Too old for disco?

My trip to Germany was a welcome break, especially as the weather wasn’t as crap as here and I enjoyed a few hot days. Now that my sister is older we do more stuff together which is nice. She actually took me to her favourite club in Leverkusen and the main requirement for me was to make sure I wear black. My sister and her boyfriend are into gothic/metal music and mainly wear black, which I have no problem with at all. As a teenager I went through a similar phase and also died my hair. The only problem with the club – apart that I didn’t know any of the music they played, which was mainly “EBM”, “Power Noise”, lots of industrial metal stuff and a genre called medieval- was that it was a smoking club. My sister explained to me that the smoking laws have changed in Germany which meant that clubs either opt to be completely smoke-free or opt for a compromise and refer to themselves as smoker’s clubs, which means that no smoking is permitted until midnight. After midnight the under-18s, who officially are not allowed to smoke (that must have changed, 16 was the legal age for smoking in my day)- are not allowed in. My sister is not 18 yet and would never touch a cigarette. The club itself smelled of smoke despite nobody inside lighting up – it filtered through the air con.

The music to loud and base heavy, I didn’t know any of the songs and couldn’t dance much to it, but it was interesting simply watch the young crowd dancing. I felt really old! The new dance craze appeared to be “air boxing” – it certainly gave them toned arms! Just before midnight we left and her boyfriend said it was a shame because apparently the music would have changed into older “new wave” stuff and songs I actually would have known. Never mind. The whole evening I was actually fancying any Michael Jackson song I could dance to, which is weird as I am not a fan. I am one of the few people on this planet who don’t own any of his records. Funnily enough my maiden name changed into Jackson last year through my adoption!

When we finally made our way up the stairs, it was crowded by clubbers smoking away. I was just glad when I was out and able to breathe in fresh air. Unfortunately for us on that Saturday Cologne had a massive firework spectacle on at the river, which is an annual event called “Koelner Lichter” and the city centre was overcrowded with visitors. We could hardly get off the train and make our way through the station to the underground. All trains were full and we eventually walked home which took an hour.