I left home around 9ish Saturday morning and Mike picked me up at Heerlen Station at 10.30 Sunday evening and IT WAS GREAT!!! I could hardly walk, let alone walk in a straight line, I hurt every where, and some places I hadn't hurt in a long time.... but it was worth it. I knew I had over done it, but I didn't think it would take me 4 days to be able to walk.... I gotta get in better shape for next year!!
It sissy-rained almost all weekend, with the occasional torrential downpour thrown in for good measure. I drank 7 "mede's" and only one Guinness..... I know, I was really looking forward to having at least 3 over the weekend, but they had draughts, and I prefer the Stout PLUS..... The Mede is a honey wine, that must have been invented and brewed by angels! It was the best I've ever had. It was really sweet, but not sickening sweet.... The one they had at the festival is from a small winery, and they only make so much a season. Nicky said I was lucky. Last year they were out by afternoon on Saturday... and this year? I had my last one about half hour before I had to go to the station! So all in all.....That they had draught instead of stout, was only to make things easier.... LOL.
We had lunch in camp Saturday, sandwiches with panfried "spek lapjes" (it's uncured pork belly, sliced about half inch thick and my favorite meat) and knakworstjes. Cup of tea as desert.... and listening to Celtic music while we ate. For dinner most people in the group had shrimp, I had minute steak, Franka had salad and Nicky had kokkles...... Breakfast was at Nicky's and consisted of 2 friend eggs, 2 slices of bacon and coffee, lunch was "frietje speciaal" (french fries covered in mayo, onions and curry ketchup) and dinner was a javanese plate, consisting of rice, green beans, sateh, fish cake and loads of peanut sauce... YUP! Except for the greenbeans, not a healthy thing all weekend! (So great! HIHI)
We listened to and watched at least 21 hours of music AND I slept a full 6 hours!
I took some pictures, but not a quart of what I wanted to take. Don't get me wrong, our compact sony performs miracles, but in lowlight and moving objects, it just is NOT my Minolta. And of course, if the owner/operator malfunctions, you really can no longer blame the camera LOL
I changed one setting I wasn't sure about what it did, and didn't remember what it was set on, so now, instead of taking the picture when the button is pushed, it has a couple of seconds delay before you hear the shutter, so if anybody moves in the meantime..... you end up with a whole lot of blur.....
Camp-life was mostly fun, very relaxing and in general, WET. As with all groups of people that know each other very well - some have been going since 2000 - sometimes the personalities clash and they're comfortable enough to tell the other person exactly what they think. Add to this, the loose canon that seems to be standard equipment for any kind of gathering, and you end up with a couple of uncomfortable moments here and there. But, on the whole, everybody got along good enough to not let these little hiccups interfere with the fun and the enjoyment of the music.
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| Trying to stay dry AND get something to eat.... |
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| Adding an awning with the help of painters plastic and a branch...... |
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| Nicky and Willem on KP Duty. Cool awning, huh?! (It doubled the "dry place to sit") |
What I think is funny, was that my niece had never seen or heard of him, and she asked me: "What the heck is he talking about? He babbles! His lyrics don't make sense, and he acts like he's on some really weird medication". Sometimes, age does NOT make a difference in how you perceive things. LOL
I did see on of my favorite Dutch troubadours though. He was just walking along, checking out the music like the rest of us. So that was cool. I didn't want to be "one of those" so I tried to sneak a picture in without being too obvious..... Right after I almost knocked Nicky over while whispering really excited (and louder than I meant) "Hey, is that Gerard Maasakkers?!" And sometimes, age does not mean having more restraint either!
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| Gerard Maasakkers (in the green shirt) |
And on that note (serious pun intended!) I saw a couple of acts that were fun to watch, but I won't run out to find their cd. There's also a couple, I'm going to look for their cd for sure and there was one, I don't know what to think of......
His voice was A M A Z I N G ! It ranges from a deep bass to high soprano, and he is clear as a bell in all ranges... He is also, literally, a one man band. I swear he looks like he's 18 or so, sitting in the middle of the stage, on a barstool, with only a guitar and a microphone. So he starts to sing, almost as if he's singing to himself, and all of a sudden, in the middle of it all, you hear a slide trombone, a bass, a fiddle an organ and a monkey. I kid you not! He doesn't miss a beat and goes back to singing. He did a couple of straight songs, and I really loved them. Not sure I want a CD with all the sound effects thrown in, but just songs? I can see me playing that. A LOT!
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| Chris Chameleon |
There were several Irish sounding bands, but there was one I really liked. They actually enjoyed the music, not just performed. I don't think they would have minded if there was nobody there to listen.... They were perfectly happy making the music together. I think Mike might have enjoyed watching them as well. I may have to test that theory by getting a ced. You know, for Mike, to see if he likes them.... HIHI! So, I'll be looking for a cd of Skyclad.
The funny part is, that although the whole experience was great, the things that will stick with me are odd things: Not so much the music, but the atmosphere. The diversity in people. There were people that looked like they came straight out of the 60's and people wearing kilts, teenagers, people with little kids, people our age (aka old people LOL), and seriously OLD people, but everybody belonged.
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| People getting together to play music, just for fun. |
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| Nap time. |
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| The watchmentals (One of the groups I'll get a CD from) |
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| Bluegrass Boogiemen. (Good music, but a little more into entertaining than the music) |
Just to give an example:
- Everybody drank, nobody got out of control.
- At the entrance were 2 shelves. One was for the GLASS container you got your beverage in, and the other had plastic containers to pour the beverage in if you were leaving the festival grounds. And everybody stuck to it and transferred their drinks before they left!
- The drink cards you could buy had 15 points and the points taken per drink varied from 3 to 7. You could get as many as you wanted, because you could turn them in if you hadn't used them all or all of the card, and get your money back.
- Sanitation, although mobile, was porcelain, and was cleaned 5 times a day, of if it needed it in between, all you had to do was tell someone with a "crew" shirt.
- EVERYBODY working the event was a volunteer, and I've never had such a friendly and smiling service! Some have been working the event for years, and know the regulars.
- There were garbage cans, and everybody used them. Every once in a while you saw stuff laying on the floor, but never long. Crew and visitor alike would pick it up, and get rid of it.
People watching is SO MUCH FUN, and even more if there's alcohol and music involved!
Can't wait for next year!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time, in spite of the rain. You got some really great photos to remember your musical adventure. I'm glad you had a good time! :)
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