A Bluelight Decade: Amsterdam 11th July 2009

[indelibleface]

You know, this is great timing, as I was already visiting Amsterdam in '09.

See you all there. :D

 

[Infinite Jest]

This is fucked up. It says I've already voted, is showing the poll and is telling me that I chose Beginning of June which is not the date I chose. And it's also saying that no one has voted for beginning of June.

I have a similar problem.

 

[Infinite Jest]

july 4th falls on a saturday in '09. that means most US BLers with real jobs would have a long weekend. it might make it easier for people to make it.

Not a bad idea.

Remember that Glastonbury is on the equinox - probably June 25th or thereabouts. Suggest we hold this at least two weeks after Glastonbury, because a number of us will want to go to that (alternative: a week after Glasto; those with long holidays could come over for the festival and then go the meetup the next week). But we should definitely not hold this at the same time as Glastonbury.

 

[Infinite Jest]

There should be a second alternative for those of us blrs who:
Might not be able to afford the trip.
Can't take the time off.
(It's two years off,so I'm not 100% on either one,but it would be nice to have a sub-meeting so no one gets left out)

Two years to save - come on, man. This is important!

But yeah, organise an alternative meetup if you wish (although then we might get fewer people coming to the big one...).

 

[Infinite Jest]

Re transport: I suspect that flying to London then flying via EasyJet or RyanAir would be cheaper than taking the train - especially as the Eurostar (train) goes from London to Paris and Brussels, not Amsterdam.

You might find that flying direct to A'dam isn't significantly more expensive, though.

 

[Don Luigi]

At current rates I could get 4 nights there in a decent place for around £290 beginning July. That is including my flights if I book in 2008.

 

[fengtau]

I am hoping that AirAsiaX will be flying to the UK soon.

 

[AmorRoark]

I wonder why this poll is so messed up?

 

[fengtau]

Thanks for pointing that out Amy. The higher authority is looking into that at the moment...

 

[Don Luigi]

It's probably because there used to be another poll in this thread and it has everybody who voted last time counted as someone who has already voted.

 

[_a_A_C_c_]

I am definitely in agreeance that there should be some sort of group put together to smooth out all the details like hotels/supplies/food/money exchange and whatever else is necessary. Also a local BL'er to wherever we decide to stay would be extremely helpful in setting all that up. the post by glowbug is right, there definitely needs to be a plan in place before the set date. I doubt anyone will be able to attend if its going to be a "shoot from the hip" international meetup.

i don't think everyone should be staying in the same hotel. that is a horrible horrible horrible idea and just asking for trouble IMO. i would hope most people are smart enough to be able to book their own hotel in a designated area of the city. furthermore, if you are traveling internationally and can't figure out how to exchange your money or find food yourself, perhaps you should just stay home...

there should be large scale events planned like meeting up at a club, or sight seeing or whatnot but the major details should be left up to individual bluelighters.

 

[thujone]

huh... apparently i've already voted in the poll though ive only just seen the thread

 

[_a_A_C_c_]

i messed the poll up by changing it from where to when. people smarter than me are trying to fix it

 

[L2R]

so it's 2 to 1 for "sometime in sept, oct or nov"?

 

[thujone]

if it takes place in the summertime i wouldn't mind going, i'll be in the area that time

 

[Miss Peks]

Re transport: I suspect that flying to London then flying via EasyJet or RyanAir would be cheaper than taking the train - especially as the Eurostar (train) goes from London to Paris and Brussels, not Amsterdam.

You might find that flying direct to A'dam isn't significantly more expensive, though.

From the fares I was looking at online it was a few hundred more expensive to fly direct to Amsterdam from Canada, as opposed to flying to London and then either getting a budget flight to Amsterdam from there, or getting the train.

If you don't want to fly from London you can actually get the Eurostar to Brussels, then change there to go to Amsterdam (tickets are available all the way from the Eurostar website). Alternatively if you like boats then you can get the train from Liverpool St station to Harwich, then get the ferry to Holland and there's a connecting train. Those trips will take 6-8 hours, but they weren't that expensive when I was living there (well not if you're earning the pound), and good if you hate airports! If you want to fly a budget airline from London then try Easyjet or even British Airways sometimes have some good deals.

As for the dates I'm not too fussed. Sept might not be that much cheaper, but the tourist season would be starting to die down a fair bit as opposed to June or July.

 

[donkeyPUNCH]

i don't think everyone should be staying in the same hotel. that is a horrible horrible horrible idea and just asking for trouble IMO. i would hope most people are smart enough to be able to book their own hotel in a designated area of the city. furthermore, if you are traveling internationally and can't figure out how to exchange your money or find food yourself, perhaps you should just stay home...

there should be large scale events planned like meeting up at a club, or sight seeing or whatnot but the major details should be left up to individual bluelighters.

indeed folks should be booking their own places to stay, but are we just going for "somewhere in amsterdam" or are we going to try and get rooms in the same area? maybe not all in the same hotel, but at least within walking/biking distance of eachother would be the best IMO. I was just suggesting, or actually, seconding a suggestion that a group of people or something should take the lead here and get a plan set up for those of us who know nothing about international travel. I have no idea where I would go to exchange money personally. It'd be nice to have some people around who kind of "know the ropes" so to speak.

 

[Psych0naut]

Re transport: I suspect that flying to London then flying via EasyJet or RyanAir would be cheaper than taking the train - especially as the Eurostar (train) goes from London to Paris and Brussels, not Amsterdam.

The Thalys is the high speed train which goes from Paris to Amsterdam, stopping at Brussels and probaply some more larger cities as well, and in the three largest cities in the Netherlands, the endstation is Amsterdam.

i don't think everyone should be staying in the same hotel. that is a horrible horrible horrible idea and just asking for trouble IMO. i would hope most people are smart enough to be able to book their own hotel in a designated area of the city. furthermore, if you are traveling internationally and can't figure out how to exchange your money or find food yourself, perhaps you should just stay home...

There are probaply several hundred exchange offices, there are already a dozen or so within the first few hundreds meters after you walk out of Amsterdam central station(where the Thalys stops)

there should be large scale events planned like meeting up at a club, or sight seeing or whatnot but the major details should be left up to individual bluelighters.

Partyflock is a Dutch website for all partygoers with an agenda showing all parties in every city. The agenda only shows the parties for the oncoming 2 calendar years, so we'll have to wait untill next month when the agenda's are updated, and probaply a bit longer if you want to wait untill the dates of most parties and festivals is known. The best one would be Dance Valley in my opinion, since music of most genres is played there, and it's a huge outdoor festival , and the only one where the use of soft drugs is still tolerated in the region around Amsterdam.

^^^^^ Dance Valley :D

We'll have to make a decision, either wait untill all the dates for the parties and festivals of summer 09' are released, or not wait, choose a before that, and go to any of the parties during the period the meeting is organised.

indeed folks should be booking their own places to stay, but are we just going for "somewhere in amsterdam" or are we going to try and get rooms in the same area? maybe not all in the same hotel, but at least within walking/biking distance of eachother would be the best IMO. I was just suggesting, or actually, seconding a suggestion that a group of people or something should take the lead here and get a plan set up for those of us who know nothing about international travel. I have no idea where I would go to exchange money personally. It'd be nice to have some people around who kind of "know the ropes" so to speak.

As I said, I live in the Netherlands, I visit Amsterdam often, and I offered to help organise since I know Amsterdam like my pocket.

 

[donkeyPUNCH]

^ well you get my vote then for committee chairperson. if someone else is out there who also knows a lot about the area and they want to be a part of this that'd be awesome!

 

[Psych0naut]

Alrighty If there are any questions regarding organisation, hotels or where to eat and stuff like that, I'll be happy to answer them or at least help out.