Summer 2014. A summer I will never forget… Charles and I eloped and went on a three city euro-trip through Paris, Amsterdam and Barcelona to celebrate. It’s a trip we now refer to as our “honeycation.” And now we are less than one month away from celebrating our two year wedding anniversary.
I had planned to share a few unpublished posts from our euro-trip leading up to our black and yellow anniversary in July starting off with postcards from our time in Amsterdam at the Gay Pride Festival.
Then the tragic events in Orlando took place this past weekend and I wasn’t sure if I should publish today’s post. It’s just… Crazy. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything.
But after seeing how the L.A. and D.C. community continued on with their Pride Festival events in solidarity and support for those effected by the shooting Orlando, I came to the conclusion that I also shouldn’t allow the tragic events of this past weekend stop me from sharing my support and solidarity for the LGBTQ community.
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the annual Gay Pride Festival in Amsterdam is one of the largest LGBTQ celebrations attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
What sets Amsterdam’s Pride celebrations apart from any other Pride festival I’ve been to is that their parade takes place on the water. Imagine hundreds of decorated boats gliding down the city’s famous canals, decked out with speakers blasting house/techno music, filled with happy, dancing people, while those on foot watch and celebrate along the canal’s sidewalks.
A memory from the parade that still sticks with me to this day is how quickly everything and everyone went silent when one particular boat floated down the canal. Filled with people dressed in pink, all standing still with one hand on their heart, the boat’s speakers were playing a slow ballad. A song of love and a moment of silence for those in the LGBTQ community that had passed. And it was in this moment, that I truly felt the power and purpose of what we were celebrating and commemorating.
^^^ In the middle of the Pride celebrations, Charles and I stopped by Ben & Jerry’s for a cold, refreshing “snack.” And to our pleasant surprise, we learned that in Amsterdam, Ben & Jerry’s serves their ice cream on a freshly made hot waffles.
While in the back area of the ice creamery, we noticed that the music being played was really poppin’ – to the point that we found ourselves dancing in our seats while eating. So before we left, we asked a person at the cash register if he knew where we could find the music mix. He said, “Yes”, stated that the DJ who made the mix was from the ‘Dam and gave us the name and link to the soundcloud mix.
Two years later, Charles and I still listen to it. The mix is an hour long musical movement of feel good vibes and in light of everything that’s happened, I wanted to share those vibes with you today. I’m not the most eloquent person when it comes to speaking or writing out my feelings so when times are tough or I’m feeling a certain way, I always turn to music to help me get through…
My heart and prayers go out to Orlando.
#orlandostrong #lovewins #lovealwayswins
(linking up with wanderful wednesday)
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