@ned and @essra with BellaStella
Hello Steemians,
I really have to start with a quote from Hunter S. Thompson (most may know him as the author of "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas")
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
Well, Amsterdam was a weekend just in this kind of spirit.
After checking in in the Volkshotel in Amsterdam, I first had to show BellaStella the room and refresh ourselves a little bit. The hotel was great. 100% Understatement. Luxury combined with blank concrete floor, big windows and extravagant decorations all over the place. Probably I will do another post, just about the crazy stuff, we found!
| Window-View | Some Deco |
|---|---|
 |  |
But first BellaStella had to take a bath, and me a shower. Glad we had 2 bathrooms...
After the impressions of the first evening and the first day, BellaStella had to write down a lot of her thoughts (especially meeting @neilstrauss was impressive). I won´t share many of the pics of the first day. Apparently there have been many, many posts and even a livestream, so that everybody could get an impression of the great community.
And finally taking a nap...
The sunday turned out to be a quite eventful day, meeting a lot of people and taking some pictures. First on the boat-trip: meeting @saramiller , who was BellaStella´s rolemodel for her yoga-post.
| Meeting Sara | Boat Trip | View Redlight-District |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
The redlight district was amazing. First we had probably the best coffee, I ever tasted. Then we had really great pancakes. And finally we met with more inspiring people.
| Having coffee | Having pancakes | Meeting @blocktrades |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Now it is a good time to say thank you THANK YOU to 3 of the people who made this trip possible for me, and BellaStella. And I will honor their participation in this. First @ned who made Steem possible, then @roelandp who planned and organized Steemfest and last but not least @schererf who knows, why I including him in my THX.
| @ned and @schererf | @roelandp (a pitty the pic isn´t as sharp as Roeland) |
|---|---|
 |  |
Being warmed up and with a full belly, it was possible to take a nice historical trip around the redlight district. A special thanks to Tanja, our guide. If you ever book a trip around Amsterdam, be sure to let you guide by her. She gave us a great historical insight of the happenings between the 12th century and today. Check out her homepage.
| Tanja | Starting of the tour | View of the Harbour |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Later in the redlight district we were having some beers and cake (!?) and BellaStella could finally meet @heiditravels.
Breath-taking, not only because her arm before BellaStellas olfactory organ.
@twinner and @heiditravels with BellaStella
Later that sunday, we decided going on foot back to the Volkshotel. We were able to get some nice shots of the City.
| Amsterdam evening impressions 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Almost at the end of the nice weekend...
| Having a rest in the Volkshotel | Waiting for Closing Dinner | Food... finally (it was delicious) |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
I want to thank everybody I was able to speak to, everybody I met, everybody who hugged BellaStella.
Also THANK YOU to everybody who made this Steemfest possible by adding their efforts, time, money etc. into it. I guess there are so many people involved that are not mentioned so far...
It was an absolutely great weekend and I am looking forward to the Steemfest 2017.
I really hope to see you all soon!
Your pollux.one
PS: this is a 100% Powerup Post