For a whole month there will be a dansfloor on the biggest party square of Amsterdam, very lose to the Flying Pig Uptown.

From the 15th of June till the 15th of July,Wednesday till Sunday, many different ways of dansing will be performed and you can practice / show your own moves yourself! Flamenco, Lindy Hop, Tango, Salsa, Bal Moderne, Hiphop, Breakdance….and more!

It’s all for free….sunshine, a drink and music; it’s the ultimate summer feeling!

Check out this link for the programma, although it’s partly English, partly Dutch:

http://www.leidsepleintheaters.nl/dansen.op.het.leidseplein.html

What is it that makes the hostel bar a perfect place to find …well, lets call it a nice kisssssss…

Fresh from the airport or the trainstatoin you enter the hostel; thirsty, because the altitude of the plane does simply make you thirrrrrsty…..You check in, drop your bag in your locker and …Hey: ‘ whose those nice people I share my dorm with’…Aha: they are heading to the hostelbar..it’s 5 in the afternoon and WHY NOT! A beer sounds the right thing to do now. You hear yourself wonder: ‘I have two more days to visit the ‘Van Gogh’…

Everyone in this bar is travelling, everyone is on HOLIDAY..so seems the staff…well; guess so!

And most important: everyone seems open to have a good time and to meet people. In your regular bar at home you probably sit with your friends and hardly mingle…but in the hostelbar: mingling and talking with others! Well, it seems so easy…

And lets face it: i know so much now about Iceland, or the south of Spain..and that is not from my geography class..;)
It’s just fun and interesting to meet mindliked people from all over the world…

And then you think…DAMN I AM IN AMSTERDAM..I AMSTERDAM…I…what the heck! I’ll give it a try and she seems so nice….

And…

Mmmh..I LOVE those hostelbars!

See you…Milen,
Manager Flying Pig Downtown

Oh yes!!

Travelling…mmmmh..

If you hit Amsterdam just for a city trip, or on your around-the-world-ticket, or on your euro-rail-pass…you are bound to meet some people you want to stay in touch with, or you wished you stay in touch with…or ?? are you already convinced that people you meet travelling are bound to go seperate ways for good…well its likely, but not neccesary (this topic i will adjust in another blog but for now the following):

The Question: why is it more likely to meet people in Amsterdam than any other city in Europe??

Well, there is no scientific prove for that, i just base the following on my own experience! And I have been some places…

Fill me in where needed but first and foremost these are the reasons:

The city centre is is like a tiny dwarf village to most humans; a dwarfvillage which provide us with a very, very densely populated bar, coffeeshop and cultural touch. Te touchingspace to others seem so close…drenched in beer and wine and voila; you are meeting your neighbour in a second.

The tinyness of the houses the bars, the cafes and the terraces do not make you feel squeezed, because the easiness of the city somehow makes you accept the fact that the Dutch had to squeeze their 16 million citizens onto a piece of land the size of a pingpong ball…

Strangely enough they are the tallest in the world…I don’t get it, but its a sign they seems happy and healthy to me…

Enough for today and meandering thoughts…

Proost!

Milen, Manager Flying Pig Downtown

The Dutch weather can be a bit confusing sometimes. We’ve got all sorts of expressions for all the different months to show that the weather does what she wants. For example: April does what she will.
I don’t know who decided, but someone ever decided that it’s official summer at June the 21^st.We at the Flying Pig Beach decided that the summer is already begun. The people all walk around on their flip flops, their sunglasses on, and every free moment, every break, every pause is a good excuse to strike down at one of the many overfull terraces at Noordwijk Beach. Every Beach bar has got his own summer music. But there is one thing we miss, the next summer hit. What will it be?
Place some good suggestions of songs you think they might be the 2007 summer hit!

Once a month we organize an Open Mic night in the Flying Pig Uptown bar. All the guests (and staff) are invited to show their skills for which they get a couple of free drinks. It’s hilarious, it’s touching, it’s special! The next one is this monday june 4 and your hosts are Snowy and Thijs. The best two contesters will win fabulous prizes… See you there!