Monday, August 12, 2013

Artmania 2013

First short update. 
Birthday in sighisoara last month was sooo awesome! Escaping bukarest's freaking hot weather from mid july was a bless! Of course in sighisoara it wasn't quite snowing but it was better:)). Plus sighi is a beautiful medieval city where it's hard for me to get bored. 
What I didn't get to do is go to rock the city fest. Oh well. 
Oh and tyr/finntroll in brasov got canceled. Which sucks but i'll get my money back so i'll use it to buy tyr merch in bukarest. :)) 

anyway 

Ahhh yes artmania 

So let's take them easy.

deine lakaien
 discovered them when artmania announced them. And gave them a try. And I decided to go to sibiu from thrusday so I can see them, too. 
I got to sibiu, aand I ran into them in the large square so I took a pic with them . yey me. 
But then I discovered that I had to book a seat for their concert. And I got pissed. 

I wasn't the only one who didn't know. And the next day i've heard yet another bunch of people who didn't know. I came from thursday too see them. Couldn't artmania just be like “first ones to get there are the first to get in.” till the seats were all taken? Jfc. Idgits. 
So instead of seeing them I met up with a mate and her friends and hanged with them for a while:)). i was told one of them will soon move to sweden so me my mate and her started talking about sweden and finland and compare the 2 and their languages etc and then ended up talking history and stuff. it was fun.

 The next day I went to the zoo. And among other pwetty animals they have this Gorgeous white wolf who was just chilling in the shadows uphill, making it impossible for me to take a proper pic of him. Next time, gadget! Next time! 

Then I checked facebook. To see that artmania came up with yet another brilliant idea. In the past years there were meet and greets with the fest bands during the day and anyone could go. Which was cool. But this year someone came with a really smart idea. There were only 10 meet &greet thingies/band and ONLY if you'd answer correctly to a question related to the band. Isn t that brilliant? I mean I am pretty sure people came to sibiu to stay online. It's not like you can run into the band members randomly on the street or anything. Or wait backstage after their show and hope they'll come for pics. usually the people from the bands that are brought at this fest do so.
not to mention they had incredible hours for the meet and greet. for example the orphaned land one took place between 21:40-22:00. if you were 1st row at them, won the meet and greet and wanted to keep your place in the 1st row at lacrimosa as well, well fuck you!  

Aaanyway. Meanwhile I was summoned so I met up with andra and the rest and shared the magnificent news. And we were all on the same page: wtf artmania. Then we parted ways cause they wanted to see a movie that I didn't wanna see. Which in a way it was a smart choice cause I got 1st row at amaranthe, but I was dying of heat and didn't leave my place to go buy a drink. So I am just glad I didn't pass out during their show :)). I really liked the show.
i 1st discovered amaranthe not long before i was supposed to see them opening fr hammerfall 2 years ago but there have been some money misunderstandings probably their bus broke down in hungary or smth soo i am glad i got to see them now.
after their show i went backstage hoping that they'll come for a while. and we were a bunch of people there and the guards told us they'll come. meanwhile haggard began their gig so part of the people left. in the end they did come and i did get to take a pic with them. 

i didn't go back to the front of the stage so that i'll keep andra a place for meeting haggard. but from what i heard from the back they were as good as they were last time i saw them. and they sang awaking the centuries! <3>
aaaand haggard finished their part and andra came and so the waiting began. after a while we were announced that the meet and greet will take place in the small square. after some more waiting there, since it was close to within temptation starting, we decided to quit it and go see the gig. wt was my main reason for artmania this year. there was no way i was gonna miss them. plus i've met haggard 2 years ago in bistrita. so it's all good. they're really nice people!

within temptation. well then. 
i don't know what exactly to say.
what's not to like? i like their sound, her voice is amazing, i like the way she dresses, the way she sings, everything. at some point i got up to the 5th row..ish.. so even if the pics i took are mostly shitty quality, i could see quite well. and i liked the dress she wore that night. well ok maybe a bit too shiny but it was nice :)).

after all was over we ended up in valhalla [bar..club...thingie]. which was a trap. there were no vikings there. what kind of valhalla is that with no vikings? but the music was good and the vikings-related decorations were quite nice. 

day 2.
also known as the day i fell in love with lacrimosa.
that day i visited yet again the clock tower. and they had a 3d photos expo which was quite interesting. plus inside the tower it was better than outside so it was a pleasure to just chill there. 
xandria was ... ok. the singer has really nice eyes which looked awesome in contrast with the black hair.
then orphaned land... i tried. i stayed for a few songs and then just went to wander around to some parts of the city where i haven't been before. it was nice. it was getting dark so this gave the city a lovely light. [but then again, i didn't got into other bands (such as turisas) from the 1st time either.]

i was back right before orphaned land sang their last song. andra and the guys made it to the 2nd row soo i joined them. we were all there for lacrimosa [from what i know anyway].

in that half an hour break a storm was giving signs of joining us.
thunderbolt and lightning not that very frighting. thor was probably like "imma give dem bitches thunder. bitches love thunder". and he was right cause at every thunder the crowd would go apeshit. but then the rain began. heavier and heavier. and some left. some went topless.
aaaand lacrimosa came on stage and i really really liked their show. the atmospphere was awesome! tilo has an amaizing voice!!! [anne does too, but there's something about tilo's...] and to all that add the rain which i loved and it ends up being an awesome night!

oh and good thing about [somewhat] speaking [or at least understanding] the language in which the band onstage sings, in this case being german, is that when a creep asks you [for example]: tanz mit mir? you just say "neeeeeeeeeeein". could come in handy.
 i took some pics, most of which ended up being ... acceptable. and i also filmed 3 songs.. soo i will just have to thank my phone for not giving up on me on such a rainy day. but then again it's nokia so it's not that much of a big surprise:D :)). close to the end a girl made room for me by her side so i can take as good of a pic of their bow as i could [and a few before that pic]. so sweet of her.
anyway as i was saying. fell in love with lacrimosa that night.
but
buuut
the rain as much as it was welcomed it was also a pain in the ass. it would've been all ok if it would've rained as it did at the beginning. but noo. at some point it gave me the idea the rain will soon stop. only to start over even worse. which in the end made me not stay for the meet and greet. but oh well. next time!
i already know one person who'll join.
this is me during the heavy rain, after lacrimosa, on my way to my room:





not my vid but still.


and while writing this lines, at certain parts, i can hear a voice from afar whispering "copy cats" :)))).





Monday, May 6, 2013

Brâncoveanu Palace

yes
soo. as i said in my last post, i was to visit brâncoveanu palace [also known as mogoșoaia palace]. aand i did, actually. yesterday. it wasn't the 1st time i visited it, but this time i was alone so i got to actually spend as much time as i wanted wherever i chose.
unfortunately i forgot my camera's memory card in my laptop [yes. sometimes i am THAT smart :))] so all the pics i took were made by phone. i will post some pics here :).
a bit of history. the palace was built between 1698-1702 by constantin brâncoveanu in what is called the romanian renaissance style [better known here as the brâncovenesc style].
the last owners of the palace were the bibescu family.  in the palace's yard you can find the stone chappel where most of them are burried ( antoine bibesco and  marthe bibescu couldn't be burried there becuse they died during the communist area.)
more info about the palace and its last owners here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogo%C5%9Foaia_Palace
http://palatebrancovenesti.ro/en/2011/07/25/presentation/
or just google it !

now part 2
 Constantin Brâncoveanu
was the voivod of wallachia between1654 and 1714. during his time this land met an era of prosperity. at first he was suppoerted by his uncle, constantin cantacuzino, but they ended up facing eachother. cantacuzino was exiled and started advocating his son's Ştefan's candidacy to the throne, while competing with Brâncoveanu for the support of the ottoman empire - wallachia's overlord at the time.
meanwhile brâncoveanu took steps in negotiating anti-ottoman alliances first with the habsburg monarchy, and then with peter the great's russia. unfortunately, brâncoveanu made some mistakes and it all went downhill. long story short, his bad moves and the fact that his throne was wanted [when did that not happen, in general?] and therefore the plots made against him[such as, the sultan was told that brâncoveanu had saved large amounts of fortune and hid them] ended up with him being brought to constantinopole in 1714, with his 4 sons, imprisoned at the fortress of the 7 towers and tortured, the sultan hoping to find out where the believed fortunes were located.
how did they die? you may ask. well. not by torture.
here
let me explain.
basically. heads chopped off.  the sultan ordered for the bodies to be thrown in the bosphorus. his wife, with the help of the orthodox comunity in constantinopolis [if i remember correctly], fished the bodies from the water and burried them at a monastery nearby. [nowadays his body is in a church found in the center of bukarest, church also built by him].http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantin_Brancoveanu
or, you know, google him.

ok. have i bored you enough yet?
good.
now time for pics :))
i wasn't allowed to take pics inside, which sucks. especially since i love the chancery chamber and they still don't have any postcards [or anything for that matter] of it.
soo. this is the main gate. right at its left is a church built by him.
and now the palace

[from what i remember from what i've learned, that outside gazebo balcony thingy is smth characteristic for the brancovenesc style]
view of the balcony from the inside:

back to the palace now




 view of the palace from that main gate's tower thingy:





this is a pic of the inside that i took from the balcony:
right on the left is the chancery chamber!
i did take 2 pics on the inside. couldn't help. i love spiral stairs



 yeah i have to wash the bastards
 and at the bottom of the stairs i took a pic of the view. imagine having this view every morning [especially since i am pretty sure 300 years ago there were trees there, not houses. which makes it even better]
and now. pics of other properties of the palace.
view from the balcony. that s the main gate. [obviously] and over the wall you can see the church.
view from the gate's tower.

another one

this is under the palace, under the balcony:
 what it hosts depends. now there were religious paintings, for example.
and a statuary group representing minerva [the same thing can be seen on top of the targoviste gate. picture later on]
and noow. doors and gates. :))
entrance to what you just saw:
 main entrance to the palace

 see:D. mineeerva



aand last but not least, the bibescu chappel


 and i remembered from my last visit that the crypt is closed. so imagine my suprise when i tried the gate and i actualy could open it [and it made that awesome semi-creepy sound of rusty gate movement...thingy] [yeah. could swear it's not rusty :))]
but my dream of visiting it was soon to be over, as i reached the actual door and saw this
i obviously saw that before, but didn't remember. oh well. still would be so awesome to see the inside of the crypt.
 anyway.
it has stairs on both sides and you can get on top of the cript where you can find 3 tomb stones







and in the front of the crypt, on the left of the entrance, there's this thing
basically, it talks about george bibescu's life and all the good things he did.
but i really like the what's above the book.
really. really. like that.
i actually wanted to visit the palace again today and try to take a pic of the chancery chamber [well. there's a part of it i especially find absolutely awesome. you'll just have to wait!] but it was closed. today it's easter here. so almost everything is closed. but they would've made a looot of money if they would've had it open. the park [the palace has a lot of land around it, also belonging to it] was full of people and someone asked me about getting to the palace. they were there to visit it. too bad..


now i ll just have to check their opening hours and mybe i ll go back there this week for that pic i oh so much want.
hopefully i will manage to actually take it. hah.
 ok now, bye bye then.






p.s. guess who booked the room in sighisoara [medieval city in transylvania. also known for the fact that vlad tepes was born there. now that house is a restaurant with really good food!]
here
take a look
http://www.360tourist.net/view-tour/2883/360wa507d2e82eb41d
and the i'll be staying right in the heart of it, 1 minute away from the clock tower!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Update



haaaaa

hallo, peopleee!


Hyvää Vappua kaikille!


haha
haven't written here in sooo long.
no idea why. but meh.
sooo. yess
[Basically bragging due to a hyper mood and some good news that i found out lately. feel free not to read.]

what happened.
nothing interesting from August to December... and not much now either.
but.
i did see Helloween again in March. and it was pretty awesome. and they had Gamma Ray as opening band. which adds to the awesomenes [not to mention that i got 2 picks from Gamma Ray yey me:D:))] and Shadowside. which, as instrumental, weren't bad. but I couldn't understand a word the chick was singing. aand i got myself one of their tshirts.
glad i got to see Helloween again, this time WITHOUT a massive headache like the one i had at ArtMania [which made me remember close to nothing from that night. i know they sang i want out. and i left right after they were done and before Tarja got on stage. had seen her already so it wasn't much of a miss.]
anyway
this show was pretty awesome. and i got the best place in the venue. and they sang If I Could Fly. so that made me the happiest soul there :)).
i should've written about the gig right after.. while i was still all excited and stuff. oh well.next time!
speaking of gigs. these past 2 weeks have been awesome gigs-wise. first, CoB confirmed a show here. in November.
then maximum rock festival announced the 1st band for the fest. and it was The 69 Eyes. and i went .. well.. basically... apeshit. i finally. get. to. see. them.
GOOD.
but as this wasn't enough, not long after, they announced the 2nd band to sing. and it's My Dying Bride.
not like The 69 Eyes convinced me already of going. sweet mother nature.
i saw MDB last year at ArtMania.. but really don't mind seeing them again. really. i don't haha.
moreover, i might get to also see Megadeth and Iron Maiden for free. Megadeth as a b-day present, Maiden, well, hopefully with the same technique i used at AC/DC and Bon Jovi.
uhuh yes and also Haggard and Withing Temptation at ArtMania. still waiting for the headliner for the 2nd day, since so far nothing interests me then. hopefully they will surprise us with some Nightwish. yes. that would be nice. Floor is awesome.
In mid July, if stuff go as i want, I'll also be going to Sighisoara [BEAUTIFUL medieval city in Transylvania, also known for the fact that Vlad Tepes was born there. it's such a peaceful place!]. MAYBE now the torture chambers are open for visiting.
and to the mountains. <3 aaaah="" days="" frabjous="" p="">[damn so much bragging wtf. see. this is what happens when my tumblr post limit is reached and i am up to date with all tv shows. haha]
oh
i would like to apologize for our Eurovision contestant. i only heard a bit of his song. but. just. no.


oh
oh
oh

something DID happen last year.

on Christmas eve i got myself a great present.
GREAT present
haha
let's just say that
i will be seeing this beautiful place sooner that i expected last July.


and i will be staying longer than i did in July, and this time in Helsinki. SO MUCH VISITING. AND WONDERING AROUND. AND PHOTOS. AAHHHH YEEES!

haha
yeah.
maybe i am a bit excited.
ah and also, i will be meeting a mate from Malta and will be the annoying tour guide for her. which will be interesting. and fun. and i will see her more excited than i will be since i've been there before. haha. one more happy human.
i am really hoping for shitload of snow and for at least a gig...
Harmaja. yes. i would like that. but any Finn band that i listen to works.
and i will update the Finland blog after my trip. no reason to do that now.


on Sunday i will be visiting Brancoveanu's palace from Mogosoaia. i think i will put some pics here then. if not here, then they will be for sure on Deviant anyway. i hope it will be sunny. everything is green and nice already, so yeah..

[you just killed some precious minutes of your life reading this. :)))]

ok now.

bye bye then


p.s. by the time i posted this, 1st of May was over. haha


oh and since i mentioned them and i had this song on repeat today, here.
enjoy


[not a fan of the video since i have no idea what chicks in corsets dusting the furniture and the floor have to do with the lyrics, but i like the song. so yes.]