Day 8 in Europe (Tilburg)

Wow what an amazing day!

I'll be honest, it started off pretty slow, I don't sleep terribly well with alcohol and so I woke up feeling tired already (and later in the day had to take a nap), but after a nice simple breakfast we headed off towards a small lake not too far away. It's probably somewhat ironic that this was my first trip to anything remotely resembling a beach in ages, and it was in the Netherlands rather than in any of Sydney's awesome beaches :P

Anyway, after a couple of hours under the sun we made our way home to prep for the rest of the day and I decided that my lack of sleep had caught up to me. So while the night was getting started (this was at 14h30 by the way) I had a couple of hours nap. By the time I got out it was 17h30...

As an aside, I knew that most of the places I'd be visiting in Europe would be crowded, but somehow Paris really wasn't that bad except on 14 July. It was Tilburg that really showed me how crowded it could be! Roze Maandag (Pink Monday) is the gay party (in reality it was a mixed crowd) held during Tilburg's ten-day funfair, and apparently people travel for the day to partake in it. Many people. The normally quiet town almost doubles in population and at the peak hours between 18h00 to 22h00 it becomes so packed that it's difficult to move, let alone dance!

What an awesome atmosphere though, and it really is a day for everyone to celebrate, as I saw young children and elderly mixed in with all of us party-aged people. You have all the carnival rides and games in the middle of the road, and cafes and bars lined along the sides, confetti and soap bubbles and balloons in the air, music blasting from the various stages and bars, and all this goes on for a good kilometre or three.

Anyway, we got tired off the rather repetitive pop music and decided to take a break for a couple of hours just before midnight, at which point we headed back out for more dancing fun, and this time with real dancing music! It was 4h30 by the time we got back home.

All in all a pretty awesome day, even if I was overwhelmed by the crowd and the heat for a while. I loved the people, the crowds, the atmosphere. And to Jules and Maikel if you ever read this, thanks again for showing me around! :)