January 13, 2005
Bunker bar!
Okay, so enough politics, back the surrealistic stuff. Today I went to the Bunker Bar.
We're not really supposed to leave camp after 7pm, but recently we got an extension until 10pm (I'm pretty much the only one that even follows that one). There's a curfew in the GZ at 11pm but even that is routinely ignored (not by me). A group here was heading over to an alleged bar for one gal's b-day, so I tagged along.
Drive through the GZ at night, turn here, turn there, down this alley, follow the sign, go through security (car checked by four guys who look in, on, and under it), drive between the florescent lights into the car park, walk behind a building around back, past more guards, through the double doors and BAM! you're in a bar. Bunker Bar. It's a quintessential bar, people are here from around the world, the atmosphere is great, music is pumpin', it's decorated perfectly. From the neon sign, to the guns/rpg's/landmines/grenades on the wall, to the flags/pictures/posters, to the ashtrays made of large caliber cartridges (with bullets reloaded back in) there's a pool and foosball table, there's even a bomb in the corner with a TV and X-box in it in front of a couch. There were even girls! Okay, so the ratio is worse than any other bar on the planet outside of a prison but it gives you that extra edge in pretending for just a second that you can walk out the doors and be on the streets of San Francisco and hail a cab back to your place. I'm no barfly, but I haven't felt as close to home as I did today. I really enjoyed it ... but left early to make my curfew.
It's not really the place where you pop out your camera and start playing tourist but I was discreet so that you can check the pics and vid.
Posted by rick at January 13, 2005 01:30 PM