Netherlands Meetups

machadinha

Hello good folks,

Short notice as usual, but:

Camelgirl & better half are in Amsterdam right now, we had a nice walkabout in the inner city already.

We are now meeting up tomorrow with Indojingai, to attend the Jordaanfestival. All welcome!

The Jordaan of course is (or used to be) a classic "folkish" downtown area, somewhat quintessentially Amsterdam to many; and while I've never visited this festival yet, I suspect we can expect quite some "real Amsterdammer" (and more generally traditional Dutch) music & the accompanying culture. (Those songs would be known as "smartlap," or plural "smartlappen" then; hard to translate, but somewhat akin to say the German concept of the Schlager, or the French genre of the chanson. My dictionary gives tearjerker, or croon song; songs about love & drinks & the general bluesy ups & downs of life, then.)

Anyway, so what, where and how:

Meet 15:00 at
Cafe Soundgarden
Marnixstraat 164-166
Amsterdam
Tel: 020 6202853
http://www.cafesoundgarden.nl/

(This is practically on the corner of Rozengracht, right next to the fire brigade station here. There's a sign, you can't miss it standing on that corner. It's something of a punky/grungy bar, but they won't bite, and have a nice terrace on the canal. If the weather is good, you'll find us here, or if not, by the bar or so. Ask at the bar for the IndiaMike meeting; if they don't know what you're on about, you're the first one there, and we'll be around shortly. They only open at 15:00, so if you're early, you might have to wait for the door to open. I propose we leave at 15:30 sharp, so be there before.)

... Er, so that's it I guess Street festival after, possible dinner or whatnot, we'll see.

Attendants so far:

CamelGirl & partner
Indojingai
Yours truly.

Oh, so that would be tomorrow, Sunday Sept. 20th. We're having our annual car-free Sunday tomorrow btw, so no cars allowed in town. Nice for a walkabout; if coming from outside of town, leave your car at some designated parking spot, and continue by public transport. Trams 10, 13, 14, 17, and a whole load of buses stop here.

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dhans

Sorry, we're celebrating rank's 9th birthday tomorrow, so we won't be there.

We will be tramping around around the local woords for a spectacular Indiana Jones meets Madagascar 2 - brithdayparty.

I like to move it move it...

Sigh...

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machadinha

Too bad, once again, Hans. Hey, give those kids a hug from us!

Indo & I were thinking to call for a meeting end of Oct. btw & announce it in time for a change. It'll be a beer theme, so sorry for all you non-drinkers (the occasion we're thinking of should have some soft drinks though; will be crowded with aficionados however); will keep posted.

machadinha

Final bumpie, for the meet in post #331 above.

I guess if people get on the tram, er, now, they can still make it

nycank

Where: Small Irish pub on Harlaammerstraat behind Renaissance Hotel on Karrengat or a generic bar on Schiphol Boulevard.

When: October 8th

Why: There is a strong chance of overbooked flight and I intend to do a VBC (Volunteer denied Boarding Compensation) I will be overnighting in Amsterdam. Since I am in transit, it is possible that I may not get so lucky as that

If any one is free on a weekday for a few drinks, let me know. I'll update this thread 0900 UTC October 8th with my boarding status.

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machadinha

Hey! Nice one, NYCank! (Yesterday was another very nice and fun day, btw; topped off with some Dutcher-than-Dutch music, indeed. I was impressed again how that music, being somewhat folk'ish and perhaps a little redneck'ish as it is, really brings together people of all shapes & sizes. Just a very happy and very mixed crowd, all smiling and enjoying and singing and dancing along.)

I'll be ready for the 8th, just keep us posted indeed. Would prefer Haarlemmerstraat myself; but a hop over to Schiphol is always possible, of course.

Cheers!

Indojingai

Good fun was had by all! I liked the singing ladies that wore colourful dresses at the Jordaan music festival. Not to forget the impromptu stop for a gelato scoop.

More meetups may happen soon. What about that Bok bier festival, Mach?

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machadinha

Yes, so to get organizing on this, there will be the annual Bock Beer Festival, http://www.pint.nl/pint/bbf.htm (page in Dutch only, although the organizers have just a general blurb in English, here. So what is Bock beer? See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bock.) Indo and I have been here before; it's fun, and very crowded. Basically what it's all about is numerous (micro-) breweries, some from across the border as well, present their latest bock brews here (traditionally brewed in spring and, notably, in autumn), and there's probably a competition even on who has the best, so you can sample all you like here. While I think soft drinks are served, if you're not a beer lover like the rest of the crowd here I guess you might not enjoy yourself very much. There'll be live music and stuff. One can step outside to have some peace though.

In Amsterdam, Oct. 30 - Nov. 1, Beurs van Berlage (on Damrak, very close to Central Station).

Friday 17:00-23:00; Saturday 12:00-23:00; Sunday 12:00-19:00.

Music:
Friday 19:00-23:00: Old Firm (folk/rock)
Saturday 15:00-18:00: Looporkest (Jazz)
Saturday 19:00-23:00: De 4Tuoze Matroze

Entrance € 8,00. Beers € 2,00 (one buys tokens for these).

Any of those dates are fine for me; those "virtuoso sailors" (4Tuoze Matroze) are fun, so I'd suggest Saturday really. We could meet up somewhere quieter and less beer-centric before perhaps, to accommodate some people who'd prefer that if so desired.

So, what say, Indo & others? Saturday Oct. 31st then?

... And in the meantime, keep an eye out here for possible Meeting on Oct. 8th then, as called for by NYCank just above

Indojingai

Err... on second thoughts. Doesn't klinkt goed. I may have to be away that weekend. But if the 8th one takes place I'll join.

machadinha

Aw, bummer, Indo. We'll see if some others call in here then; but without you, it'll be like the proverbial herring salad without mayonnaise, of course

Let's see, and I hope the 8th will work out then. Friday night (30th) doesn't work for you either then?

nycank

As I said earlier; one of my segments, in this case ex-AMS seems to be headed to an oversold situation - I'll do a VBC (look upthread for the expansion of the acronym) If I succeed I'll be at one of the two places - Off Centraal, in Renaissance, or ... in (mind-your-step) Sheraton connected to Schiphol by an overbridge

In the event KL/AF decide, they'll reroute me , rather than shell out for an overnight+miles+upgrade to nada - It will be quatros horas at the Crown Lounge in Schiphol, getting drunk on free daru.

machadinha

Okidoki, we'll just wait for the news on the morning of the 8th then Er,

Can you work out what time we should be logging in here in CET then? I suppose I could look it up myself somewhere, but... (And, if you do get your layover, can you already give some indication of what CET time we should be thinking of for meeting you?)

btw We could always look you up @ the Crown Lounge of course; or is that in the transit area (and/or very late or early)?

nycank

Arrival morning - Departure quatros horas later. Crown Lounge is airside. i.e past passport control. It is a KL coded flight which kind of sucks, as you know; they are the stingiest bunch in any freebies...

nycank

The Cabal KL/AF/DL/NW decided they'd rather not give me what I want, so...

So early morning free booze @ the lounge (it would be evening by my body clock ) So...

machadinha

Hokay. So can you please give us the Amsterdam time you'll be there? (I could look it up, but I don't think you've mentioned any other timezone's times yet either.)