TUESDAY 13th JANUARY

OLD SEA DOGS

Just got back from a really decent boozer called 'Ear Bar' by the Hudson River on Spring St by work - another of the oldest pubs in New York. 1817 this one. When it was built it was onlt 5 feet from the river now it's 300 but it's still dark and dingy, full of old-sea-dog type characters and after the guy I was having a pint with left (I stayed to finish my third) I was approached by a canrivalesque French guy asking if I fancied a job doing some painting and decorating. For a moment I felt like hanging and having a chat with a classic pub-freak but as I heard about his life story and the 20 or so cities he had lived in (and he's still only 30) he reminded me of that scallywag who guided me around the city of Taroudant in the mountains in Morocco and I started to check where my wallet is and promptly left ze pub.

Guy leaving the bar