quite moving. It's dedicated to the children of Peru who were affected by the earthquake.


After about 15 minutes, he suddenly stopped, and said, "Well, you get the idea."

After this we went to look at the bikes. After nearly an hour of adjusting seats, gears, and taking test drives, Ross & I are the proud owners of bicycles! His is an old Dutch roadbike, and mine is an Austrian antique. I think I'll call her Leisl.