Gigs of 2011

As the weather gets ever gloomier and nothing terribly exciting goes on in my life of late, I find myself daydreaming of last summer. And as all films (films of memories included) should have appropriate soundtracks , I tried to imagine what soundtrack my last summer would have had. That got me thinking of all the music, new or familiar, that I got to experience this past year. Hence this retrospective post.

So, what would the soundtrack of 2011 be?

Well, my birthdays are always medieval, so the soundtrack of my 30th birthday would have to be Holloenek, newly discovered medieval band from Hungary. They were fun just like that day was fun.

Soon it was August and it was time for the Artmania festival in Sibiu: 3 days a year of pure artistic, architectural, gastronomic and, of course, musical bliss. And oh, what a city!

In the morning, I had my breakfast in the courtyard of this

to the tune of Lacuna Coil's sound check, and in the evening I blew bubbles with Morti under the obscure light of this,

 

to the tune of our own laughter (just like back then...) and at night I experienced the much expected annual catharsis, under the shadow of this,

 

 while,  on stage, Tony Kakko did his power (metal) walk,

 

Tarja Turunen did exactly what was expected of her (namely, to blow everybody's minds), 

  

 

and Lacuna Coil left me breathless with unexpected awe:

 

But Sibiu had other artistic surprises in store for me, too. A tattoo festival was taking place at the same time with Artmania, and the special guest there was this delicate, beautiful, incredibly expressive Japanese dancer, whose traditional dance left quite an impression in my memory.

 

  

But the summer progressed, and there was no time to waste. The Peninsula festival, in our very own Tg Mures, brought Guano Apes, which I will remember as being utterly forgettable,

 

and the Hungarians from Tankcsapda, whose lyrics I do not understand, but who were so much more fun to watch and listen to:

 

I usually don't need much of an excuse to visit Sibiu, but at the end of August, it had a damn good reason to call me again. The medieval festival was a bland, dusty, badly organised affair, which made me waste a whole day in the scorching sun, without offering anything interesting to do or see. But they brought Corvus Corax in the evening, and that made it all worth the sunburn. I didn't know much about them, but that night, I left as a die-hard fan. The self-proclaimed kings of medieval music really lived up to their title. 

  

I could go on for another couple of pages telling you why I think Corvus Corax are so epic, but I'll just go on to what was the highlight of 2011 for me. Finally, after years of yearning and bad timing and failed attempts, finally, in November, I got to see Amorphis. With all the excitement, I forgot to charge the batteries in my camera, so all I have as proof of a great concert is this:

In conclusion, the winners of the Soundtrack for 2011 award? It would have to be a tie between Amorphis, for their emotional significance in my life, and Corvus Corax, for their sheer newly discovered awesomeness. As such, feel free to pick the one you prefer:

The 101st post

Yes, my dear hypothetical readers, I have thus far given you one hundred updates to my hectic, crafty, sunny and tough Transylvanian life! I never thought I would post so regularly, but I have really enjoyed keeping you up to date with my comings and goings. Let's have a virtual drink and toast to the longevity of my travel blog! For he's a jolly good social interaction mediuuuuum....

I'm tired as hell, I don't think I've had one whole hour to myself in the past month. On the upside, it seems that my life is heading into a new and thrilling direction. I'm curious to see how it will go and where it will take me. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted :>

Ok, now I guess it's time for an update to cover my 6 week absence from the world of blogs. The excuse for my absence? A new job (added to my previous 2). Can you guess what it is? Here, I'll give you a clue:
And before I got this new job, I had a month full to the brim with love. I don't know how else to express it better, except that I felt pure joyful love...
...for the people around me
...and the experiences we had together.
For the divine music we listened to...
...and the hungover exhaustion that followed.
For some indescribably beautiful places that are close to my heart...
...and the daydreams they usually bring to life in my overactive imagination.
For the unique beauty you can find on the dark side...
For simple things that never cease to awe me...
...and the liberating, tingling feeling commonly known as "being yourself".

This past period was everything I have ever been known to resonate to. It was fun, it was gothic, it was crazy, it was medieval, it was sunny, it was dark, it was tasty, it was me.

Omg... is it possible that I might actually be happy ?

MedievArtFest again

I have the feeling this blog may be getting predictable; if it's not mountains, it's medieval (sometimes both in one post!). So, be warned! If you're tired of the medieval, go browse some other page. If not, read on and enjoy my joy ;)

Well, if you decided to join in my joy, then come with me to the citadel of Alba, which you have already seen in this post. What brought me here? A medieval festival, of course!

This time I finally had the chance to thoroughly explore the cathedral, which, among other interesting, beautiful or downright weird sights (like 3 architectural styles one on top of another), houses the tomb of Ioan de Hunedoara. He might have looked a bit more comely in life, when he had a nose and all:

There are in excess of 50 nobles, clergymen and other notables buried in various corners of the cathedral.
And now, on to the festival; after all, it's what we're here for, right?
Last year's MedievArtFest has now turned into an itinerant 9-citadel summer tour. Besides my frustration at not being directly involved this time, I hope I will manage to go and see it at most of its locations.

It took some people a while to recognise me in normal clothes, and I realised it was probably the first time in about 10 years that I've attended a medieval fest without wearing the appropriate attire. But after that, there was a bit of hugging and cheek-kissing going on.

Catching up on plans, scripts and general gossip:

The rest (jousting, music, eye-candy knights) you know. So I'll leave you with a new discovery: the band Grafic, popular among the knights mostly due the hotness of its singer, Diana.

*edited to add: the video won't show up, I have no idea why. If you're curious, go here.
*edited to add again: now it works. Weird.

Catching up

Things have been happening quicker than I can post them here, so I'll start catching up by showing you last weekend's trip. Autumn, fortresses and mountains - just the thing to put a smile on any good Transylvanian's face.

First stop - the fortress of Aiud. I had driven past it many times before, and now I finally got a chance to see it.







On we went, to a valley I could only locate on a map rather vaguely. However, we must have chosen the best time of the year to see it. Pretty, aye?



I just had to show you this naughty tree!

And on we went, further on the map of vagueness and on to higher cliffs. The ascent took about an hour and a half, and those of the group who were blessed took off paragliding from the top. The less fortunate of us got 2 hours' descent on wet slippery rock.



One long long day, a grazed knee, a filthy pair of jeans and 2 jellified legs later, I had a good stock of high quality photographic art to show for it. Something like this: