Onward with the nitty-gritty of my HiveFest experience. In part 1 I gave some general thoughts, but what of the day to day? This instalment takes me from Poland to Amsterdam and my ‘pre-fest’ activities…
In my last travel post before HF, I was sitting in my hotel room in Kraków getting prepped to travel the next day. And travel I did… all very smooth as I flew from there to Eindhoven. There are direct flights with KLM to Amsterdam but the expense and logistics took me a different route. And it may have been just as well with all the issues at Schiphol.
So the (Ryanair) flight into Eindhoven and train up to Amsterdam were fairly cheap and not too much of a hardship, I mean I’d come a day early anyway to avoid any issues and relax a little. The train is around €22 and under 1hr 30mins and runs about every half hour or so. All fairly straightforward and enjoyable (other than trying to sort some stuff out on my phone for half the journey but that’s another story).
Welkom to Amsterdam!
Now I had to locate my hostel which was a little longer walk from the station than I’d anticipated/would like. I tend to walk as much as possible (even with the luggage) but there are times when it might make sense to hop in a taxi or on a metro/tram. Either way, head down, I was there soon enough. Located right near the Vondelpark.
I decided to stay at different accommodation to the official hotels, mostly due to keeping costs down a little. On reflection, staying at one of the main hotels (or Volkshotel in particular on this occasion) is probably the way to go and worth it overall. Silly thing is I could afford it but didn’t want to spend too much if I could avoid it as it’s not a cheap city, and with all the travel and whatnot the cost was building. But I did want to be there and this was my compromise.
My theory was also that I wouldn’t be there much anyway, and as long as it was good enough and not too far from the action, then it would work well. I think it served its purpose well enough although I’d still probably stay at the main venue next time. To be fair, it was one of the better hostels I’ve been to, so I’ll give it that. No complaints there.
Walkabout - 2 wheels good, 2 legs bad
As soon as I was checked in, off I went for a walk around the city… got some food, had a beer, the usual shenanigans. What wasn’t quite so usual was the sheer volume of cyclists which were far more dangerous than the cars; add into that the slightly herby smells and the red lights, then I knew I was in Amsterdam.
So I took it fairly easy, this was no time for heroics or burning myself out on day 1. This was the Wednesday, so some people were arriving also but many were coming on Thursday in time for the opening drinks. So all that was left was to relax a little and try and get a good night’s sleep as there may not be so much of that in the days to come. That’s another point of hostels v hotels, your own space and getting proper (or better) sleep.
What about tomorrow? Will the sun come out? No, more like the opposite… but any moisture in the air wouldn't dampen our spirits!
Registration at Volks in the afternoon, then drinks from 8pm at the same place. That’ll be the subject of the next episode of Adam in A’dam (still sounds weird ;))…
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Related:
- What is HiveFest (+ Hive)?
- Part 1: Going Dutch
- Part 3: Bring on the Beers
- Part 4: Beets, Boats & Boules
- Part 5: Church, Chats & Cheers
- Part 6: Hangin' at De Hoop
- Lisbon 2017
Images my own, credited or linked to source.
See some of my projects @ AdamBarratt.com
when i saw all those bikes parked, the first thing that went through my mind was, how do they find their bike when they go to pick it up. i mean i sometimes can't find my car on a parking lot :)
I know right, I thought the same… they do love their bikes!
I had a few close encounters with bikes. It's not always obvious which directions they will come from. They seem to like something practical rather than fancy racing or mountain bikes.
I'm glad I stayed at the Volkshotel as it was handy for some of the events. After the final drinks I could just go downstairs to my room. It seems only a few stayed at the Student over the road.
Yeah, it's not just the driving (riding) on the 'other' side of the road, they come from all around regardless, and mesh as one with pedestrians. You need your wits about you at all times, which troubles me a little considering that a lot of people wandering around may not be in the best state! And yes, it's more of a classic city bike than anything fancy.
Always better to stay at the main hotel I think (although I did get plenty of exercise in). There was still a chance I might change where I was staying but the nearer it got, the less options and higher the prices, so stuck with what I had. I'm only really aware of Slobberchops staying at the Student Hotel… although the main thing was being there!
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