Hivefest 7: opening drinks, first peek of Amsterdam

Hi there my fellow Hivians! Last week was amazing in Amsterdam! This was my third in-person Hivefest. The first one was in Lisbon and the next one was in Bangkok. Then the virus trapped us in virtual reality for a couple of years.

Now I finally wandered around a new city I had never visited before while meeting old friends and making new ones!

Hive as a community has gone through some tough times since the last time we met in Bangkok. We held our own against the evil of centralization and came out at the other end stronger than ever. We did not give in to greed and empty promises. We made the right choices and are better off now. Today Hivians are builders, creatives, artists, musicians, travelers, and so, so much more! Hivefest is the celebration of our vibrant community and our many creations. Be it games, useful applications, tools, improvements to make Hive the blockchain more efficient and cooler than it already is, or art and diverse, smaller communities for like-minded people. Hive means many different things to every one of us. And it is certainly not boring!

Personally, to this day, I believe that Hive saved and altered my life for the better. You see before I was quite lost. On the path of self-destruction. Hive changed it. However, it was not just Hive. It was all of you! Some of you whom I have never even met. You encouraged, hugged what little spark of life I still had left, and helped it shine brighter and grow with time. Thank you, my dear friends! Thank you for your valuable time! Thank you for everything!

And so on to the Hivefest 7! How was it? I will break it down in a few posts, or it will get too long at once.

I had to make it to the seven. Even if it meant booking stuff at the last minute. Which is what happened. By that time both official hotels no longer had reservations available. And so I found the Ruby Emma hotel which was only recently built. I have to say, no regrets about it. It was so cool with its industrial design features that screamed rock n roll everywhere I looked. And partially it reminded me of The Raven Hotel from Altered Carbon because of its automated self-check-in systems, how clever it was about conserving energy left and right, and its smart elevator systems. I almost felt Poe lurking about in the shadows. But perhaps, the coolest features were the guitar amps and speakers from Marshall that are available in every room, and you could go and grab a guitar from the bar and rock it out in your room! Badass!

_{And, of course, it would not be the full Amsterdam experience without bikes. Ruby Emma’s guests had them outside to borrow if needed?}

_{Ruby has such a cool, dark, and moody aesthetic with a splash of color here and there. I sure hope to stay again in the future when visiting Amsterdam. Maybe by then, I will learn how to play guitar like I always wanted.}

_{The bar & lounge area}

And so not long after settling in comfortably at the hotel, it was time to head out for opening drinks at the Volkshotel a few stops away by train. I was a hermit before the pandemic, I guess now I could describe myself as a hermit squared if not cubed. I was so nervous to speak with people. I needed a pep talk before setting foot in the Volkshotel lobby, but the rain did not give me much time for that. Luckily, I had @lemony-cricket to lean on as his social skills need no polishing much at all.

A glance around the lobby. There were so many familiar faces. We slipped into the small room to get our badges and immediately were greeted by the lovely @priyanarc to whom I promised the biggest hug at the Hivefest and the friendly @blind-spot who gave us a big, bright smile. They had our badges, wristbands, and goodie bags ready for us. They both were volunteers throughout the Hivefest! Thank you both so much for sacrificing your time and energy!

Not long after that, we sneaked upon the blockchain wizard himself @gtg with a huge hug! Despite me rocking my two other badges from Lisbon and Bangkok he still remembers that I skipped the most important one - Kraków! Which I am quite sad about as well, but unfortunately not always things work out in our favor. I will also have to wait an extra year to get my fivefest trophy because of that. But I hear that Poland is pretty lovely in late spring! :)

_{@rubencress dueling @celestal Who shot first?}

We grabbed beers from the bar and a few steps forward met @celestal whom we had not seen since Bangkok and @rubencress whom I met in Tallinn years ago at a Steem meetup. Ruben had never met lem in person. They only spoke on the chain and in chats before. It was cool to see them both trying to put the person in front of them together with the conversations they had in the past and what they had imagined each other to be like. It for sure was one of the highlights of the evening.

I also remember the wonderful @crimsonclad giving us a big hug. What a great blockchain lady she is! And @arcange told us about the Hivian scanning app and contest followed by a warm embrace in the form of the proof of hug of course! Sadly, my phone was once again a complete potato, and would not work with the QR codes. I need an upgrade soon. Next year I will scan everyone!

A couple of beers later we met our dear friend @pharesim and the fluffy Hivefest mascot Juka and not so long after decided to explore Amsterdam at night time. I am glad we did because the next few days were too busy, or we were too tired to do any more exploring other than where the Hivefest and Roeland took us. We walked around the narrow streets, and canals, and stopped by the Red Light district, which we thought was such a cool place. Like straight out of Cyberpunk! I am glad I asked if I could take pictures there. And it turns out it is best not to out of respect. So I honored that.

I feel I am a bit behind with my postings, but I needed some time to recover and process it all. Hivians are such cool people to hang around with and I am so happy we embarked on the Hivefest train and joined this celebration once again!

_{Song of the day: Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone}