Kiruna: THE trip! part 2

After everyone was across, we made our way to the campsite. There was two main cabins for the group, a sauna, an outhouse, a cabin that was used for the dinner and lunches, a little octagon gazebo with a fireplace in the middle where we had lunch later that day. The group was then split up into two groups of ten and our group got the Lappish cabin, one of the first thing built at the campsite, and was built by Henrik himself. It was definitely a tight fit, but the focus wasn't on staying in the cabin the whole time.

After we got our stuff settled in our rooms, one of the first things we had to do was cut and chop up some wood for the cabins, for the sauna, and for the lunch later on that day. We also needed to get fresh water from the river for drinking, cooking, and for the sauna as well.

With 20 people, it didn't take that long. There were only a couple axes, and a few more saws, so there was a bit of a bottleneck when the wood got to the axes for chopping. Three pairs of people would cut the wood while two people chopped. One of the axes broke fairly early in the wood cutting...so we were left with just one. We needed about 6 boxes of wood for the cabin and 2 boxes each for the sauna and BBQ.

The "P" doesn't stand for parking....

Overall, the food they gave us was great. I wasn't expecting it to be that tasty for what we paid for it, but the quality and quantity were better than I thought!

So for the first lunch, we had basically smoked meat..almost like a hotdog and was quite tasty with some homemade tomato sauce, ketchup, beans, potatoes and some red cabbage stuff that I had never tried before. I was a bit hesitant on the cabbage, because I don't usually like it, but this red cabbage stuff was pretty good.

The atmosphere was pretty good for eating too because of the octagon-shaped shelter we were in. The other four people from Austria and Germany were nice to be with. Maybe a bit more than the other group who had a bunch of French people that never said anything to the rest of us, always talking in French and didn't help out as much as the others when cutting and chopping wood...oh well, some people like to just let others do the work!

After lunch, there wasn't much else to do but go back to the cabin and just sit around and talk. After a while, we were able to figure out how to use the gas stove and get some hot water for tea/coffee.

It wasn't that long between lunch and dinner as I had hoped. I wasn't that hungry, but I knew I would probably want to eat then instead of missing out on dinner!! This time we ate in the kitchen/guest cabin. It was a guest cabin for a local guy I thought was named Steve, but I guess his name was Stick...he had a couple of dogs with him, including a very playful puppy that he was training for reindeer herding...so we couldn't pet him because of the training, but whenever he wasn't around, everyone would give him attention and pet him.

For dinner, we had reindeer meat with some noodles and sauce that was from the meat juices. The meat was great, just typing about it is making me hungry for some. It had a smoky and a bit more salty taste than most meats. Again, there were many helpings of dinner.

After dinner, the other group was going to use the sauna first, as everyone wouldn't be able to fit all at once. So the rest of us walked up and down the river and hoping for some clear skies and maybe a possibility of seeing the Northern Lights that everyone had on their mind before the trip even started. I had seen the Northern Lights a couple of times back in Ashland, Wisconsin but that was 2 times in a span of 10 years...so quite rare. But still a great image of green in the skies and I wanted to see them again, but throughout the whole trip we never saw them. It was clear the last night we were there, but no such luck. They were saying that the day after we were leaving there was a good chance of seeing them, but time wasn't on our side for that!

When we got back to the campsite, it was our turn for the sauna. I hadn't been in a sauna for a while, but it was nice to just relax after a long day of traveling and working. At different points in the night, people would go outside, roll in the snow, maybe scream and give their bodies a bit of a shock, then run back inside! It was an entertaining sauna session to say the least.

After the sauna session, Jai and I started a fire with the help of the information given to us by one of the guides for a fool-proof way of starting a fire. The more bark the better! We sat around the fire for a while. People would join us every once in a while, and Jai brought a little speaker, so we were able to hook up someone's iPod and listen to some music during the night.

At the dinner table, Stick had mentioned there was a Lappish tent set up not far from the campsite and said if anyone was interested, they could try sleeping there for the night. One phrase that Jai and I had been saying throughout the trip was: "what would Survivorman do?" Suvivorman for those of you who don't know, is a show about a Canadian who goes to these different places and all he has to do is survive for about 6 days. He has to film everything himself and he usually gives you survival tips. I introduced Jai to the show a few weeks before, so we were ready for the Arctic Circle :)

So we decided to give it a try, and if it didn't work after an hour, we would just go back to the cabin. No one else wanted to try the tent except for us. My bright idea, I just took the one sleeping bag they gave us, which wasn't very thick. If I had just looked a little closer, I would have seen the very thick blanket at the end of my bed...which would have made a world of difference, but I didn't and was stuck freezing for a while before getting some sleep. Luckily, I had set my alarm on my cell phone to wake me up a hour later. I woke up still cold and told Jai that I was going back. He was sleeping like a baby with HIS nice, thick blanket...silly me!!!

When we got back to the cabin, we decided to sleep in the kitchen/main room on the benches that are also used for beds. It wasn't the most comfortable sleep I've ever had, but at least it was better than in the tent!

Florie-Anne et Juilette in the kitchen/main room. I slept on that bench on the left

The next morning, we had a basket of sandwich stuff to make for ourselves and soon enough it was lunchtime. Usually, there would be more activities for us to do, like ice fishing or cross country skiing, but it was still pretty early in the season for cross country skiing and the river wasn't frozen yet. But some people went sledding around the campsite. I was more content with just relaxing a bit before lunch.

For lunch, they made a very tasty soup that also had reindeer meat and some vegetables. The guides definitely know what they were cooking, maybe because they have cooked it many times before. Nonetheless, it was tasty and filled us up.

The rest of the day didn't have too much else going on besides the cleaning of the cabins and getting ready to leave. As we were waiting, Henrik was bringing another group of 9 to the cabin. One of the guides asked me to help her bring in the raft and I got to meet some of the others from the new group. They were curious how it was, and I could only tell them how much fun I had.

After about an hour later, it was our turn to go back to Kiruna. We left around 3, so it was already dark. It was the same concept as when we first came: three groups, one on the dog sleds and two on snowmobiles. The group of 7 French people actually had to get back before their train was leaving around 5, so they got to go first on the dog sleds, and after their turn, one of the guides would drive them back with the snowmobiles a bit faster than 20 kph..

Everything seemed to be running smoothly until there was a stop of about 15 minutes. Something was loose on Henrik's trailer that was making the trail for the dogs. After a few attempts, it was fixed (I guess) and we continued on our way. I was stuck with the last group, so I think we got the dogs at their most tired state, but were still going pretty strong. There were a couple of fights between the dogs in front of us, and Henrik gave the dogs involved a swift kick to tell them to knock it off. We eventually got back to the starting point, returned some of the things we had to borrow, and got dropped off back at the hostel in town.

Jai and I sleddin'

When we scheduled the trip, we had to book two people at a different hostel besides the Point North one, because it was all booked. When we called this other place, we told them we wouldn't be there until the afternoon and they said it was ok and they "couldn't wait to have us"...Well when we got to the place, the reception office was closed...I called the place, got an answering machine saying they were closed today and to check back tomorrow...NEJ! (Swedish for NO) We couldn't get any hold of them and now had two people without a place to stay. Luckily we didn't pay for the room ahead of time, so no money was wasted on this confusing hostel...

We went back to Point North and after some discussion of either 1) telling the lady who runs the hostel our story, and hope that she understands and pay for the extra two 2) just try to keep the two people hidden the night and avoid the fee and avoid getting the two people kicked out into the night, we chose to tell her our story and hope she lets us have the two others stay in one of the rooms with us. She had been nice to us before, so we saw no risk in at least asking her. She was very understanding and said it was ok to have the others stay and pay for the night. We were very grateful and I have since then submitted some reviews of the hostel we stayed at, and the one that wasn't open when we needed it to be...it's on google maps if you like: type Kiruna, search for hostels and look for Point North and then Kirunarumsservice for the other one.

The rest of the night was spent just chilling and watching TV. We played some terrible memory game with National Geographic cards, watched Eregorn, ate some thai chicken and rice combo made by Jai. And again we tried seeing the Northern Lights but with no success. Oh well, that's for the next trip!

Next day, we woke up a bit later than we probably should have because we still needed to pack, but that ended up not taking as long because we knew how to pack all the stuff from before. We had a quick breakfast, then got in the taxi and headed to the airport. It was -17 Celsius (1 Fahrenheit) when we got to the airport. The flight itself was only 1.5 hours to Stockholm Alranda.

Then we took the shuttle bus to the bus station in Stockholm (about 50 minutes away). We said goodbye to Emanuel, Guillaume's friend who spoke no English who had to catch a bus to another airport. Next, we got some Burger King for lunch and said goodbye to Jai who was going to stay in Stockholm for one day, because he still hadn't seen the city...I'll probably have to do the same before leaving January 11th to go back home. After lunch, the rest of us took a direct bus back to Jönköping. I am not thrilled with taking the bus as compared to train because of the cramped feeling in the bus and it is a bit noisier...oh well!

It was a great trip, something I will remember for a loooong time. There's nothing else I can think to say about it, except maybe next time I find myself in Lappland, I go in February or March when it's a bit colder, you can do more stuff and see more things (Ice Hotel, ice fishing, etc), but who knows when the next time will be!

Kiruna: pre-trip

So a few weeks ago, a few of us students (6 total) who couldn't go on the trip to Kiruna with the school decided to plan a trip of our own a week before!! We will leave Wednesday (25th) and get back Sunday (29th).

We will be taking a train up totaling 21 hours! Should be interesting...

Then one night in a hostel in Kiruna. The next day, a two-day package of snowmobiling and dog sledding, and an overnight stay in a cabin.

The last night we will stay in a hostel again (a different one).

We will fly to Arlanda Airport and take the bus back to get back around 4 Sunday afternoon.

The amount of clothes I'm bringing is probably going to be way less than the others, because I'm used to the cold and it's still pretty early in the season for it to be TOO cold for me.

There is an ice hotel located in the town, but it won't be ready when we are there, but it would only be to see it, not stay in it, so I'm not too bummed about that.

There might be a possibility of northern lights, hopefully I can get some pictures of it!

A few days after I get back, I should have a new post...see you then!

Slovenia: final chapter!

By now, the arena has definitely filled up more than in the beginning. I wouldn't say it was sold out, but pretty close to it, and you could sense the crowd getting antsy once they heard the music from the movie "psycho"...something that they did on their last tour as well. Once the music changed to that, you knew everyone was ready and in about 5 minutes they were going to start their show. I was able to get much closer to the stage than where I was for Opeth as well. It still didn't help there were a few tall Eastern European people in front of me...curse my height! oh well...

From the past blog, you can probably guess that Dream Theater were going to get their share of pranks being pulled on them. This was probably the most entertaining concert I had been to. Entertaining in the sense of what was going on besides the music.

In the first song, there's a vocal part for Mike that involves some "growling"...well the video crew made a little video to help enhance the moment.

You can't tell from all the way back there (I don't think), but around the 0:52 mark in the video, one of the members of BigElf came and dumped something on his head, probably fries or something. THAT was probably the funniest thing I saw that night. Mike's humor is a great part of the band, and just made it funnier that he started singing the cookie monster song.

There were a few other songs that I hadn't heard them play before, another reason why I like what Dream Theater does. Usually, it's Mike who makes up the set list. There are a few common songs, like ones of the new album, but then he also keeps track of what songs they played the last time, so if you wanted to hear a song but they didn't play it that time, chances are they could play it then! Or at least something different.

For those of you who are interested, (I'm guessing just Luke on this one) the songs they played were: nightmare to remember, rite of passage, JP break/solo, hollow years, jordan break/solo, erotomania, voices, in the name of god, count of tuscany.

I have seen Green Day twice, and they pretty much played the same songs except for the first time I saw them, because that was before their American Idiot album. Not to say I didn't like the songs they played, but it's nice to hear some songs that may not be that popular to some, but favorites for others.

One of my favorite songs from the DT concert was hollow years, a song that I usually don't listen to the album version. During the Jordan break/solo, he played a little bit of the Slovenian song that Simon told us about earlier. I think the crowd got a kick out of it, and I knew somewhere in the audience Simon was telling his other friends that was him who taught Jordan that song!

Here's another prank was pulled in between songs recorded by Jordan on stage. haha I was wondering what some of the Slovenian fans thought of all the pranks going on. If they enjoyed it or not. Either way, it was a very unique show and I'm glad I got the chance to experience it.

I also found it interesting how short of a wait there was for the encore. There was only about half as long of a wait for them to come back on stage as in previous concerts...maybe they were just ready to end the show before anymore pranks were pulled.

After the last song, I knew the after show meeting was next thanks to the show in Copenhagen. The concern of if I see Alex and the other guy from the hostel came into my mind and sure enough I saw him talking with some guys around him in the front of the stage. It was good to see he at least got a front row view of the concert, so he had at least some on ME! haha. I also saw Simon and was introduced to a couple of his other friends that he brought to the show. I used these guys to hide myself from Alex, because I knew if he saw me, he would want to know what I was doing next and with a shiny VIP pass around my neck, things would need to get answered! But, he never saw me.

So Simon, his friends, and I were told to go around outside for the after show stuff, like what I had to do for meeting up with Jordan. There were more fans outside this time, and a barrier around the doors. I was able to flag down one of the crew members from earlier, and he brought us into a little cafeteria room where we waited for Jordan, just like last time in Copenhagen.

So we chatted a little bit with Jordan. He signed some autographs, took pictures and even the singer/guitar player from Opeth came in to say goodbye to Jordan. He told us another prank that I couldn't tell happened. He had a remote controlled farting machine set up, so whenever the guy who works the in-ear monitors wanted, he could switch to the farting machine and give the band members a very unexpected sound!! This happened a few times, including a very soft part in a solo for Jordan. I guess they got a picture of his "priceless" reaction to the noise, haha but I didn't see any strange face from Jordan during the concert. After a few more minutes of talking, Jordan was ready to leave. I said goodbye and thanked him again for what he has done for me. I can't think of many musicians who would do all the stuff Jordan did for me..but then again I don't know that many famous musicians!

Then it was time to say goodbye to Simon and his friends. They had invited me out for a night out on the town, but I was pretty tired and ready to get some sleep, as I probably wouldn't get any real sleep because of the trip back until 3:30 in the morning on Tuesday, and it was still Saturday night!

Before the concert, I was in the hostel looking at travel arrangements for going to a place called Bled. One of the guys back on my floor had been there and said it was a great place to go. I figured to go to Bled and then take the train to Villach, because it's on the way, two birds with one stone!

Sunday morning, I talked with Alex a little bit and he wanted to show me something. I was hoping that he somehow got something signed, but instead he was just showing me his ticket. Since they got there so early, the doors weren't really locked, so they were able to get in without their ticket stub being torn off...they played catch with some of the other crew members as well. I told him how 'awesome' that was, and refrained from showing him all of the cool stuff that I had! After packing up and saying goodbye to everyone, it was off to the bus/train station to get a ticket to Bled and more importantly, my train ticket to Milan.

The train ticket ended up not being nearly as expensive as the one on the way back, and it wasn't the exact same route either. I would leave from Bled at 9 at night, get to Villach, then to Venice and THEN to Milan at 8:30 in the morning Monday. This time I didn't have a sleeping car ticket, which definitely helped bring the cost down.

The trip to Bled took a little bit more than an hour, and the first thing I went to was the Lake. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves about how awesome the lake is!!

First I decided to take the hike up to the castle. On the hike, I took off my jacket because I was starting to get warm. When I got to a point to take a picture of the town from the tower:
I double checked to make sure I had everything. All of a sudden, I couldn't find my train tickets that I kept on the inside of my coat....quickly, I started backtracking down the trail and not too long did I see a family with the Dad holding my tickets!! By the expression on my face, I think he knew right away the tickets belonged to me. I said thank you MANY times, and with the limited English he knew he responded with "Super!", haha. I made sure to put them in my backpack and continued on my walk.

Fortunately, it was just as nice that day as it was Sunday. I then decided to go on a walk around the lake which took about an hour or so. The water was very calm and very clear and probably very cold!
Here is a castle on an island in the lake. You could rent a rowboat and go to the castle, but I decided not to do that. Maybe if there was another person with me I would but just one person in a big rowboat seems a bit lonely!

Here was the castle that I was up on before. I didn't think I hiked up ALL of that, but apparently I did!

I really liked taking panoramic shots of this place....

Here's the first picture I took in Bled...quite bright!

One more for good measure...

So by the time I made it around the lake, I was ready to go back home...but it was only 4 o'clock!! It was STILL a holiday, so there weren't a lot of places open and the sun was starting to go down and the air was getting colder...eventually, I made it to a coffee/bar and had a cup while reading a snowboarding magazine I bought way back in Stockholm the first day. It was nice to be in Bled, but after the lake, there wasn't much else to do.

After asking where the train station was that was on my ticket, I was informed by a hotel receptionist it was in the next town...about 6 km out...so my plan of action was to take the bus, but it didn't leave until 9:10 and the train was leaving at 9:36..still enough time if the bus got to the station on time....

I was waiting for the bus longer than I had hoped. Looking at the schedule at the station, it said one would leave at 8:30, which I was going to take just to give myself enough time to get there and maybe get something to eat in the next town. The bus never showed up. I checked the schedule again, and it should have been there, holiday or not...my next gamble was that the 9:10 train showed up. there were also some phone numbers for a few taxi companies that I was prepared to call if the bus was a no-show. 9:07, no bus I start to think it's probably better just to call the taxi, and maybe while I'm calling the taxi, the bus will show up. The taxi driver says he'll be there in two minutes. around 9:14 the bus finally shows up a little bit before the taxi. I'm thinking I'll be able to get on the bus right away, and get going. NOPE, bus driver takes his time, helping the other passengers with their luggage, and goes up and down the isles....and all I want to do is get on that damn bus!!

Behind the bus I see the taxi waiting for me. I try to be polite in telling the bus driver I'm in a hurry and his response: "sorry I don't speak English, do you speak Slovenian?" with a shake of my head HIS response was "MEH", shrugs his shoulders and continues checking the bus. That pissed me off quite a bit and I went to the taxi driver instead.

He was much nicer than the bus driver and we chatted the whole 5 mintues before dropping me off at the station. I gave him a nice tip because without him, I might have missed the train and that would have ruined a lot of my plans and cost me much more than the tip...And it was true, as the train was coming to a stop, I saw the bus going by the station...I would have been late for the train if I stuck with the bus! I wanted to shout obscenities (that won't be typed on this blog) to the bus, but kept them in my head instead.

So began the long journey. I got a little bit of sleep, and made sure to set my alarm on my cell phone a few minutes before I got to the next destination in case I went into a deep sleep.

In Villach, I was sitting by myself when a guy came and sat RIGHT next to me...I started thinking maybe he wanted some help, as I had seen him earlier asking people for something. Or maybe he wanted to take my backpack. Either way, I just sat there until he asked me something. He wanted to know if I had a Visa..I was thinking the student Visa, but he meant Visa credit card. He was looking to get a train ticket to Rome, but he didn't have a credit card to purchase from the machine, and was going to give me cash for the ticket. I decided he wasn't going to try any funny business, so tried to help him out. It didn't work though, because it was an international trip, and needed to be done in person with someone at the ticket counter. I had the same problem in Milan Thursday night. I tried to purchase a ticket to Ljubljana from one of those machines but it came up with an error message and a guy behind me pointed me to the long line of people at the ticket counter.

After no such luck, and even going through all the possible options to show him I couldn't possibly do it for him, we went back to sit down. His name was Muhammad from either Afghanistan or Pakistan, I couldn't tell because his English wasn't the best. More than a few times he was trying to tell me something and I wasn't quite sure what he meant. I also had to talk very slowly and needed to repeat myself a lot so he knew what I was saying.

His story was that he was going to Rome to see his friends who had been there for a while. The situation back home wasn't very good, so Italy was a safer option for him. I'm not exactly sure how he got to Villach, but he had been to Turkey, Hungary and Iran before.

During our chat, I decided to show him my snowboard magazine, just to show him what kinds of stuff I like to do. I think he found it interesting and asked how some of that stuff was possible!

Not long after, it was time for me to leave. I hope he was able to get to Rome somehow...

My next stop was to a station in the Venice area. Where I waited a couple more hours before making my way to Milan. It was a long couple hours for sure, because NOTHING was open (not even bathrooms). So everyone had to wait outside and it was quite cold that night...not exactly the weather I was hoping from Venice, but it was also early November...

I almost got on the wrong train too. While waiting, I looked at the schedule for the train to Milan, but I was looking at one that didn't get to Milan until around 8:45, and I was anticipating getting there at 8:30. I looked at my ticket to make sure it was correct, and I saw that there was another train to Milan later, but it had less stops. I was almost tempted to take the earlier train just to get out of the cold, but that's just silly.

We made it to Milan with a lot of rain. There were a lot more businessmen by the end of the ride than in the beginning. The pace was definitely set to fast once everyone got off the train at the central station. I quickly got a ticket for the shuttle bus and got on the first shuttle bus...only to wait for 15 minutes before leaving at 9. I didn't really keep in mind much traffic there would be in Milan on a Monday morning until I was on the train in Venice.

It took 35 stop-and-start minutes before getting out of Milan. At the rate we were going in the city, I thinking I was going to miss my flight, which left at 11:20. Finally we got out of the city and it was much better traffic. At the airport, I was lucky enough to be second in line in a lane that just opened for Stockholm after entering a line of 15 people. I got checked-in quickly and was able to grab something to eat. Traveling can be a stressful thing, but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Again with the airline I was traveling with, (easyJet) they have that extra charge to get on the plane. Here's a picture of the "line" for the flight...basically a few people getting in at a time, then all the other people who didn't pay the extra fee waiting for their turn...a bit ridiculous.

The flight was also ridiculous with 150 people on a 156 seated plane. I had no room to put my backpack overhead, so I had to keep it underneath the chair in front of me. I didn't move much on that flight, and tried to get as much sleep as possible. My iPod also ran out of batteries, so it was the soft sound of others talking around me, the occasional announcement on the PA, and of course crying babies!! yippee!!

We got into Stockholm Arlanda around 2, where I had to wait again for another couple of hours before I started my long journey back home. If I would have paid attention to the returning route, I probably would have changed it, because it didn't make much sense. I could have taken a shuttle bus which left every 20 minutes or so from Arlanda to the CityTerminal in Stockholm, and then catch a bus back to Jönköping that way. Instead, I took a bus that went west, and then a bus that pretty much doubled back and went southeast to the CityTerminal....there were definitely a few hours I could have saved...oh well! Lesson learned for next time.

One thing I found interesting were the workers at the Arlanda airport. They had scooters that they could ride up and down the terminals. Some scooters looked newer than others, and I was temped to take one for a ride myself when I saw one by its lonesome.... :) It's not the best picture, but you get the idea.


Stockholm was much nicer to wait than in Venice. I got some Burger King for dinner, and walked around the streets as much as I could and made sure not to get lost. I was thinking how interesting it would have been to walk around Stockholm back in August when I just got to Sweden, instead of going to bed right away at the hotel. I still don't feel I've experienced in Stockholm, because it was nighttime and I again had other plans.

The bus ride back wasn't my most comfortable or pleasant one. I was hoping there wouldn't be a lot of people on this bus, or at least someone next to me so I could get in a comfortable position and sleep all 5 hours before making it to Jönköping at 3:30 in the morning. NOPE. There was quite a few people, and lucky me, I was one of the few people who had someone sit next to them! There were a few kids on the bus, who had been excited waiting for the bus earlier, and the talking didn't stop when they were on the bus...there was also a foreign couple who sat in front of me and didn't know the concept of whispering. I was getting irritated with anything people were doing that was interrupting my efforts to sleep. At one stop, a few people got off and the guy next to me took the empty seats. Hurray! more space for me...NOPE. Of the couple people that got on at the stop, one guy decided to sit next to me! He was also coughing a lot and I could hear his music through his headphones. At some point, the talkative couple got off on an early stop, and I was finally back in Jönköping.

I went to bed around 4 after checking a few things on the internet.

And so ended my epic trip to Slovenia!!! I can't imagine what I would have thought 4 months ago if you would have told me what happened...I probably would have thought you were nuts.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!! It looks like my next trip will be to Kiruna after all, because a few students who couldn't go with the schools organized trip are trying to organize their own trip in late November. One of the reasons I went to Slovenia was because I COULDN'T go on the Kiruna trip, but it looks like I'll have my cake and eat it too!

After Kiruna, I'll be spending my Christmas and New Year's in France...then before you know it, I'll be back in the States!! Time definitely feels like it has been flying by...

Slovenia Part 2

The next day, my first objective was to figure out how to leave the hostel without the other DT fans knowing. The Australian asked me that morning what I was doing, but I didn't fully answer the question. Before the trip, Jordan told me about a Slovenian named Simon, who he met a few years back that was also going to be hanging out with us. Simon was a student at a music school and contacted Jordan through email, and was surprised to get a response! Simon and I contacted each other and decided to meet a little bit before 1, when we were to be at Jordan's hotel.

With the other two Greeks still sleeping/just waking up, I left the hostel and walked around the city again for a couple of hours. At one point, I was sitting at a park near the hotel when I saw a big black tour bus go by me. Not thinking that it could be the Dream Theater bus, I stayed put and a few minutes later walked passed the hotel. Through the glass door, I saw John Myung, the bass player from Dream Theater! One thing you should know about John, he a very private person and doesn't talk much. With that in mind, I decided not to go up and talk to him. They may have JUST got in from Italy, and he could be quite tired from the journey. Even if he wasn't all that tired, he probably wouldn't say much to me. If it was any of the other members of the band, I totally would have gone up and said hello, but John is a different case.


Later on the walk, I found myself in a big park called Tivoli. The concert was actually taking place in a stadium located in a corner of Tivoli. It was a nice walk, but I was just waiting for the time to go by so I could finally hang out with Jordan.


Once Simon and I met up near the hostel, we hung out in the lobby of the hotel waiting for Jordan. The weekend was actually a national 2-day holiday, (day(s) of the dead) so a lot of the places were closed, but Simon had an idea of where we could have lunch. After about 10 minutes of hanging out in the lobby, Jordan finally came down. It was great to see him again! When Simon and I first got to the hotel, there was a camera crew outside waiting for someone it seemed. I told Jordan about that, and apparently he heard Hilary Clinton and maybe even Bill were in town staying at the hotel! We didn't see them though...

For lunch, we ate at a restaurant not too far away from the cocktail bar I was at the night before. I didn't have a whole lot for breakfast, so I was ready for a nice meal! I wish I could tell you what we talked about, but I can't remember it all. Obviously about music, how my trip was, how Simon has been, how Jordan was doing, how excited he was to get back in the states, the frustrations with the internet Jordan was having on this European tour, and much much more! Jordan had until around 4 to hang, so at 3 we took a walk up and down the river. Jordan has recently been trying to learn a traditional song from the country the band was playing in that night, and incorporate it into some part of the show. Simon gave him a pretty simple song to learn and it was great to hear the little part played during his solo/break of the show..knowing it was Simon who taught him the song..pretty neat!


As Jordan does, he took a few videos of the walk including me confessing to the fans back in the hostel what I know Jordan...haha. After walking back in the direction of the hotel, we took a couple photos of each other and after not seeing any fans on the street the whole afternoon, ran into about 5 or 6 people in a 10 minute span! As a joke, I played the role of security for Jordan. Whenever they asked if they could get their picture taken, Jordan would look at me, ask if it was alright, and with great authority I nodded yes and took a picture for the excited fans. It was quite interesting viewing people's reactions to seeing Jordan on the streets. Makes me wonder how it must have looked to Jordan or others when I first saw him!


****EDIT: here are some of the youtube videos from the walk****
Intro
Walk w/ confession
Learning the Slovenia song
It was a great afternoon spent with Jordan and Simon, and after saying goodbye to both of them, it was back to the hostel for a little bit before going to the show. During the walk, Simon was wondering exactly when Dream Theater was playing, so he had an idea of when to go to the concert. I was planning on seeing all the bands, but Jordan said he would call us later and let us know. Jordan also mentioned that there may be some other 'special' things going on at tonight's show because 1) it was halloween 2) it was the last stop on the tour...

Luckily, I brought my phone charger because the batteries were quite low, and after checking my email quickly, I noticed two missed calls from Jordan. Calling him back, he told me that I have a ticket and a VIP pass for the show, and that I should come see him at the production office a little bit before and "come check out" the meet & greet, which consists of getting a picture with the band and getting anything you want signed by the band!! Needless to say, I was very excited to hear about that news.

After that, I decided to show the one Australian fan a picture from the afternoon with Jordan and tell him about my story of how I know Jordan and stuff. He wasn't mad at all, and even thought it was a good idea I didn't tell Alex because "his head would have exploded". He then told me that he and the other fan lined up at the stadium at 3, when the doors don't even open up until 5:30! He described the moment as "a pisser" and busted out laughing (as did I) because here I was, this guy just chilling with Jordan the whole afternoon, while a couple of fans are waiting hours beforehand to get in only to wait for a very long time cramped up in front before DT even gets on stage...and I have a VIP pass that will get me back stage just waiting to be picked up!

So a little bit before 6, the Australian fan, one of his friends and I head out towards the concert. Getting to the stadium there was quite a mess of people. From what it looked like, there wasn't a well organized way of letting the people in. I was able to find the ticket booth around the corner and quickly put my VIP pass and headed inside.

The place wasn't very big, but I wasn't expecting it to be. It reminded me a bit of the arena in Copenhagen with seating on the sides and a big open area for people to stand.

The first band was Unexpect, a 7-piece band (with a violinist even!) that I found very interesting..a decent opening band. During the show, I noticed a man dressed in black switching around the symbols on the set of Unexpect's drummer...I was close enough to see the outline of Mike Portnoy's (DT's drummer) face..and I knew there would be more pranks to come! After that song, I noticed some things being thrown on stage...what looked to be fries, coming from the side of the stage...from who else? Mike!! The guitarist even caught one and ate it in rhythm to a break in the song, haha. In between a couple songs, he came out and gave everyone a grape to eat, and after the last song, Mike and a couple of the stage crew guys came out with silly string and sprayed everyone...very entertaining!

After Unexpect played BigElf was up next. Before they got set up, it was about 7:15 and I had to figure out where the production office was to meet up with Jordan...a worker told me I had to outside, and when I was about to go outside, I was told I couldn't come back in...well, that didn't make any sense to me and I had a VIP pass, so I was able to talk the guy into letting me back in if he saw me again.

After being directed to the production office, I saw Jordan listening to a version of the Slovenian song Simon told him about earlier. I also met a couple other of the crew members. It was still a bit early before the meet and greet, so Jordan said we should go see what's going on ON STAGE for BigElf...if Mike was doing anything worthy of being recorded on Jordan's iPhone. So, I followed him behind the stage and before I could say anything I saw Mike running around. I got that excited feeling inside of me...seeing Mike in person for the first time! There wasn't time to say hello or anything..so I just kept following Jordan to the side of the stage.

I wasn't more than 10 feet away from the bass player...I mean, this was DEFINITELY VIP access!!! It was too cool. There was a break during one of the songs, and in my excitement of being a fan on the side of the stage, I let out a shout. haha. Then again after the last song, Mike came out and sprayed the guys with silly string.
Then there were a few quick interview with the band members conducted by Jordan and his iPhone. Here's a couple videos of the band members getting back from playing. Since it was Halloween, the drummer for BigElf dressed up as Mike..haha it was great!
Video prt 1
Video prt 2

Next up was the meet and greet.

In the next few minutes, I was outside of the wardrobe room for Dream Theater. Seeing James LaBrie (the singer) for the first time drinking some water. And was introduced by Jordan to John Myung! He said "hello" and that was about it, but again for anyone who knows John Myung, that's like a 100 words said! Then the question was if I go with one of the workers to meet up with the other fans waiting. The decision was to just walk with the rest of the band to the meet and greet!!! Basically, the best way to describe how I felt was starstruck. Here I am, walking down a hallway with Dream Theater like I'm a member of the band, or even a member of the backstage crew...unreal.

Since I found out about the meet and greet thing from Jordan not more than a couple hours before, I wasn't prepared to have anything signed at all...it was either the little ticket they gave me or the VIP pass...so I went with the VIP pass and hope the marker doesn't smear too bad on the laminated surface.


But first, it was the photo with the band. Not really thinking of what I was going to do, I threw up the classical rock \m/ sign and I THINK I was smiling...I honestly can't remember because it happened so fast. I can then say that I'm the last person on that tour they got a picture with, so we'll see how it turns out. Still not sure how I'm going to get the photo, probably from Jordan or something.

I feel kind of silly I didn't say what I wanted to say to each member of the band. I was still feeling the starstruck because of it all. There would have been many fans (including Alex) who probably would have spilled their guts about how great the band is and stuff. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited to have the opportunity to stand in front of one of my favorite bands while they signed something for me and looked me right in the eye...but instead I just said hello and maybe a few other words while Jordan introduced me to each member of the band. I was feeling a little bit of a calmer state from the band as well. They had been touring for a while, and from earlier conversations with Jordan, I'm sure the rest of the guys were just as eager to get back to the States and see their families.

I did tell Mike I was at the Liquid Tension show in Chicago where Jordan's keyboard broke down, so the other members of the band just jammed for a solid hour or so. THAT was also a great concert...but there definitely was some stuff I wish I could have said now after it already happened...

I probably would have said something like thanks for all your hard work, the great albums they have produced, how great it is to listen to their different rages of music, (metal to melodic) and how talented each person is. How I enjoy each member's personality and how it all seems to work out for everyone. Mike with his craziness on and off stage, James keeping the crowd pumped, John Myung just chilling doing his own thing. I didn't get a chance to tell John Petrucci how he is one of the reasons I started playing guitar. Maybe not because I wanted to play just like him, because that would take more than 22093847 hours of practice, but just go help encourage me to at least give it a try...

Hopefully, there will be another time in the future where I can get the chance to say what's on my mind, or at LEAST say more than just hello. Maybe show some excitement and get them pumped for an upcoming show! That will be my mission for next time...

After the meet and greet, it was time for the guys to start warming up for the show. On the way back to the front of the stage, Mike gave me a shirt and a couple of CDs that I think were given to him by some of the fans at the meet and greet. They weren't DT cds or a DT shirt, but just some random bands, probably trying to promote themselves however they could. I was pumped to get the shirt, because that would help me with having a clean shirt for the ride back home :)

The third band playing was Opeth, who were from Sweden. Again, at the end of the last song, Mike sprayed them with silly string.....up next: Dream Theater!!!


I think this is a good time to stop...as well...keep you on the edge of your seat!!!! haha

Slovenia Trip Part 1

After 61 hours of traveling and three days spent in Slovenia, I have MUCH to write about! (31 going, 30 coming back) What you make up in cheaper prices, you lose in time...but it was very much worth it! One of the best trips I could ask for!! I'll split the story up into three parts, so let's start from the beginning shall we???

Right off the bat, I get on the wrong bus to Stockholm..haha! I got on the 830 bus that goes to Stockholm, not the 832 that I needed. Luckily, when I was sitting looking outside the window, I saw the right bus pulling into the station, so I was able to make it on the right bus in time. This bus ride was not bad compared to the ride back... (which I'll talk about later)

I had to wait 6 hours for the flight...so I just walked up and down the airport, bought a magazine to read, and had some lunch. On one of the walks I saw my friend Flo, a German exchange student that lives right next to me back in Jonkoping! He was dropping off his girlfriend who stayed a few days in Jonkoping. While in the line for check-in, there was a lady who had been in the wrong line the whole time. An easy mistake that I almost made, so I didn't hesitate to let her go ahead of me.

I was on a plane that didn't have assigned seating, but rather an order of people who payed the extra price of getting on the plane first. I obviously didn't go with the extra charge, and was still able to get a seat next to a window with a space in between myself and the isle seat. I was able to get some sleep in and enjoy the view of the mountains below before landing in Milan.

Milan Central Station

It was quite weird because it was very sunny until we got into Milan. It was hazy and was instantly dark once we landed. It would have been nice to see more of Milan, but I had other plans for this trip...I'll just have to leave it for another time:)

After a shuttle bus to the central station, I had to get a train ticket to Ljuljana...this ended up being more expensive than I was anticipating, as one of the rides was with a sleeping car. I would have gladly paid for just a regular seat, but it didn't look like there was that option for this trip. The train left around 9 or so. I ended up getting a few more solid hours of sleep, and in a lying position for the first time in a while.
There was another college student from Brazil (can't remember his name...) in the same room as me. He lost his plane ticket to go back to Vienna, so he had to buy the ticket instead.

I had to change trains at a place called Villach, which I thought was in Switzerland, but I found out after leaving Villach that it was in Austria...haha. Quite funny not knowing exactly where you are, especially when you're talking about countries! The train station was completely dead, and rightfully so because it was 4 in the morning. I had to wait 2.5 hours before getting on the train to Ljubljana.

The countryside of Slovenia was quite nice actually. I didn't know what to expect, but there were hills throughout the ride in. It didn't matter how tired I was on the train, because I had to wake up to find the hostel I was staying in for the trip...and not knowing a single word of Slovenian could make it difficult!

One mistake I made on this trip was not writing down the address of the hostel, or even the freakin' directions that they give out on the website! Lesson learned. I knew which hotel Jordan was staying in, used Google Maps to see where it was from the hotel, and it was literally 2 blocks away from the hostel I was at...so I was able to find the hotel fine, but it took another hour or so to find the hostel. It didn't help getting directions to different areas of the city. I was starting to think the place didn't exist after a while! I got a map from the tourist info center, asked a hotel worker, and EVEN asked a coffee shop that ended up being the next building over from the hostel! The guy didn't even know about the hostel and he works not even 30 ft from the place!!! I will also give partial blame to my tired mind. It was Friday morning, and I had been traveling and waiting in places since 1:45 Thursday morning...but it didn't matter because at 10 o'clock, I finally made it to the hostel in one piece. .

I took about a 3 hour nap before walking around the town by myself. I ended up finding a winding trail that led to the castle in Ljubljana. For most of the walk, I was only thinking about what would happen the next day hanging out with Jordan. After that, it was ANOTHER nap, which I probably didn't need as much, but I took it anyway.

One of the more interesting stories about the trip was about the people who were staying at the hostel. As I was hanging out at the hostel, there was a guy who noticed my Liquid Tension Experiment sweatshirt (3 of the 4 members are also in Dream Theater) and instantly knew that I was going to be at the concert the following day. There were actually 3 other guys staying in the same room as me who were in Ljubljana for the show. Two of the guys were from Greece and the other was from Australia who was taking a break from working in London. Alex, who noticed my sweatshirt before, was the bigger fan of the bunch. I can't remember the names of the other guy from Greece and the Australian...gotta work on remembering names! Nice guys though! It was good to talk about Dream Theater for a bit. Alex's English was spot on and from what I remember, he used to speak with more of a British accent when he was younger, but he had many friends from America, so it just changed over time.

Now comes the interesting part that was running through my mind the whole time: "do I mention to them my story about meeting Jordan in Copenhagen, and am going to be spending the afternoon with him the next day?" or "tell them that I know Jordan Rudess, make their day, and maybe introduce them to Jordan as well" I didn't really think that this situation would happen, but I ended up keeping it from the other guys because I didn't think it would be the best for a group of guys to hang out with Jordan...also, I'm sure Jordan wouldn't appreciate have a bunch of fans around him all the time...it's like inviting people to a party that you were invited to by someone else...it can get crowded. And if they ended up running into us on the street, then I would have to explain to them what the deal was...haha! Who knew I would have to keep such a secret while visiting Slovenia?!

There were a total of 4 people from Australia, including a couple who had been traveling since February and spent 3 months living in Germany. I guess if people from Australia travel, they do it in big chunks because they live so far away!

After a tasty lasagna dinner, the DT fans and I went out for a drink at a cocktail bar near the river. It was a good time, just chilling. Still in the back of my mind I was struggling with the whole should I/shouldn't I tell them about my story, but kept mum. I decided to head back to the hostel for some sleep when the others wanted to go somewhere else. They ended up coming back not much later after I did, because they couldn't find a place to go.