Once upon a time…
At the dawn of the third age of the Internet, when the lands of the web were divided, and before the great fork, there arose a gathering unlike any other.
From the far reaches of encryption, cryptography and café-fuelled innovation, the Web3 and blockchain community Hive gathered outside their virtual world. Outside their usual familiar realm, one not built of stone and mortar, but of decentralised nodes and encrypted ledgers.
Years have passed. Growth and thriving were in their favour. A gathering every 13th moon brought into being.
Two millenniums and twenty-four Anno Domini, they came along Split Croatia, crypt of Lord Butterfly and held the legendary and ninths HiveFest.
Yes! The ninth, my personal second HiveFest. I fell in love. And I think it's just started for me.
My blurry observations concluded that it's not just a meeting. Rather kind of a special family meeting where visions, ideas, and knowledge is exchanged via presentations at various venues. As well, while having a beer or T at local bars. The in between interactions with small but strong impact for one or the other. All in all, it is a working together for a better future and the chances to make friends and connections with extraordinary peeps.
There are many great devs, coders, programmers, IT wizards, travellers, bloggers, and the kind of make the world a good place-people.
I will do some more advertising here ;P but…
Before I continue buttering Hive up. There was something else.
Something like…
Another story. A story before the story.
A gathering in p0land.
Mystical creatures gathered on a lonely island called Sołtysie, in the lands of enchanting 
It was a Festival called Mystic Creatures.
But not yet, is that the other story.
I will tell you the terrific tale about a tired tyre.
As all good things come to a happy end, after a few days of another reality, farewell was bittersweet to the festival. But Lluna and I had a little big surprise while preparing to leave to go onto our new journey, HiveFest. Leaving the camp got more challenging than forecasted because our car was completely blocked. The already squeezed travel plan to Split was choked even tighter. We had to fight through beastly tents, abandoned cars and sound drunken mystic creatures. After several fierce battles, we finally prevailed.
However, only 48 hours left to arrive on time. Many hills and stony lanes lay in front of us. And something else.
The danger waited until dusk, on a lonely highway, as suddenly a loud puff, followed by the stumbling movement of our car, forced us to pull over. We almost didn't make it. But together we handled the burst tyre and came to a dead stop. Surviving. Just a few hundred kilometres away of Split. Our car was broken.
Smart as I am, a spare wheel was ready. So was I. Ready to change the wheel to hit the road again. Followed by instant degradation of my smartness upon the missing tools. What the duck! I forgot to put them into the car. We had to call and wait for the road assistance.
Only a few hours later, and a short nice chat with some highway workers who didn't have the right tools, we continued our journey.
Look at that tyre
We still don't know what caused the tyre to rip.
But one thing I know; we are grateful² to have been able to experience HiveFest.
Grateful!
To all the lovely encounters with you all. The amazing chats, the stories behind the scenes, laughing together and philosophising. The joy made me forget to take any important photos of Hive, or notes.
I got the kiwis, though, which grow at our stay.
And the rain cloud above our boat.
A deeply relaxed cat hanging around a bar.
A pretty alley.
The hidden beach, further down, near our first venue.
Our last night in Split on the beach below the moonlight.
I have learned a good deal of useful information about great projects and handy tools. @HiveFest is a priceless opportunity to get an incomparable experience and meet great people.
Thank you all.
It was a pleasure, and I am looking forward to meeting you again.
Check out those projects and their creators, managers, or introducers. And hopefully we will see each other next time at HiveFest, or related 
- Another pleasure meeting
, and
again. Important individuals of Hive. Pleasant company and always open for a chat. G put within “five minutes” backstage a video to grasp a fraction of how much development is happening on Hive Core:
_ I love the Japanese percussion. I feel my instinct is awakening.
- The amazing team
and
. I enjoy hanging out with you guys and chat about the world. My new favourite piece is the lunar calendar. Thanks!
- The delightful and humble
. Mon coeur! Who doesn't know this wonderful being? He puts so much passion and effort into Hive. Thank you.
always helps newbies (
) and is ready to answer questions. Chatting with her and her husband is a pleasure.
- Thanks for organising the poker event. So I could meet
, and get an inside of
's skilled eyes. I'll be prepared for the next round. In my eyes, you are the winner. I don't know how I managed it to stay alive that long. I got this card combo 4 times in the first few rounds. Wish I'd taken a photo of all of them.
There are many more important characters to mention.
You all make Hive great! I'm just so slow and have to finish at some point _
And I definitely need more witness votes.
Our holidays started straight after HiveFest and we visited a few countries on our way back home.
More about this in my next posts.
