52 hours in a hot Netherlands

• Day 01.

11:00 a.m. – Arrival for a stop in Eindhoven.

Travel from Eindhoven to South Holland.

Check in to accommodation.

Grocery shopping.

Visit to Hoek van Holland, traveling by tram and metro to the beach near Rotterdam.

Return to the hotel for personal needs.

Dinner.

A visit of Katendrecht and some time relaxing in the park, then continuing the night.

A private party until late at night.

• Day 02.

Before noon departure and travel to The Hague.

Visit to Scheveningen, including the beach and the sea.

Return to the hotel for personal needs.

Evening visit to Rotterdam city center.

Visit to Nieuwe Werk, Het Park, and other sights.

A private party until late at night.

• Day 03. 

Morning packing and late morning check out.   

Visit to the Maastunnel, then continue through tree parts of city to the afternoon departure point from the Netherlands.

These days

“When I turn, in the moment, feel the same.” 

 

    The afterparty after the Sunday by the Sea lasted until 3 a.m. I had to convince myself to finally end the unexpected Sunday event. I was planning to go to Luxembourg city and France for a while on Monday. 

For two hours, I danced on the bed. Like a silent disco, the same trance song kept looping over and over — Hot As Hades (John O’Callaghan Remix). Sometimes I imagined my own lyrics in place of the original words. These days, and the first truly summer-like days of the year. It was a huge euphoria, the feeling that I also could have been somewhere else. Looking back now, I’m almost surprised by the level of euphoria I was in — from Sunday into Monday, dancing half-naked on the bed while looking out the windows. 

I had already drunk two Dutch beers before 8 p.m. on Sunday. I laughed about the fact that I was drinking an ordinary Dutch blackcurrant lemonade — it tasted unbelievably good to me. It’s actually pretty strong. Looking back today, I can’t even remember exactly why I laughed so much about that lemonade, pretty strong. I only have a photo of myself half-naked with the drink, when I forced myself to take a picture of that amazing ordinary lemonade from Zeeland.

August Seventh

 After the illnesses I had in June and July…

Nothing started well at all when, on the sixth kilometre of my journey in Czechia, someone was killed in a motorcycle accident — and I was a witness. After giving my testimony, I had to find an alternative route to catch my connection to Germany, as the accident site was closed off.

In Germany, I spent a short while in a city. I was still quite shaken by what I had just witnessed.

Afterwards, the journey through western Germany was pleasant. I really like the area around Dortmund, and I enjoy it every time I pass through. The trip south through the Netherlands went without any problems.

After the illnesses I had in June and July, I finally found myself where I wanted to be. And at the North Sea. The water there felt sweet to me, as if it were regenerating me when it gently washed over me. I love the atmosphere around sunny Oostduinpark. The Hague is also a wonderful city on Europe’s western coast.

After a year, I attended an electronic music event in Amsterdam — even the same festival I went to for the last time last year. I missed Anfisa Letyago there :D, but the community was interesting enough that I felt it was worth returning to see how it is this year.

I am always quite surprised when I see reactions such as someone being a similar nukivalent and similarly related. That also pleases me.

Although nothing began well, I still had days in places where I wanted to be many times with the nice weather — though my health, and sometimes the weather, didn’t always allow it. 

Also, I’m “sick,” my throat hurts or something like that, I even cough from time to time, and I don’t feel like myself. After a day in the Netherlands, everything disappears. One might even speculate that these could be psychosomatic issues related to the environment. This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced it. And I often expect that I will suddenly start feeling better “out of nowhere.” In reality, it’s the overall life rhythm – the Netherlands has a different pace, public space and services, a different culture, which itself reduces everyday stress. There’s something to it. 

Be happy

Sloterpark

 Due to my experiences with techno communities in Czechia since 2001, and due to the rise of the free tekno mainstream around 2003—when free tekno even managed to shut down Creamfields in Czechia—and the way Czech techno people began collaborating with the free tekno scene, I’m happy that my imagination about what a techno community could look like has been realized in the Netherlands. I always believed in the vibe of tech-house, progressive, melodic, and proper techno. I’m happy because what I imagined is now real here. I believed in a community made up of normal people—people with inner wealth and good looks—and in the Netherlands, this is happening. I think the Dutch techno community looks like how I imagined a functioning society could be. I can enjoy these events without fear because of the shared values here. The only thing I fear is saying this out loud. For example, when I mentioned a liquid event in December 2022, something felt off. People aren’t the same everywhere. The world is about people. As the inner spaces look, so do the worlds. In places where techno is shaped by citizens with strong inner values, it feels different. In the Netherlands, even gabba is mainstream. I don’t say anything negative about that because Dutch gabber carries those same values. At 10:45 PM, when I left the Loveland shuttle at Sloterdijk, I could hear tech-house, techno, progressive, and gabber playing all around. At first, I thought the techno was coming from Loveland, but after a few steps, I heard different music. I realized that music was coming from everywhere—sound of ADE’s. Gabber was playing from cars too. It’s true that Dutch open-air events usually end by midnight. So when I got to Sloterdijk, it was the tail end of all the events happening around Amsterdam. At 11:00 PM, a guy on a balcony provocatively a one started playing weird bass like he had a sound system at the balcony. That’s political too. Now it’s ten days later—I’m lying in bed at 1:30 AM and suddenly, a free tekno party starts. When I see this, it’s like those people are shouting, “Look at us! We’re the dumbest in Europe!” Some of them are under 30 and already without teeth—stuff even indigenous communities wouldn’t see. And when the decibel limits are completely ignored, the free tekno just continues. At ADE, nobody wants to go days without washing their body. But at some wannabe events, the common smell says everything. In a way, I’m glad real, civilized societies exist somewhere, and the weirdos stay weird—dirty and desperate, stuck in the world they made for themselves. I don’t believe these people know what a Western society really looks like. They believe their own nonsense, because they’re not educated—not even about the world outside Czechia, which seems to be their final stop in life. This is also the truth about the Czech reality. Every time I return from Germany to Czechia, I feel like the country is outside of reality. It’s a shock—being everywhere in Western Europe and then arriving in a place where the West doesn’t seem to exist at all. I don’t want uncivilized or antisocial behavior—especially not during the day. But I love daylight events. It’s beautiful when everyone can see what the people around them actually look like. When I come back from a daylight or sunset event, I never question the value of day events. That’s what’s great about them—they last longer, I can sleep at night, and in the morning, I feel good. Or I can enjoy the night later, alone, in my own private space. And still wake up happy. It’s like traveling in a night train—when I look around and see people I’m not afraid of.

Too many

 I’ve been asking myself what I actually did when I received so many positive vibes from my Czech fans. When I faced violence directed at me in a very well-known situation, I couldn’t understand why it happened. Maybe someone was trying to create doubt around me—but I don’t know how it’s possible for someone to spread falsehoods about the reasons behind what happened to me. Probably, everyone already knows the truth. I don’t believe I ever presented myself as some kind of influencer who would cause such strong reactions, let alone violence. What makes this especially sad for me is the fact that drum and bass, as a culture, stands for non-violence—as well as being anti-racist and pro-LGBTQ, for example. So when someone chooses physical violence as a way to respond to a drum and bass artist, I have to seriously question whether they even belong to this culture or understand its values. I don’t want to speak much more about this violence or the differences between the drum and bass scene in Central Europe and Western Europe. But I do want to say that I probably made the right decision when I told myself to stop chasing what I found through Sidney SN fans in Czechia. For example, I had never seen fans applaud a drum and bass artist’s name on stage before. I appreciated those moments—but I had to ask myself whether that kind of attention was really sustainable for me. I eventually decided it wasn’t, and I needed to step away. I apologize a bit for this decision, for this “Sidney SN behavior,” but I now see it as unsustainable for me to attend any Prague events. For example, when I went to see USK Prague Women during a European Women’s Basketball League match, I told myself: It might be better to move toward Western Europe than to stay surrounded by this reality. I’ve lost interest in Czech events. There was also a moment on a train from Munich to Prague when a boy from the UK said, “Czechs are like human flash!” Maybe it was offensive, but in the context of what’s happening in Czechia right now, especially with “red plans” and societal tensions, I think he was actually right in some way. Maybe I’ll go see another USK match (even though I’m a bit afraid that my presence could make others nervous again, which could affect the game), but for me, attending events in Prague has become something I find emotionally and mentally unsustainable.