How many firsts can I experience in one night? I don't know, but this night will be hard to beat. When Danzel asked me if i wanted to come to his event on the 10th of February, I myself was not sure if I'd make it, but I did and spoiler: It really was worth it.

The biggest challenge I had was getting to Amsterdam on a limited budget. I managed to secure tickets on the ICE within budget, but decided I didn't really need to sleep and could just go through the night. So I arrived on 16:30 and planned to leave at 5:30 the next day for the 7 hour trip back home.

Welcome To Amsterdam

So there I was on IC 146 headed right for Amsterdam Centraal on my second visit to the Netherlands and my first visit to Amsterdam. My last visit to the Netherlands only took me a few kilometers beyond the German border to Enschede, whereas this trip was pretty much as deep into the Netherlands as it could be and I have to say: It was everything NotJustBikes promised it to be. Even from the train I spotted a lot of people on bicycles, bike lanes and walkable infrastructure everywhere, which as a German was a concept I was hardly able to grasp. 😜

Wide view of Amsterdam Centraal with people walking in front of it — Amsterdam Centraal - Photo by Shinjan Bhattacharya / Unsplash

Arriving at Amsterdam Centraal with surprisingly minimal delay I was greeted at the station by Danzel and Streuner and we headed out into the city in search of food. We walked to a little bistro place where they sell Kroket which I wanted to try for a long time. And it was a good thing I had company, because I was so amazed by the Kroket-vending-machine and how it just required to tap a credit card I would not have noticed I actually had to pick my very own Kroket by pressing a button.

Kroket in hand we then went on through the city past a surprising amount of cheese and sweets stores and a non-surprising (yet still very impressive) amount of cannabis dispenseries.

A photo of a Kroket in a little box being held by a hand — My Kroket :D

Let the party begin

After picking up a few more supplies for the party we went to the venue hosting Danzel's Pub: The Web. Here we prepared a few more things. The nice thing about The Web is it has a darkroom just up the stairs from the main area. Now this is actually two more firsts here: Visiting Danzel's Pub and also my first time seeing a dark room. (What can I say... Guess I am a Sauberwuffel after all...) Danzel showed me around whilst it was still relatively quiet and honestly it was a lot nicer than I had imagined it - I actually imagined just one big, dim room, but instead it was like a mini maze of nooks and crannies with some lockable cabins with slings in them.

After the little walk through the darkroom had concluded the first few guests started to arrive and I mysteriously ended up first in the cage and then tied up which seems to be a recurring theme in my recent history. I managed to only get tied up twice on the entire evening though.

As the evening went on I also met Pup Djay, who was also in soccer kit like Danzel and me, and I finally got myself a (green) safe space band.

💡

The Safe Space System Explained:

The Safe Space System is made up of 3 wristbands of the colors red, yellow and green. Red signals to others the person generally does not like body contact (like hugging or getting pet), yellow signals the person generally requires consent before getting touched, and green signals the person is okay with being touched.
These bands can be bought for a small donation at events.

Further Reading (German): https://puppy.nrw/projekte/safespace

Following that using the magic of glowsticks we discovered what P2P-Networking actually stands for: Pup-To-Pup Networking! And with that in what felt like no time at all the event was over. But that didn't have to mean the night was over!

Amsterdam Nightlife

Danzel, Djay, Bikeless Biker (who we lost basically right away) and I then went on to the Eagle Amsterdam club, where we continued through the night drinking and having a very innocent look at the darkroom of the Eagle. Not much to write here as by that point the alcohol and sleep deprivation really hit and my memory gets kinda fuzzy, and if I told you the things I do remember I would probably have to mark my website NSFW. 🥺👉👈

With that it was already 5:00 and time for the Eagle to close and for me to catch my train. So Djay and Danzel brought me to the station and I boarded the IC 141 back towards Germany having spent one crazy night in Amsterdam.

...I'll be back

This may have been my first time in Amsterdam, but it will definitely not be my last! Danzel's Pub was an awesome event, and the people I got to meet there were even better. Big thanks to everyone and especially to Danzel for inviting me.

Two cuties. Pup Raider (left) and Danzel (right) in their soccer kits. Danzel is wearing a blue hood and an FC Barcelona jersey, Raider is wearing an orange hood and a Juventus jersey.

Raider will return to Amsterdam soon.

🐾