Trip 38: Melt Festival (Germany)

Trip date: July 12 - 16, 2012

Melt festival is held in Ferropolis in Gräfenhainichen Germany. Ferropolis is an open air museum of mining machinery/excavators. The general theme of the festival is hipsters music meets electronic.

All in attendance: Tom, Kristen, Felix, Eric

My best friend from Canada did a year abroad in 2010/2011 in Lyon. This year I was the one to go away. He made good on a promise to meet me for MELT festival in Germany.On Thursday night, I flew from Basel to Berlin and met him at the Goldmarie - the same hostel I stayed in last time. This time we got a private room for 16 euros a night.

The night was spent sharing drinks, sharing pizzas and sharing nostalgic conversation.

In the morning we got German breakfast (hard boil eggs, miscellaneous cold cuts and cheese, sliced fruit and vegetables) and drank enough coffee to feel weird. We went to the East Side Gallery (thankfully it was not as cold as it was last time) before heading to the trainstation and going of to Gräfenhainichen - the town closest to the festival.

The novelty of not needing to drive to a festival has not worn off.

It also took me the entire train ride to learn to pronounce Gräfenhainichen.

There is a bus shuttle service from the train station to the festival. The weather was a bit rainy and mud traps attacked with every miscalculated step.

Highlights include:

• Germans who prepare infinitely more than I do for a festival - 3 square meals a day?!
• M83 and Flux Pavilion 
• Indian food stall which sold first-nation theme food
• German hipsters dressed like Aboriginal people
• Partying next to huge excavators
• Learning that the "beach stage" at any festival is always a good time
• Not getting rained on as much as we thought we would.
• Entertaining the idea about starting a tumblr photo blog about "Friends brushing teeth together at festivals"
• Germans drink at festivals like how Canadians use substances
• Learning about Rummelsnuff
• Getting a ride back to Switzerland with my friend Paul and his girlfriend where I did nothing but sleep and each dark chocolate french cereal for 8 hours. Their kindness also made it so I didn't have to catch a 5 am flight out of Berlin.

European festivals provide you with a crazy amount of comfort and luxury such as selling you camping stools and pavilions upon arrival and  having running water.

Trip 37: Urban Art Forms Festival & Graz, Austria

Trip date: Thursday July 5 - Sunday July 8, 2012

With Canada's population density and short summers, it's no surprise that music festivals in Canada cannot generate the crowd and present the same quality of artists that can be done in Europe. We have a lot of heart in Canada and festivals back home are equally about the festival community as they are the music. However, I am taking advantage of my year abroad to attend the Urban Art Forms festival - the entire set list of this festival is equivalent to every drum and bass DJ coming to Calgary in the next 3 years.

All in attendance: Jason and Kristen

The festival is held this year next to the Schwarzlsee Lake in Graz, Austria's second biggest city after Vienna. It is such a luxury to board a night train and then take a short 15 minute bus ride to the festival ground. Good tunes and good dancing started on that night train from Zurich to Graz and did not stop until the ride home. No need to drive 10+ hours like back home - festivals are all rail/bus accessible!

Jason and I waited in the hot and humid line up to get in after arriving to the site. The most apparent difference between this festival and the festivals I have been to back home is the lack of people in outrageous costumes. But what this festival lacks in costumes, it makes up in alcohol consumption.

All shady spots by the lake were already taken by the time Jason and I arrived inside. We managed to find 4 French guys from Bordeaux and became good friends, good neighbours and most importantly, good dancing partners.

Festivals are usually held in the boonies in Canada so it felt really crazy to be able to take a 10 minute bus into town for shopping and supplies. Common to all German speaking countries, water here at the festival was more expensive than beer.

Highlights include:

• Blistering hot days spent snoozing by the lake
• Working plumbing bathrooms and free showers
• Incredible line up of artist
• Hospitality stage
• Yelling HELGA throughout the festival
• Chilling out by the Beach Stage
• Sunrise at the Minimal Stage
• Knowing enough German to make good acquaintances and enough French to make friends 
• Jason and I surviving on a diet of olives, pickles and energy drinks
  
  
  

Lowlights include:

• Pushing through the Drum and Bass stage which was indoors and an excruciating +45°C
• Insane Austrian heat

We even had time to visit Graz after the festival. We had 12 hours from the end of the festival until our night train (taking us directly to work, boo). Cool fact: Arnold Schwarzenegger is from Graz. In our post festival haze, Jason and I could do little more than eat copious amount of food at an "Asian" restaurant (eating our weight in Chinese stir fry and miso soup) and wander around the old town.

Graz is incredibly ornate but this is no surprise since ornate buildings seem to be the Austrian way. We walked up to the Schlossberg -  a castle with a great city view. Graz also has a lot of unique contemporary architecture including its Kunsthaus and Mur River Wooden Bridge.

Feeling pretty dazed, Jason and I decided to kill time by watching a movie. Choosing a simple movie is key when watching it dubbed in a language that you only sort of know. We chose The Amazing Spiderman which was the perfect level of understanding for A2 German. They also have crazy North American soda pop sizes too.

And then it was a long night train ride until arriving in Zurich on Monday morning and then setting off to work.

Basel Fasnacht

Date: February 29, 2012

The biggest carnival in Switzerland happens in Basel - a city near where the French, German and Swiss border meet. The carnival events start at 4am Monday (Morgestraich) where the lights in the town go out and the Cliques's lanterns are illuminated. This marks the beginning of the Carnival.

Other interns went for the 4am parade and celebration but I waited until the Wednesday to drop into Basel for the final parade, taking a few hours off of work. Cliques are a group of people dressed in a uniformed theme that march in the parades playing the piccolo, drums, flutes, etc. Floats are a means of transportation for the uniquely masked participants to throw candy, flowers, confetti and sometimes large root vegetables into the crowd of onlookers.

You can buy a pin (bronze, silver or gold) in support of the carnival (and it's highly suggested you do so) but it's technically free to attend.

I always thought it was a shame that European countries by large do not celebrate Halloween but it's in fact during these carnivals that you see kids dressed up in costume and they hold out their bags for the carnival participants to throw candy to them. By no means do they get the insane 2-pillow-case haul we get in sugar addicted Canada though.

Trip 20: Nice (Carnival) and Èze, France

Trip date: February 18 -19, 2012

Nice is located in the South of France next to the Mediterranean Sea. Our visit was planned during Nice's Carnival - a carnival that first started in the 1920's. This year's carnival theme is "sports".

All in attendance: Gordon, Pat, Tom, Ryan, Kathryn, Bikram, Nolan, Jason, Carmen, Parth and Kristen

We bought an easyjet flight out of Basel to Nice for 7:25am on Saturday morning. The Saturday SBB connections for this flight are very unforgiving and the results are scrambling out of the house at 3:30am (Pat, Gordon and I) and a very cumbersome route to the airport which includes a a 25 minute walk to the station, a night-fare fee, a long wait at a train station and a taxi for the last stretch to the airport. Other people either slept at the airport or took another train connection at 2am in the morning.

But we arrived! Nice's airport is extremely close to the city. Much closer than anywhere else I've been. Perhaps even an hour walk away from downtown. It's lovely because the airport is on this strip of land almost surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. I'm glad we arrived during the daylight hours where I could appreciate how stunning the South of France is right from the get-go.

We took the airport bus into town where everything was just beginning to open for the day. We bought our parade tickets to the Nice Carnival. Call it skepticism, hesitancy or pessimism but 10€ for a parade ticket seemed very steep. Especially when you buy 2! There are 3 parades that run throughout the 3 week long carnival. We bought tickets for the Flower Parade and Parade of Lights.They didn't disappoint!!

Little cute shops, little cute bakeries, little cute places to eat - all affordable since it's all half the price of Switzerland. Palm trees, sunny skies and beaches along the Baie des Anges - it's hard to believe it's February. We walked along the Promenade Anglais, the seaside pathway along the water until we veered off-path into Nice's Old town. There we happened upon a book market and the most tastebud stimulating outdoor food market I have seen yet.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, all kinds of variety of candied fruit and dried fruit (kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, etc), over 40 types of teas, 40 types of salts, olives, multiple bottles of special olive oil, fresh breads, fresh cheeses, bouquets upon bouquets of flowers, handmade soaps, hand made candles - the list goes on. Presentation was at 200% because everything looked so tempting. I ended up getting some sundried tomatoes and strawberries. I can't even imagine all the fresh and delicious things that would be in my every day diet if I lived here.

We then happened upon the Colline du Chateau - a beautiful park with a waterfall that gives you a great panoramic view of Nice. In fact, when you google image "Nice, France", 80% of the photos of the city were taken from a vantage point in this park.

Time for a quick snack and we queued up to get into the parade area. I thought it was quite ambitious to section off a huge part of the streets for a ticket-parade but everything seemed to be running especially smoothly. Carmen and I secured front row positions, a necessity for anyone under 160cm.

The Flower Parade / Bataille de fleurs is parade with dancers, music performers and elaborate floats where the participants throw a huge quantity of flowers into the crowd. You could get some serious bouquets here and I saw a lot of people leaving who did. People freely silly string attack the parade performers too. At the end of the parade, the floats are nearly naked since even the intricate flower arrangements on them are thrown into the crowd. No wonder the ticket is 10€ - these type of flowers arn't cheap.

I was unsure of how a sport-themed-flower-theme parade would look but I guess I got my answer!

I went to check into my hostel after. I had to arrange something last minute because I was going to stay with a friend in Nice but plans fell through at the last moment. The hostel everyone else was staying at was already full but Nice is not too big and I found something else right by the train station. I parted way from the rest of the group and after a quick detour to get my hair fringes trimmed, I went to my hostel.

It's my first experience with an overbooked/lost reservation. The lady was really apologetic and I was in an especially good mood so I told her I didn't mind (things happen!). She found me a place at a nearby accommodation for a similar price. This other place is under hard renovations so there was no sign (or name! I was just given an address)- I went around the block twice before I happened upon the owner who took me inside.

The man who checked me in is also the contractor of the renovations. He was from Berlin and he was staying at the hostel while he over saw the construction. In fact, we stayed in the same room along with another girl from China. The room even had a private kitchen and bathroom. The three of us spoke German together the whole time we were there.

Meeting up with everyone else, we had a dinner (some people got all you can eat mussels), and then went to the Parade of Lights/Corso Illuminé. I have never seem floats like this before. The lines between cheerful parade and ominous-nightmare have never been so gray.

Confetti flights and silly string flights are prominent here. I've never seen the large appeal of confetti until this night where you can take handfuls of the stuff and throw it in the face of all your friends (and let someone else do the cleaning up).

We met a German named Erik and went out for a few drinks in the old town before heading to bed.

The next day, I woke up and chatted with the people in my hostel before checking out. I spent this day by myself (everyone else was going to Monte Carlo (in the Principality of Monaco) and other cities surrounding Nice but I wanted a more relaxing trip.

I bought some delicious french pastries for breakfest and went to see the Cathédrale orthodoxe russe Saint-Nicolas in the morning. Then I went shopping for some clothes and then went back to the outdoor market where I bought some dried kiwi and strawberries. A booth was selling 30+ small pears all for 1€ total and I thought to myself:

WOW that's a lot of pears!!!!

The stereotype asian in me was screaming about what a good and tasty deal that was. I figured even if the 30+ pears became too heavy, I won't feel bad about having to leave them behind as long as I ate two.

So everywhere I went that day, I had a pear. A walk around old town? Let's have a pear. Stop for a coffee? Have a pear. WW1 monument? Have a pear. Another walk along the beach? Have a pear. Wait for the bus to go to Èze? Have a pear.

Needless to say, I didn't have lunch since I was bursting full of pears. I took the bus to Èze, mostly to see some of the beauty of the Côte d'Azur area. I happened upon some of the other interns in Èze as well and gave them some pears too. Can you believe that my backpack was still heavy from pears after all of this?

I walked through the Jardin Botanique which was unlike any garden I've been to. Flowers are at a high minority to cacti here. The French Rivera is stunning. Absolutely stunning. So much so that it has convinced me to come back before the end of my internship.

More relaxing activities. I read my book for a while in the garden before heading back to the bus stop. Then there was time for more wandering in Nice's old town before going to the airport. Perfect timing because I met up with everyone in the security line up!

Things I learned:

• There is a reason why everyone makes a big fuss about "the South of France" - it's naturally beautiful
• French cuisine is so fancy because high quality ingredients are widely available everywhere
• It creates a whole different attitude when a big event has no sign of corporate sponsorship. No coca-cola ads here.
• You can bring a ridiculous amount of fruit through European airport security.
  I also made a short cake with the extra pears I brought home.

Things I liked:

• The way a backpack full of pears looks on the security screen at the airport
• Delicious Food
• Disconcerting Floats
• Semi-relaxing on a trip instead of endless sightseeing and running around
• The lack of eye-sore corporate ads that are usually in surplus at the parade

Switzerland I

includes: Schaffhausen, Zürich Street Parade, Bellinzona, CERN, Klewenalp

It's really hard to find the time to write everything down. The hard copy of my travel journal has been extremely neglected. I have perhaps 40 bits and pieces of paper, maps, transit passes and business cards kept from my travels awaiting to be properly pasted into it. I am ridiculously behind typing things out here as well so I often try to cut corners.

The corners I usually cut include mention to the things I've been doing in Switzerland. But of course, I'll make a small "notable mention" list right now.

Schaffhausen



July 29, 2011

My very first day in Switzerland, before I could even sleep off the jet lag, I set off on my first Swiss adventure to a town called Schaffhausen in the North of Switzerland. Get ready for something that sounds like a lie:

In Schaffhausen is the Rhinefall, Europe's largest waterfall by some unknown criteria. What about the waterfalls in Plitvice Lakes National Park? I don't know. I have no idea. Tourist trap? Maybe be so but it's free to see it and it makes a nice day trip. No need to do something silly like take an expensive boat ride to get closer.


Zürich Street Parade



August 13, 2011

Happens the second Saturday in August and is the largest electronic music parade in Europe since Love Parade ended in 2010. Partying in the bright streets all day in fantastic costumes? Don't mind if I do.

Maybe I even packed specific accessories from Canada just for this one event. Why not.

Drinking in public is legal in Switzerland and is in no way a taboo. Unbeknownst to most Europeans, this is not the case in Canada and it awes me every time I see anyone crack a beer on the train. So it goes without saying that closed toed shoes are a must because the streets are littered in broken glass (which in true Swiss fashion, is promptly cleared up by sunrise the next day).

It is a fantastic time.

Bellinzona


October 16, 2011
On the way home from Sofia, Gordon and I stopped in Bellizona to run around in the castles and run around in the sunshine.

CERN

November 26, 2011



If there is a anti-particle to the "Zürich Street Parade" it is certainly the CERN facility located on the opposite end of the country in Geneva. If you know anything at all about modern physics, then this place needs no introduction.

Free tours are conducted here. Free anything is hard to come by in Switzerland so you can easily embrace the fact that something so significant offers a free tour. Our tour was conducted by a hunchback little man with a comb-over that was as ferocious as a lion. However, he was as knowledgeable as he was crooked. Unfortunately due to lack of sleep/zoning out and moderate understanding, I understood about 60% of this tour.

What kind of engineer am I?


Hiking in Klewenalp



The onset of winter in Switzerland can be described as "foggy with a chance of fog". Hip hip hurray because if you hike up past the fog, there is some lovely sunshine to guide your swiss hiking. If you so happen to past onto a deserted ski mountain town (Klewenalp) that has not yet opened for the ski season, then so be it. Just be on your toes in case this becomes the scene of a zombie invasion.

If your German hiking friend offers you camembert cheese and your Slovakian friend offered you strange canned meat, be sure to eat more than is polite. Hiking snacks also included hot tea in a thermos and chocolate.

Trip 5: Oktoberfest

Trip date: September 23-25, 2011

Oktoberfest is the world's largest annual fair and happens in Munich, Germany. The Calgary Stampede is like the in-bred and retarded cousin to this event. Oktoberfest openly celebrates drinking and by consequence, openly celebrates being belligerent all day in the streets. There are dirndls, lederhosens and 1L beer glasses as far as the eye can see.

Oktoberfest celebrates it 178th birthday this year.

I know, you're saying, "But Kristen, don't you have a gluten intolerance? What are you doing at Oktoberfest?". If there's any place to disregard and re-evaluate your allergy to hops, it's in Munich during these 16-18 days.

Almost every Calgary intern, save two, came with us on this trip. We managed to pick up and Aussie somewhere in the mix as well. We took the train after work on Friday and reached Munich (aka Müchen) on Friday night. We stayed at The Tent campground and it is honestly my favorite accommodations yet. It worked out to 10 euros a night (booked way way way in advanced) and worth every bit thrice over. The camping/festival atmosphere really brings me back to Shambhala and for this reason alone, I fell in love with the place.

We woke up at the crack of dawn and left the campsite by 6 in the morning. I can't remember the last time (if there has ever been a time) I woke up at 5:30 so I could go drinking but there is no larger motivator than a full day of party. The tents don't open until 9 but it's a first-come-first-serve push and the lines were already formed once we arrived there and people in full Bavarian gear were already pre-gaming. We lined up for the Hacker-Festzelt tent.

Mike, Jason and I didn't get into the tent but we did get a table outside. We sat with 4 Germans who gave us the ins and outs of the festival. I also discovered that Oktoberfest beers are brewed sans whatever it is I'm usually allergic to in beer (so, obviously it's not hops I'm allergic to) and I could drink it to my heart's tolerance's content. 1L beer glasses (or Maß) of beer will set you back 10 euros with tip.

Song singing and stomping around the festival brings about a Stampede flashback. People pass out and game-over in all sorts of places at all hours of the day. But unlike Stampede, this doesn't lead to a ticket for public intoxication or a free night in the drunk-tank. Instead (and more rightly so, in my opinion) it leaves you vulnerable to other Oktoberfest goers like how the first person to pass out in a party is vulnerable to everyone with a sharpie. A stomach full of Oktoberfest beer (and beer in general) sways you to spend a lot of money on unhealthy and over priced fair food but once again, living in Switzerland has destroyed my ability to interpret when things are expensive. This impairment is also magnified at Oktoberfest for obvious reasons. So I indulged in all the starchy delights I could get my clumsy fingers on.

Zigzagging through the streets all day sure takes a lot out of you. So I felt a bit torn when I headed back to the hostel at 9pm. On one hand, I wanted to keep staying out and enjoying the festival, perhaps even go to a club and on the other hand I was so over the crowds, snail-paced shuffling and fatigue had set in a bit. Here is where my hostel addressed all my needs in the form of 2.50 euro half liters beers and a campfire circle.

Sharing a campfire with just about anybody is right up there in the best past-time activity that people can do together. I chatted with a lot of Aussies and Germans. I took guitar lessons and learned Knocking on Heaven's door from an Israeli. I exchanged the 3 Spanish words I knew and lots of hand gestures to an Spaniard. I met guy from Bristol who was just about the nicest guy there. All in all, I had a fantastic night and it was a perfect end to a day of doing nothing but stumbling and being noisy. My only regret is that I only stayed the weekend because it's awful to say goodbye to people you just met.

Don't worry, I actually saw a bit of Munich as well. On Sunday we wandered around Munich and saw the sites and I (of course) took many touristy photos. We saw the new town hall building which was insanely beautiful and adorned with so much detail. We watched and listened to the Rathaus-Glockenspiel which is like a very slow paced-large scale cuckoo-clock show. Don't worry if you miss the show and only see the building if you go to Munich, the show registered at a 2/10 on the exhilaration scale.

We also walked through a bunch of parks, including a one where being nude was encouraged. Walking through a field of naked and half naked sunbathers while fully clothed really makes you feel like a pervert.

All in all, I'm really glad I didn't get to do everything I wanted to at Oktoberfest because it leaves room and motivation to go back one day soon. I had a fantastic time!

Things I learn:

• A radler is half beer, half lemon soda pop and it is very enjoyable
• A friend that I made told me that radlers are made so children can drink (oh well)
• The only German you need to know during Oktoberfest is "ein maß bier, bitte" and "PROST"
  
• Efficient and easy-to use transit has impressed me once again. Shape up, Calgary!

Thing to do when I come back:

• Attend on a weekday, perhaps a Thursday to Saturday trip to avoid the high crowd congestion.
• Stay at a campground again
• Get into a tent
• Learn the words to the songs (though banging on tables, clapping hands and shouting random sounds seems pretty passable)