Sometimes you come across a place in a novel and you really
want to visit. There’s a tattoo parlour that features in John Irving’s novel,
‘Until I Find You,’ called Tattoo Ole’s. It might help to know that the
novel unfolds within the rather curious subculture of European nautical tattoo shops,
and Tattoo Ole’s is one of these. (Great novel by the way – although it is 824
pages long and I did regret taking it on holiday; it was like carrying around a
brick.) Irving describes the location of the tattoo shop in Nyhavn, Copenhagen,
and I was left wondering if this was a place Irving had invented (perfectly
allowable) or if, perhaps, it was real. Well it turns out that Irving does his
research. Tattoo Ole’s is said to be the oldest tattoo shop in the world. I
wasn’t even looking for it, I was just mooching (again – see my map pins no.18) but
when I discovered it here on the waterfront. I was strangely delighted. What’s
more it was exactly how I’d imagined it. Books can do that.
what3words /// The simplest way to talk about location
What3Words: squeezed.lamps.outreach
Please check out my website to learn more about my books: https://www.johnironmonger.com
.jpg)