It has been confirmed...

It has in fact been confirmed. I just bought my plane ticket to Rome. From Amsterdam I am proceeding deeper into the confines of the European continent and will be traveling to Italy in just 7 days. Incredible really. It hasn't sunk in. Such a long-time dream to visit the country of Italy and now here it is, staring me down. In 7 days it is entirely possible that I will be sitting in the Umbrian hills as the night fades drinking a glass of wine on a nice little terrace. Here we go. Cheers. Let's dive right in.

Zach

photo by: Ricardo Silva

The Inside Scoop

So here we are now. This is the inside scoop. The freshest of the fresh news from my trip. Anyhow so here we go....

So my original plan as some of you may already know, was to stay here in Holland until the 30th of April. For two reasons really. One, Queens Day is on the 30th of April and Queens Day for those of you unfamiliar with it, is a citywide celebration of the Queen. The entire country gets decked out in their finest orange and parties in the streets and canals in boats and with lots of alcohol. Sounds pretty schweet to me. And the second reason: so I could photograph the tulips. Now that's two good reasons to stay put. But on the other hand, I recently gained full access (via purchase of a premier account) to Helpx.net. And with that access as well as a little help from Carolyn (photos and stories) I am now certain I will not remain here in Holland until the 30th. But what is Helpx.net? The answer, and as quoted directly from the site:

"HelpX is an online listing of host organic farms, non-organic farms, farmstays, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&Bs, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation."

So there you have it. You pay $29 USD and you have 2 full years of access to the site. And what's more is that there are literally people all over the world. All over europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa. Take your pick. Create a profile. Contact some hosts. And get your ass to wherever you want to go. It really is that simple. Once there it is not just a kick back relax kind of holiday. You will be expected to work (similar hours in some cases to a full-time job). 5 or 6 days a week 4 to 6 hours a day. In exchange for your hard work you will be rewarded with lodging and food. Sounds pretty nifty. If you aren't paying for food or lodging think of the money you can save. In some cases the arrangements are quite temporary usually around 2 weeks is the minimum and I've seen up to a month or sometimes longer depending on the circumstances. It not only provides you with a truly unique experience and perspective on life in the particular region but it also provides you with a nice little work holiday. Work hard, sweat, get a little dirty, then kick back relax, have some good food and enjoy the serenity around you while learning about the culture from your hosts. Nothing better in my opinion. So the obvious next question is, where have I been looking? The answer: Italy.

Two major reasons for me looking into Italy. One: I know a bit of the language already. And two: I've always dreamed of travel to Italy (especially Tuscany). And so I am going to make it happen. I am going to Italy. Can I say it one more time? Do you mind? I'm going to Italy. Ok thanks. Moving along. I have been in contact with several hosts. Two of the most promising are based in Umbria (the region about an hour or so north by train from la Citta Eterna, Roma). Holy hell how amazing is that? One host family I've been talking to owns animals; cows, goats, chickens, ducks etc etc. They make preserves, cheese and own an olive orchard as well. The other host is an Englishman. He owns a home in Umbria and has been fixing it up over the past 15 years or so. He frequently travels between London and Umbria for business (he designs furniture) and is looking for someone to maintain the area (weeding, gardening, painting, etc etc). So bloody hell, which do I choose? That's the question. I've got an idea of which one I think. Both will most likely be longer term rather than shorter term and that's exactly what I am looking for. Longer term work. And I've even been guaranteed the possibility of a longer term arrangement should things work out well. So look at that. How incredibly amazing do either of those things sound? Yeah freaking awesome.

So when will I make my arrival to the lovely country of Italia? Well today is the 15th of April. I may be sitting in Umbria, drinking wine, walking down cobbled medieval streets beneath terracotta roofs and hills packed with tiny Italian cottages as early as Sunday the 24th of April. Quite soon. Means I'll fly out from Holland on the 23rd of April. So we'll see. I'm waiting for a phone call from Richard (the Englishman) in about 10 mins here and we'll have a chat and discuss things further. So here we go. Here is the next chapter. The Italian chapter. And who knows where I'll end up. More later. Hope you're all well. Talk soon.

Zach

Return to Nijmegen, Den Bosch & ASOT 500 (Armin and Friends).....

First off a big thank you to Robyn Guille he is known as "the canuck" in this post for letting me borrow his photos. Nice to add some visuals to all the descriptions I wrote in the entry. Thanks man! Good times in ASOT 500 :] and now the previously written entry...

Well, It has been exactly 12 hours since I sat down here after returning from the crazy 24 hour trip to Den Bosch for the ASOT 500th Episode Party yesterday. Was really a crazy day and night. In the end I was awake for nearly 26 hours, although at best the early morning hours remain a hazy combination of sleep deprivation and the falling in and out of full consciousness. Let's get down to the meat of the entry...

So I headed off from Amsterdam Sloterdijk Station (the one nearest to my flat) at quarter passed 11. The route ended up being non-direct to my dismay. Disembarked in Centraal Station in Amsterdam and then had to board a train bound for Nijmegen. Nijmegen? Really? Was quite surprised to hear that. I thought Nijmegen was like 2 hours to the east? Yeah it is. But I would arrive in Den Bosch at 2 pm. So oh well. Headed out of the station and it was a nice nostalgic ride. Traced the exact route I took nearly a year ago when I last visited the east of Holland in June. Going back to Nijmegen was even more of a trip. My good friend Jacob lives there (when he's not in South Africa) which he currently is. But I had some good memories there in that town. And given the chance, I know I could find my way back to his flat as well as the bar in the center of the city, the one with the good beer selection. In any case It was a short reunion with the city and I was quickly boarding a sprinter for Den Bosch. I was there shortly thereafter. In any case once to Den Bosch I headed off into the city centre (a short walk from the train station). I was quite surprised. It was a very large city. A huge open-air market. Lots of shops and restaurants and it was a nice sunny day. So I settled on a nice restaurant with a decent view of passerbys, and had a mozzarella pesto and tomato sandwich, with a nice Duvel to wash it down. Afterwards I relaxed in the sun before heading off to the Afterhours.fm meet-up I would be going to before the show.

It was easy enough to find. Once there I was welcomed with a beer and a chair and some good conversation with other members on the forum. We had lots of beers and ended up talking with a bloke from Victoria, BC of all places. In addition to the canuck, we included two germans in our small group. We grabbed some food, then headed back to the meeting where they were just opening the bar. We had live music and more beers and then at around 8 pm we headed off for Brabanthallen (the venue for the show). Was massive. We got there and were inside pretty quickly. It was a great time. We were all jazzed to be there. We bought ASOT 500 tshirts. This show actually decided to put paper timetables available for everyone. So we headed off in search of good music. And let me tell you, with the lineup as massive as it was, it was not difficult to find. We started in the blue room for introductions and the first artist in the main room was Matt Zo. Never heard the guy before but it was pretty good. Next we scooted off to the green room to hear a bit of Ashley Wallbridge and finally went to the yellow room where we listened to one of my personal favorites: DJ Eco. Was a great set. Near the end he busted out the American flag :] gotta represent! After Eco we left and went back to the blue room to check out Markus Schulz. This is the second time this year that I've seen the guy (last time was in London at the ministry for his birthday show). In any case was a good set. He can throw down. After watching a bit of Markus I headed off in search of Orjan Nielsen who was playing in the orange room (looking back I guess I never even entered the red room, oh well!).


After checking out Orjan Nielsen for 30 minutes and listening to the live mix of one of my fav tracks from the guy: Mjuzik, I headed off to meet the canuck in the blue room to listen to Above and Beyond and eventually Armin. We lucked out. Really lucked out. First of all just happening to meet the canuck outside of the room (they stopped letting people in because apparently the room was too full). Eventually they let us all in and we plowed through the entrance gates and slowly worked our way up through the crowd until we were next to the sound engineers. There we stayed for the next 4 hours. We watched Above and Beyond (my first time seeing them) and their set was epic. And then directly after Above and Beyond it was Armin (they stopped letting people in after a certain hour I later found out). So we were lucky. Even though we were seemingly miles away from the decks, we still had a line of sight to see Armin and it was a great time. Amazing really, I mean in the electronic music world this is the top. There is no one bigger than Armin. This is the biggest stage in the world. And the laser shows were incredible. This is what I had hoped Trance Energy would have been like. Fireworks, flames, smoke, and a billion laser machines worked through the night and I was in awe the whole time. Unfortunately no pics (my canon 450d doesn't really fit in my pocket). So I'm hoping the canuck adds me on facebook and I can steal his photos. Either way the night was incredible. Was the electronic music experience I was hoping for here in Europe. But as with Energy, I ran out of funds (I didn't plan to spend 30 euros on a tshirt) and the downside to that was that my drink funds ran out far too early. I had a redbull at 130 2ish but that wasnt enough to keep my motor running. Really sucks, but whaddya gonna do? After Armin was through I hung out for a bit and listened to Gareth Emery. Wish I could have stayed to see the other amazing acts out there, but oh well, I was beat. My feet were killing me and I had no energy. I said peace to the canuck and headed off for the train station with the hope that by 7 or so I would be in my bed sleeping. Didn't end up going that way.

I walked to the train station and asked around a bit, come to find out, the last train left just after 4 am. The next one: 7:57. Fml. I fairly laughed as the notion of sitting around at the train station for 3 hours descended upon me. I bought some snacks and a bottle of water and grabbed a seat in one of the waiting rooms. Eventually I was joined by a few others and then 20 others. I sat there trying to relax and rest and my eyes. Unfortunately the benches in the train station waiting room are not all that luxurious. Nor was it all that warm. I heard it was supposed to be 5 celcius that night. I fell in and out of consciousness. I think I may have slept for close to an hour somewhere in between 5 am and 7. In any case I came to a little after 7 and just happened to be glancing outside when I saw one of the german blokes. Initially I just sat there, but then questioned why I was just sitting there freezing my ass off. Might as well have a chat. So I got up and chased him down and we chatted about our experiences for a bit before we headed our separate ways.

Everyone was waiting by the train for them to open the doors. They didn't do so until 7:55. Dicks. That first train was so packed there was no room for anything else and it was 30 minutes or so to Nijmegen; another enjoyable experience. The fool next to me kept falling asleep on my shoulder. Upon arrival everyone exploded out of the doors like a pack of wild animals to catch the next train out. Silly silly. I am experienced. A truly seasoned traveller. And why run to jump onto an already packed train when another one will leave soon afterwards? So I asked someone and checked the screens and it turns out that there was one leaving in less than 15 minutes. Perfect. So I grabbed some breakfast, hung out in the early morning sunlight in the Nijmegen Station and waited for the train. Unfortunately once on the train arrived, I wasn't able to find a nice seat. I didn't really care. I sat on the steps and relaxed. Dozed a bit. And by 1030 am we were in Schipol. 11 am I was just arriving back to my flat. Had a sandwich and passed out at noon. Didn't wake up til 7 pm and now here we are, midnight. Woot. Maybe I feel a bit tired. Idk. In any case, just one more crazy european travel adventure. Good times. Anyway I'm done writing. Hope I didn't lose you along the way. Byebye for now.


Zach

Case of road rage, or something like that...

Yes it is true. Today while riding into the center of town, I accidentally incited a case of hardcore road rage (except without cars and a freeway), and I wound up flipping the bird to an old guy. Alright alright so before you pass your judgement and dismiss me as some kind of rude-asshole-young-punk-with-no-respect-for-my-elders, please allow me to plead my case. Ok so here's the situation. I'm cruising up to an intersection and this one is notorious for being a complicated mess of criss-crossing paths. As you pull into it you have cars and cyclists coming from the left as well as a ton of pedestrians (they sometimes look out for you and sometimes do not) and cyclists coming from the right and behind. Well in any case, it just happened to be a red light at the next intersection adjacent to this one, so some cars are jostling around, maneuvering themselves, shimmying and cramming into spots they really shouldn't go (this includes blocking the intersection for traffic trying to pass straight through). So I'm pulling in, I notice this older gentleman looking both ways trying to cross the street on foot. I stop, look left, and realize I have a window; the cars are crammed together and stopped alltogether. So I pull out, still looking left not really thinking about the gentleman trying to cross. I look right and then eff me there he is. I rolled a bit too far as I tried to shove off with my foot to gain momentum and I ended up pretty much giving the guy a flat tire (foreigners and others unfamiliar with the term please refer here and NOT the 2nd definition either), with my bike. Dang well look out. He turns around, swears loudly in dutch, "godverdomme!" and throws a smattering of other, carefully chosen dutch swear words in my direction. And I apologize. Put my hands up and told him, "Hey I'm sorry." Admitting it was my mistake. Anyhow so the verbal assault does not stop here. I end up having to stop a short ways up at the red light and I guess he was going my way because I see him to my right coming towards me from the sidewalk. This time he's speaking english telling me I'm not the only person in the world and that I should take off my sunglasses so that I can see properly (almost nearly came close to swiping them off my face). To my good fortune the light was turning green. I apologized once again and as I rolled away he was still yelling obscenities at me and this is when I'd had enough. I mean come on now, honestly, I admitted my mistake, apologized more than once but the guy was relentless. He wouldn't just accept it for what it was and that's when I flipped him the bird over my right shoulder. Don't care what people thought around me, maybe I shouldn't have flipped him off, but I think he really had it coming. So I did it. And it's all behind me. Get over it old man.

Amsterdam Nights

So I've just returned from a lovely evening ready to write all about it for you, but now I'm here and the latest bit of news has sent my night heading south. And I really don't know why it should. But it has. And now I'm here again. In Amsterdam. In my room. On my computer. And that's all that it is. I was reminded earlier of what it was to live. To sit next to the canals at dusk and watch the colors blossom in the sky and slowly recede until the lights on the bridges over the water are lit. And have a beer; Westmalle Tripel, the quintessential component, at least for me, for relaxing in the warm pre-summer heat. The aroma will forever conjure images of Holland and Amsterdam. We sat on a patio with three fake crows (to deter other birds) and a long string of lightbulbs and felt the air that was neither hot nor cold. It felt like summer. And I found myself in another prolonged evening, the kind that I love so much with all my heart, and I felt alive for the first time in 2 days. The previous 2 days were spent under the weather (literally). Didn't even set foot outside yesterday. And today more of the same. Didn't shower until 5 pm on both days. How do you say "bum" in dutch? Yeah pretty much. But I was outside this evening buying groceries at Albert Heijn when Daiva asked if I'd like to go for a drink. So I agreed, quickly made dinner and was on my bike headed into the center of the city at 7:45. The ride was so nice. At that time of the night the sun is just beginning to go down and late golden hued rays still grace the tops of trees and sides of buildings. The kind of evenings I live for. And by 8 pm I was in the city. Making my way down Herengracht through the warm wind and fading light of day with hopes of being able to enjoy the last of the days warmth. And I succeeded. On the patio with Daiva in a bar near Muntplein in close proximity to Rembrandtplein. Such a nice evening. Such a drastic change from the last two days. And the bike ride home was equally enjoyable. I chose the scenic route. First returning down Herengracht, then proceeding south to Keizergracht riding along the canals all the while. The facades and other cyclists always present. And once outside the city, as I will always describe; the people falling away, heading along their own normal routes to wherever they call home, until I am the only one. Down passed the hospital, by the geese, to the roundabout and the corner of Sloterpark, down to the treenlined boulevard that leads me to my apartment. And now here I am. The faint sounds of the city outside. A passing tram, passing cars, mopeds, and the occasional long echoing outburst from someone too drunk to know the sound of their own voice. This is my room. My home for now. And I'm here again. To more lame news. You see I've been feeling stagnant the last few days. And I've been stagnant. Feeling bored and like there is nothing to do. I want to look for work elsewhere in Europe but my progress once again has been thwarted. This time due to paypal. Nevertheless it is always the battle against balance and imbalance. Living in the moment or living in the past. Really living or conceding to your own self-pity. That is the battle we all fight; some just know how to fight it better than others....

April 2nd

Yesterday was absolutely stupendous for so many reasons. For one, the weather was exceptional. I reckon the nicest day so far this year. I wore shorts and a tshirt the entire day. Secondly, I was on my bike for nearly 4 hours riding from my flat to the ocean in Zandvoort. All in all it was a little over 50km. Once I got to the beach it was amazing; I sat down and had a beer right on the beach. I also snapped some decent photos and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon in Haarlem, which is fast becoming one of my favorite cities here in Holland. Today is cloudy again, seems that yesterday was a fluke in terms of weather for the past week. I think it's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but that's ok, cause I got out and enjoyed the weather immensely yesterday. I even got a bit of color and a definite sunglass tan working :] Alrighty folks, I think that's about it. Just a side note: I'm working on hatching an all-new master plan. It will involve relocation elsewhere in Europe, and if you know me, as many of you do, it has always been a dream of mine to live and work in close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. With that I'll leave you to your own imagination, but just know that at some point within the next week or two you will hear my new revised plan. Ciao!

Zach

nighttime in amsterdam

i'm really bummed out i'll have to leave this city. just realized tonight how much i love it. met up with my lithuanian friend Daiva after spending a bit of time photographing museumplein. we went to check out a few bars popular with the locals, and after conceding the fact that it would be impossible to find a place to sit let alone stand (the second bar we couldn't even open the door) we sat outside on the patio near amstel river and split a 750 ml bottle of La Chouffe. we weren't visited once by the staff of the establishment and we spent the better part of an hour just sitting, talking, and drinking straight from the bottle. freaking awesome. when we realized it was just about midnight we saddled up and headed our separate ways. i opted for the route that would take me through the city centre. nothing like cruising down along the amstel after midnight only to arrive in the heart of amsterdam. midnight on a friday night the city is very much still bustling and it isn't until you're well outside of the small canals and crooked facades that you realize you're the only one still riding this way. you ride in packs with miniature two-person cars, taxi's, cyclists (both drunk and sober), and mopeds. as soon as the light turns green you're off the blocks and passing everyone on the outside. the feeling is really like no other. through the heart of amsterdam after midnight; the wind in your hair, and the air in your lungs, pushing faster and faster until it's only you and the sound of the wind and your own breath..........