Editing CS newsletter for the Netherlands (section)

=CouchSurfers meeting up=

==Grote zomermeetings in Europa==

More and more CouchSurfing communities are organising couchsurfing events this summer. Wherever you go, you can meetup with local couchsurfers. 

Below is a selection of interesting events:

July 16th - July 18th: Oostende, Belgium: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62713 CS Beach Weekend]

July 16th - July 18th: Champ-du-Boult, France: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=53351 Normandy Summer camp]

July 16th - July 21th: Brussels, Belgium: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=72244 Brussels CS summer event]

July 23th - July 25th: Dundee, Scotland: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=74886 Dundee Calling]

July 23th - July 26th: Paris, France: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=71291 Paris Rendez Vous]

July 28th - August 1st: Pescosolido, Italy: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=48567 Italy summer camp]

July 30th - August 2nd: Aberdeen, Scotland: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66899 a summer camp on the stunning balmedie beach]

August 2nd - August 8th: Tokaj, Hungaria: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=56737 Canoe tour]

August 6th - August 8th: Spychowo, Poland: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=72666 II CS International Family Weekend (IFW)]

August 1st: Barcelona, Spain: [http://hitchgathering.org/barcelona Pre Gathering for the 3rd European Hitchhiking Gathering]

August 6th: Sines, Portugal: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=69794 3rd European Hitchhiking Gathering]

August 27th - August 29th: Karisilla, Estonia: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=74663 Summer camp in Setumaa]

September 2nd - September 5th: Milano, Italy: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57923 This is FO(u)R MI!]

September 3rd - September 5th: Lille, France: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=72089 The Braderie de Lille]

September 10th - September 12th: Prague, Czech Republic: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58166 Cz3echsurfing]

==overzicht van regular meetings==

In more and more Dutch cities CouchSurf-meetings are being held on a regular basis. If you want to know when to go where, you can check this [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings list].

==[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60151 Castlefest] - Festival of Light==
6, 7, 8, August, Lisse, The Netherlands

People from all over the world come to visit this, I would call it...
Medieval, hippy, folk, family, fantasy festival.

International world, pagan, celtic & folk music, encampment of medieval Re-enactors, a medieval & fantasy market. Art, theatre, visitors dressed up in most beautiful clothing.
All sort of things to do: Balfolk, Sword fighting, painting, poi. Food is all Biological!!

It's a festival of enjoyment, relax & amazement. And I love it...would be awesome to have a CouchSurf meeting here!

Place to be:
Every year there is a Wickerman burning on Saturday. A hugh wooden construction, filled with the wishes, dreams and gifts from all visitors. You can put your own dreams as an offer inside. The perfect spot to meet!

I’m working as a volunteer (coordinator backstage) on this festival ever since the beginning and I love to show you people around. The most fun part is to explore the festival your self, so I suggest we meet Friday, Saturday and Sunday 14:00 hours for a drink in front of the Wickerbeast, and share our adventures of couchsurfing! After a drink, I can take the people who are interested for a short backstage tour.

Relax & hope to see you there!
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/chantel_bleu/ Chantel]

More info: http://www.castlefest.com

!!!voor Floris: ik heb op 1 juli je een paar foto's gestuurd voor bij dit bericht!!!

==The best way to spend a Kruidvat train ticket: 18 hours of train travelling in NL==

“Would it be possible?”
“Hmm. If we start early and do some smart planning, yes, why not?”
“Let’s do this!”
I imagine the initiators of the idea came to the idea like this. The idea of the 24-hour train race project. The ambitious idea to visit all 12 provincial capitals of The Netherlands in just one day. Probably one of the few countries where such a thing is possible.
Many CS members, armed with a special Kruidvat train ticket to be able to travel for the whole day, would accomplish this mission on the 22nd of May. First train: 6:10am from Amsterdam, on to Haarlem and The Hague.
The fun started right from the beginning: the Dutch Railways (NS) decided that not our train, but the one 150 meters down the platform, would be the train that leaves.
And that’s how you create a delay: we started the journey with already 10 minutes off-schedule. “Off to a good start”!
Fortunately we caught up pretty quick, and, frankly, practically didn’t experience any delays for the rest of the day! Thank you, NS! There, I said it, something positive about the NS. They deserved it for once.
People were encouraged to join us during the journey whenever they wanted. And boy they did! “Are you guys from the 24-hour train race?” et voila: we had once again a bigger group of train travellers on a mission. 
A few hardcore people made it all the way to the last stop: Lelystad. 0:18am the train arrived at the station! To make the last miles less painful we sang songs and people were already dreaming about their bed out loud... The other passengers thought we were gone nuts, I’m sure.
Once on the platform, we started praising the station signs and kissed the ground in true Pope style.
Relieved, proud and tired as hell, we could finally say we visited all 12 provincial capitals. Not only that, but we did it in one day!

Fotolinks:

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7869872_l_d4aa32afa3c87006c610c513658f1e5f.jpg

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770295_l_671ade1bfeaaa2ea00c51695fefbaf1b.jpg

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770316_l_22883d7bfb73dd66771e51bf5046575e.jpg

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770213_l_8603c1f3667916c4116bd86b6bf63f50.jpg

===The Netherlands today, Europe tomorrow!===
For me personally, the 24-hour train race was a learning experience as well, because I’m involved in a project that is a bit bigger than just The Netherlands. The project is called The Unity Express, and is about a journey across as many as 24 European countries in a single, privately chartered train, with stops in major cities along the way, for a period of four weeks in the summer of 2011.
The train has room for more than 400 people on board simultaneously. When traveling, people literally live in the train: eating, sleeping, partying, laughing, learning, discussing... It all happens there.
The main goal of this project is to create unity among as much European citizens as possible. By bringing all those people together, on the train and in cities we attend, we create a better understanding for each other, so we can live more peacefully with each other.
This project will launch in mid July on CouchSurfing and with its own [http://www.unityexpress.eu website]. Want to help? This project cannot exist without your help! We need every profession you can think of: paramedics, chefs, security, writers, programmers, entertainers, DJ’s, organizers, thinkers, planners and many more! Go to the website or do a quick search on CouchSurfing to find the working group where you can get involved!
Want more information about the project before the launch? Send an E-mail to coen@unityexpress.eu with your questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!

Cheers,
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/riddergraniet Coen]