Meet Nicolas

Berlin is full of unexpected pleasures.

Today, as everything else closes (as things should!) on Sunday, many Berliners head off to the Flohmarkts which are dotted around the city. Having heard that those wanting bikes should head of to Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg, I dutifully met up with an American friend to browse. Perhaps its because I overspent at Ikea yesterday or want my entire life to look like some kind of Patek Phillipe advert, that the 4th/5th-hand (or more likely stolen) old pieces of tat selling way beyond their worth, just didn't cut it with me.

No worries, I thought. I'll get one in Holland. I met up with a fellow Erasmus student from France a little later, who happened to tell me about her salt and pepper pots named Segolene and Nicolas (obviously named during the election fever in France earlier this year). We were walking towards Kastanienallee, one of the main thoroughfares, and took a random wrong turn. Two minutes later, we walk past 'De Fietsfabriek' - which means 'The Bike Factory' in Dutch. Now that is serindipity.

Needless to say, 20 minutes later I was walking away with the best used bike in the world, and feeling like a King. A Dutchman isn't complete without his bike...

Its only fair that his name is Nicolas - he's a winner, you see.