Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Saturday July 02, 2005
I've drawn these neat maps so I can hopefully help outline my travels a bit more clearly. Each map (except for the last) shows exactly one days of travel. They should be approximately to scale.
So I landed in Amsterdam at about 7:30 AM. I picked up my baggage and went to the train station, which was just a short escalator ride away! I hopped on a train to Brussels. On the way, I got to see the Dutch countryside. Look! A windmill!
Getting to the Belgian border was pretty fast... it only took about an hour and a half. Getting the rest of the way to Brussels was extremely painful. The train started stopping at every .... single ... station. And the train didn't even get to Brussels! It stopped at the city before Brussels (Mecklenburg) and everyone had to get off. Then I had to switch trains to one that was so crowded that there was no room for people to sit down. Augh. From the border, it took like three more hours to get to Brussels. I may have taken the wrong train. It should only take three hours and one train to get to Brussels from Amsterdam, not five hours and two trains.
Once I got to Brussels, though, it was better... I found the train to Luxembourg, which was leaving in five minutes! I didn't even have time to get some tasty pommes frites! So I ran for it and got on the train. Once I got there, I was finally able to relax. The train travelled through the picturesque Ardennes region:
In the middle of the afternoon, I finally reached Luxembourg!
I found a hotel within easy walking distance of the train station, took a shower, watched some of Live 8 on TV, and then walked into town. I can see how Luxembourg managed to stay independent for so long... in the olden days, the place was a huge fortress. Most of the fortifications are gone, but its easy to see, from these huge valleys surrounding the centre of town, that the place must have been very defensible:
I found the concert area fairly easily. It was not just a concert... it was the LUX-GSM OPEN AIR FESTIVAL. They really wanted me to buy a cell phone! It was in a square in the middle of town. There was a big open air stage set up, with a huge screen beside it.
I had arrived just before the first act started. It was The Gentles. I think they were from Luxembourg. I did not like them. They were a pack of guys wandering around the stage shouting rap music with one girl to help out. *yawn*
I took the time to get some pizza for dinner and waited patiently for Lunik to start playing. When The Gentles left the stage, I pushed way up to the front (there weren't that many people yet), and waited for Lunik. There was this whole pack of REALLY ANNOYING 14 year old kids drinking and smoking right beside me. But I endured them... I wanted to see Lunik. Eventually, they hit the stage!
Here's some close-ups of the singer, Jael... I think I'm in love! You may or may not recognize her... Jael sang the song "After All" for Delerium a couple of years ago (that's where I first learned of her and the band Lunik).
Lunik is a band from Switzerland. Their music is basically impossible to find in Canada, and is very scarce on the Internet, too. Seeing them play was something else. They sing their songs in English, but speak German in between songs.
I tried to get a set list, but the roadies and crew said it was "impossible". It was not impossible, I saw them tape set lists to the stage while they were setting up. I told them that I had come all the way from Canada to see Lunik play (not a complete lie)! No dice. Jerks.
So... Lunik left, two more bands came on... they're not worth mentioning. However, the last band, Juli, was really impressive. They had played two songs at Live 8 earlier that day in Berlin. By the time they came on, the square had really filled up and it was hard to move. So I just stood far at the back and watched them play. They were good enough that I put Juli on my list of CDs to buy! They sing their songs in German.
After Juli finished up, I went back to the hotel and CRASHED! I had been awake for basically 30 or so hours (I'm not counting closing-my-eyes-for-an-hour-or-so-on-the-plane). It was a well deserved rest.
So I landed in Amsterdam at about 7:30 AM. I picked up my baggage and went to the train station, which was just a short escalator ride away! I hopped on a train to Brussels. On the way, I got to see the Dutch countryside. Look! A windmill!
Getting to the Belgian border was pretty fast... it only took about an hour and a half. Getting the rest of the way to Brussels was extremely painful. The train started stopping at every .... single ... station. And the train didn't even get to Brussels! It stopped at the city before Brussels (Mecklenburg) and everyone had to get off. Then I had to switch trains to one that was so crowded that there was no room for people to sit down. Augh. From the border, it took like three more hours to get to Brussels. I may have taken the wrong train. It should only take three hours and one train to get to Brussels from Amsterdam, not five hours and two trains.
Once I got to Brussels, though, it was better... I found the train to Luxembourg, which was leaving in five minutes! I didn't even have time to get some tasty pommes frites! So I ran for it and got on the train. Once I got there, I was finally able to relax. The train travelled through the picturesque Ardennes region:
In the middle of the afternoon, I finally reached Luxembourg!
I found a hotel within easy walking distance of the train station, took a shower, watched some of Live 8 on TV, and then walked into town. I can see how Luxembourg managed to stay independent for so long... in the olden days, the place was a huge fortress. Most of the fortifications are gone, but its easy to see, from these huge valleys surrounding the centre of town, that the place must have been very defensible:
I found the concert area fairly easily. It was not just a concert... it was the LUX-GSM OPEN AIR FESTIVAL. They really wanted me to buy a cell phone! It was in a square in the middle of town. There was a big open air stage set up, with a huge screen beside it.
I had arrived just before the first act started. It was The Gentles. I think they were from Luxembourg. I did not like them. They were a pack of guys wandering around the stage shouting rap music with one girl to help out. *yawn*
I took the time to get some pizza for dinner and waited patiently for Lunik to start playing. When The Gentles left the stage, I pushed way up to the front (there weren't that many people yet), and waited for Lunik. There was this whole pack of REALLY ANNOYING 14 year old kids drinking and smoking right beside me. But I endured them... I wanted to see Lunik. Eventually, they hit the stage!
Here's some close-ups of the singer, Jael... I think I'm in love! You may or may not recognize her... Jael sang the song "After All" for Delerium a couple of years ago (that's where I first learned of her and the band Lunik).
Lunik is a band from Switzerland. Their music is basically impossible to find in Canada, and is very scarce on the Internet, too. Seeing them play was something else. They sing their songs in English, but speak German in between songs.
I tried to get a set list, but the roadies and crew said it was "impossible". It was not impossible, I saw them tape set lists to the stage while they were setting up. I told them that I had come all the way from Canada to see Lunik play (not a complete lie)! No dice. Jerks.
So... Lunik left, two more bands came on... they're not worth mentioning. However, the last band, Juli, was really impressive. They had played two songs at Live 8 earlier that day in Berlin. By the time they came on, the square had really filled up and it was hard to move. So I just stood far at the back and watched them play. They were good enough that I put Juli on my list of CDs to buy! They sing their songs in German.
After Juli finished up, I went back to the hotel and CRASHED! I had been awake for basically 30 or so hours (I'm not counting closing-my-eyes-for-an-hour-or-so-on-the-plane). It was a well deserved rest.
# posted by Rob Szumlakowski @ 5:00 p.m. 
