EUROPE!

Round 2 begins!

After much deliberation and discussion with mates who are making the trek over to Europe this year I decided a couple of months ago to make the trip as well. And why not? Beautiful European summer, metal festivals, cheap beer and no work! Not to mention I will finally be seeing some of my favourite bands, Hypocrisy in particular!




















Many of you will know that I was ecstatic when Hypocrisy announced their first ever Australian tour and to show how excited I was I bought tickets for the whole East Coast - Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Then, due to incompetence and unprofessionalism, the tour was cancelled because the promoter failed to book flights and working visas for the band. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Lucky I hadn't booked flights and accommodation as I had heard rumours it may be cancelled. But alas, I will now be making the long trek across the globe to finally witness Hypocrisy's mighty live show in Slovenia, at Metal Days (formerly known as Metal Camp). Other bands on the line up include Ihsahn, In Flames, Enslaved, Wintersun, Meshuggah, Solstafir and many others, not to mention it goes for an entire week! A whole week of cheap beer, festival food and heavy metal. This is going to get messy!

Then it's off for some sight-seeing in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, then off to Vienna, Austria for a few days before heading further north to Prague in Czech Republic. Last year this was a city I saw very little of due to time constraints but this year I refuse to make the same mistake. I have made sure I will be arriving a few days prior to the commencement of Brutal Assault Open Air to allow me to have enough time to explore the city and it's surroundings including venturing out to Kutná Hora to marvel at the wonder that is the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel with it's interior decorated with human bones!







After exploring Prague and it's beauties it will be time to venture out to the remote parts of Czech Republic for yet another metal festival known as Brutal Assault! I attended this festival last year and it was possibly the best festival I have ever been to! The line up was amazing, the atmosphere memorable, the beers cheap, the food delicious and the fact there was only 3 stages meant very minimal clashes! The only downside was standing in line for 6 hours to receive the wristband that would get me into the festival ground. But the promoter has promised that such a debacle would not occur this year as systems had been put in place to increase the flow of patrons and reduce waiting times. I can only hope this is true!

I am not entirely sure what will be happening after Brutal Assault but I remember a mate of mine saying something about a road trip through Germany, so if this is the case then it will no doubt be a unique and different way to see a stunning country as opposed to the usual cliche tourist methods through coaches, mini buses, etc.

Then off to Summer Breeze on August 14, for the second time, and after that proceeding to wrap up my holiday in Munich from August 18 to August 20 before I fly home! I will have plenty of photos and no doubt another and more lengthy blog following the conclusion of what is promising to be another amazing and memorable holiday in Europe!

Now I must be off to pack before flying out tonight!

Auf Wiedersehen!