Meeting a mate in Utrecht.

Thursday

I first crossed paths with Steve (a British surfer) in a backpacker joint in Thailand 3 years ago. Since then he has come to visit me in Sydney twice and we have gone on a surfing trip to Byron together. Now that he is living in the Netherlands, and recently returned from an around-the-world trip, I repayed him a visit, meeting him in Utrecht before his job interview at Undutchables, an expat recruiting agency.
Steve is the type of guy to wear thongs, boardies and a t-shirt so it was strange to see him dressed up for a job interview, clean-shaven and with a careful combover. Haha.

Utrecht was just good vibes. Cool shops, old buildings and streets, an awesome sunken canal that is at a lower level than the city itself and which winds its way under and through the streets, always pervasive and adding a fluidity and sense of movement and energy to the town. Added to this was the third layer of the town's Dom, a large tall spire that is rare in a country with such modest architecture. The young student population added a freshness and lively atmosphere that I dare say was more exciting than Leiden.

It was one of the cities that I really felt. Just like when I rolled into Tucson, Arizona; but that's another story.

As it was one of Steve's local towns before he packed it all in and left on his global wandering trip, I was shown around some really cool, local places around town; including the Tivoli music hall, the Springhaver indie cinema, the Plato record shop, the numerous plazas just waiting for summer when it will be filled with sun, flowing with beer and awash with even more awesome vibes.

We had fries and a coffee before, and a few Dommelsch's after, the interview. Between then, I found a nice plaza to catch up on some reading, while a concertina player, blisfully entranced and in the throes of performance, continued to play.

As we agreed, it made you feel so at home in the world to go somewhere and have such a good mate with which to spend a day like this. It was truly 'gezellig'.

Peace dudes.