Haarlem - WWOOFing (again) - Ruigoord

Haarlem was so amazing. I really like biking the streets. This was my second Couchsurfing host!  It was also the first time I used the itinerary function. So you enter the dates and cities you'll be visiting and then locals can contact you!  This makes it a little easier when bike touring as I can provide general timelines of my trip and then if I get an email I will bike to that city!!

The first morning I volunteered at the organic garden where my host also volunteers. We picked cherry tomatoes all morning and then prepped a new area for onions. It was great to get my hands dirty again, and I literally had a green thumb folks. Try picking a few hundred tomatoes, you'll see...

It was great to learn about farming from the owner!  She had an amazing partnership with the schools where kids come in to learn about gardening, planting, compost, and bees!  It was a very rewarding experience and we went home with tons of fresh veggies!

Then we went to the Ruigoord festival and my mind was about to be blown!  http://ruigoord.nl/evenementen/landjuweel-2014/

Dubarray was the best show of the night!!

It was so much fun to see a music and art festival in Amsterdam. This is a self proclaimed Anarchist village where artists and musicians work together. It is right in the middle of an industrial park, with oil tanks, and container ships everywhere. Yet, it has held on and they refuse to leave. Every year they host this festival to celebrate their home. At 10pm all the stages stopped and the "parade" starts. This was unbelievable to me, I mean we're talking thrashing dancing and electronics music, crazy fun vibes, noises everywhere and it all just stops. Then everyone is given a torch and we all form a line and EVERYBODY does a lap of the village to honour the space. It was an experience I will never forget. We spoke with an older women that had been attending for over 20 years. She said the parade is very ceremonial " and most of the time it ends well ;)". This last photo will only give you a taste at how special this event was. The butterfly leads the people... 

Thank you to Ev for taking me here as it was only locals. I also want to add that I tried hard, I mean I searched to find a cell phone, and there wasn't one to be found anywhere. Heaven.