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Spaktekel Medieval Festival 2011
Three years ago was the last time I attended the Spaktekel. So I was surprised to learn that this year it would take place in on a Castle in Grisons. Fortunately it was very easy to get there by public transport.
We arrived at 5pm, just after a heavy rainstorm blew over. So it was markedly cooler than we expected, after all it was supposed to be sunny and warm!
The first band to play after our arrival was Seabass a Swiss band playing "Balkan beats 'n Melodies". Their music was catchy and encouraged us to dance along.
Next were Cumulo Nimbus a Renaissance Metal Band from Germany. Even though their music sounded cool, I couldn't warm to the vocalists and so I wasn't too disappointed when their show was over.
What then followed was an impromptu acoustic concert by members of Des Königs Halunken and other musicians. And it was fantastic. The guys had never played in that combination before and even exchanged instruments between songs, nevertheless it sounded very professional :).
And then it was finally time for the highlight of the day, Des Königs Halunken played their 5-year anniversary concert. Exactly 5 years and one day ago they played their first gig at the Spaktekel. To celebrate this they vowed to make all their speeches in Swiss German, in addition they regularly toasted to the audience with Vodka and other liquors, which definitely didn't make it easier for them to play! Thus it wasn't surprising that fun was the first priority and fun we all had. As a special present to the constant fans the Halunken played "Herr Mannelig", one of their oldest songs, which no longer features in their regular program. After two hours the show was over and everyone was relieved to get a break ;).
With a nice fireshow the evening ended.
Overall, the Spaktekel was a great success despite the mixed weather. I'll definitely consider returning next year :)
My pictures can be found in my web album.Labels: Event, medieval, Music, pictures, Spaktekel
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Middle Earth Festival returns in 2012
After an absence of 5 years the famous Middle Earth Festival returns to Leuk in 2012. I myself have attended three times so far, and every time was tremendous fun. Let's take a look back.
2003 I didn't have a clue was I was getting into when I signed up for the 3rd Middle Earth Festival in 2003. The reason for going was my good friend Ronny, who is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, didn't want to go alone.
I most clearly remember the workshops featuring fighting skills such as Sword Fighting and Archery, but also the concerts by An Lar and Saltatio Mortis in the evening. We had such great fun at the concerts that we blocked the bands from leaving the stage! Only after Saltatio Mortis appealed saying they had to travel another 300 kilometres tonight, we appeased and gave them a rest ;).
All in all it was a wonderful experience.
Unfortunately for this review, the Middle Earth Festival happened before I started blogging and before I acquired a digital camera, thus there are no further posts and pics to link back to.
2005 When I learned that the Middle Earth Festival would take place again, I didn't hesitate to sign up. This time I even signed up alone, knowing that there are so many wonderful and friendly people there, that I wouldn't feel left alone.
The day before it all started I joined the Caradhras expedition, for a day-long trek with beautiful summer weather over the Gemmi pass.
This time my focus for workshops shifted from fighting to dancing (Irish Dancing, Medieval Dancing, etc.) and I didn't regret this choice, because they all were great fun!
But let's take a look what I had to say about it at the time:
Mittelerdefest 5
Pics from Mittelerdefest 5
2007 Signing up for 2007's Middle Earth Festival was a no-brainer ;), after two such wonderful events, I just had to be there.
Same time as last year I joined the Caradhras trek a day before the festival. However, this time we were not so lucky with the weather and ran into a snow storm!!! Remember, it was the 5th of July! We all made it through and still have fond memories of our heroic feat :)
Fortunately the weather improved for the rest of the Festival. Having loved the dance workshops in 2005, I signed up for more dancing in 2007 and again it was great fun.
But let's take a look what I had to say about it at the time:
Caradhras
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Conclusion With great joy I learned that the Middle Earth Festival will take place again in 2012 and immediately marked it in my agenda :). I can't wait to meet all those wonderful people again :)
More information about the Middle Earth Festival 2012 can be found on their official homepage.Labels: Event, mef, Middle Earth, Mittelerde
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Bali
We just returned from a fabulous vacation in Bali! At first we spent two weeks Scuba Diving in the North-East, where we stayed at AlamBatu, a beautiful resort.
Then we headed to Ubud, where we rented a car, a tiny Suzuki Jimny, and drove all the way to the North-West to Pemuteran. There we stayed in the Pondok Sari Resort for three days to do some more Scuba Diving. One day we visited Menjangan Island, a national park close-by, and one day we perused local dive sites.
Then we spent two days driving around enjoying the views and the rain, after all it was the end of the rainy season ;). We were very glad when we finally arrived in Ubud, because our car broke down twice on the way...
All in all it was a great adventure with lots of fun and relaxation :)
Finally, here are some non-diving pictures from Bali
Labels: pictures, vacation
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Medieval Festival at Castle Liebegg
Two weeks ago a medieval Festival was held at Castle Liebegg. Since we had other plans for Saturday we decided to visit Friday evening.
Just before we approached the entrance area, we were asked by a charming young man if we would like to participate in a medieval competition, it would only take 30 minutes and involve tasks such as Archery. As a reward we would receive two free tickets.
We'll it turned out harder than it sounded, the competition was composed of ten tasks such as Archery, tug-of-war, barrel rolling, obstruction course and many more. Here are some of the highlights:
Fortunately we had a great team and lots of fun. Unfortunately it was already dark by the time we finally made it up to the castle, so we weren't able to look at all the market stalls and activities. We did stay for the night concert by Faun, which took place next to a beautiful cave in the middle of the forest. But by now we were so tired and so distracted by Faun's light-show, an acoustic set would have been much more appropriate to the location, that we left after half the time had passed.
Thus we decided to return on Sunday and check out the other events. Which gave us also time to chat with friends from the LARP scene.
All in all, the Medieval Festival at Castle Liebegg was a wonderful event, and I hope it will be repeated in the future.
More information about the event
All picturesLabels: medieval, pictures
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SOLA 2010
This Spring I participated again in the SOLA Team Relay Race with a team from Zühlke. It was again a great event and I could even improve my time from two years ago, where I ran the same course.
The reason for this late blog post is that I only recently got hold of the pictures and here they are:
 Labels: pictures, running, Switzerland
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Spectaculum, Weil am Rhein
Two weeks ago I visited the Mittelalterlich Phantasie Spectaculum in Wheil am Rhein. The weather was great and we had a fantastic day. A highlight was Des Königs Halunken, which was their first time as part of the Spectaculum.
Some Pictures can be found in my gallery.Labels: medieval, Music, pictures
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Road Trip to Belgium
It all started with a concert. Alexandra wanted to see a show of Within Temptation's latest tour. Unfortunately, they only played in Holland and Belgium. After synchronizing our calendars we decided to go to Antwerpen for the show. And since it is so far we might as well enjoy ourselves and see some more things on the way.
Our first stop was Cologne (Germany), because Subway to Sally was giving one of their rare acoustic concerts there (we would have missed the show in Switzerland because of our trip). And it was well worth the small detour, they played an awesome gig which lasted almost 2.5 hours! Thanks to our friends we got an address of a cool game store in the neighborhood. I was overwhelmed by their selection and even saw some of the games which I painstakingly imported from the US years earlier! Obviously, I couldn't leave the store without "some" souvenirs ;).
Next was Brussels, a must see according to the guidebooks. Well the first thing we saw was the famous traffic congestion, which led us to leave the highway and take the less traveled route "cross-country". That led us through some very charming towns. Anyways, we weren't too thrilled by Brussels itself, too many tourists not that many beautiful buildings, and so we left after only two hours. 
After a couple of hours driving we stopped in a nearby town and hit a gold-mine. The town was Mechelen and absolutely beautiful. Almost no tourists, lots of things to see and amazing food :) 
The next day we reached Antwerpen, the original reason for our journey. After checking into a stunningly charming bed and breakfast, we made a short trip through the city visiting the shopping district and the old town center. Within Temptation's concert was mainly acoustic, which I liked a lot, with a couple of rockier songs. 
On we went to Bruges, a city I wanted to visit because I loved the movie In Bruges, and we were not disappointed. Even though there were many tourists the city was big enough to get away from the crowds and enjoy the feel of the place. A must-see if you are in Belgium! 
Overnight we stayed in Oudenaarde, a small town with a nice city center, but not much else. 
On our long way back we made a detour through Luxembourg to visit Vianden, a small town with a castle. The drive accross Luxembourg was stunning and one of the highlights of the whole trip! Awesome landscapes and forests!
Our last stop was Colmar in the Alsace region, a charming medieval city, which serves delicious Tarte Flambée. 
Overall a fantastic trip which will long remain in my fond memories.
All pictures can be found in my web album.Labels: city trip, Europe, pictures, vacation
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