Of knights and sunny days

The medieval market in Dreieichenhain ist one of the prettiest markets in our region: Magical location, beautiful ambient lots of vendors and stuff to buy, tasty food, knights tourney, shows and music and so much more!

Thanks to the hot and sunny late summer weather the market was well visited and we had to wait a while on the main ticket line. Since it was not far from our meeting point that day we waited patiently (there are two more entrances around the castle, but this is the closest to the parking area ;) )We then met up with some dear friends and started with having breakfast on the castle pond in this lovely almost too hot weather. As always there have been so many booths with food and treasures that I surely missed some of them even after a few rounds through and around the castle but I found enough loot for one day for sure!

The knights tourneys at Dreieichenhain are always entertaining and we even witnessed a real proposal at the end! The team seemed to have kept it a good secret from the future bride as she was confused and shaking already when she was lead in [heart]. And so the "bad" black knight was the winner of hearts at the end and got a lot of cheers from the crowd! Our favourite however was the green knight ;)

There also was a archery competition for everyone, all you needed was a traditional wooden bow. Since my horsebow is sadly not fully made of wood we just watched for a while :)

Beltane

Traditionally we celebrate Beltane most of the time at Ronneburg castle. Every year they have a big medieval market with fires and fire based acts and incredible fireworks.

A few years ago they had quite a few acts including Fangdorn the dragon but is got less every year. Liudon Incorruptus was playing (as they are on nearly every market at Ronneburg castle for a few years now... I really like them but changing musicians regularly would be appreciated...)

We have been really suprised by the mass of people who celebrated since it was kind of rainy the whole day but the event was really crowded I would say :)

Nonetheless it was a great night (although I wasn't feeling that well~)!!! 

This years fire act were Firedancer whom are a absolutely stunning local group. Sadly I didn't manage to take some proper pictures due to our standing position.

I hope you all had a blessed May night!

Alestorm and "the tiny village near Darmstad" + Autumn Market Ronneburg

On Saturday my lovely boss, her husband, my hun and me went to see Alestorm and support at the Steinbruch Theater. Only the day before we learned that it might be the last concert at the Steinbruch... wich meant that the Finntroll concert there on Wednesday will be cancelled :(

I have to admit it was the first time for me to visit the Steinbruch even though I got invited from friends so many times~

The tiny club was sold out that evening and crowded to the roof!

Due to work we sadly missed Troldhaugen and Crimson Shadows but Brainstorm and Alestorm were awesome! During Alestorm the venue got so packed and warm that we had to go outside to breathe~ x__x

The next day the four of us visited the annual medieval autumn market "In honor of the holy grail" at Ronneburg. It takes place every year around the end of September and the beginning of October.

I really love the autumn market! It is always blessed with lot's of traders and visitors, great food, lovely wares, battles and music.

The 1 on 1 battles were as spectacular as always and the cutest thing for sure was a tiny vikng (about 2-3 years old) with a wooden axe laughing the whole time! The tiny warrior was allowed to strike a few hits against 2 of the warriors. So cute!

Surely we bought a few treasures!

New leather pouch, handbraided linen-braid for my hun's new tunic, bronze beads and a kläppar häst.

Dust in the Wind - or Wacken 2014

We started off to the holy land of metal and mud on Wednesday early morning 4:30am.

My coworker Ellen was the captain of our vehicle and since she didn't sleep very much we had to take a little break for powernapping. After a long journey -with a little unexpected sightseeing tour- we arrived at Wacken. Our lovely boss and her husband were already there and saved some space for us :) The security was really kind and led us to the destined place.

One of our campneighbors, Fleck, helped us to build up our tent and after everything was set we walked to the festival site to get our wristbands and the Full Metal Bags.

The queue was long and it took us about 15min to get to the counter~ right after we walked to the merch queue to getsome shirts... additional 30mins ^^;

Now it was time to check everything out.

We took a stroll aaaaaaaaall over the festival site. It was so hot and dry and the wind was rather harsh at some points and blew lots of dust and dirt in our faces. We spend the evening with food and drinks at our fav place in the Wackinger Village whilst listening to Dunkelschön (which haven't been that good ... *cough*), Vogelfrey and Faun.

On Thorsday we all took breakfast together and went to the Wackinger Village for Mr Hurley und die Pulveraffen! I bought a shirt and the Grog n Roll CD :) Next came Saor Patrol~ I so love their scottish accents!... even if I didn't understand everything XD
Afterwards we went to the main stages to see Bülent Ceylan, a German comedian that loves metal and has pretty hair. We had lots of fun :)

Then we struggled through the masses to get to one of the other main stages for Hammerfall!
Hammerfall was soooo awesome! They played so many of the old songs which made us really happy~ And they were loud! We stod on the right side in the front and the ground was rumbling like there was an earthquake :P ♥ 
When the others went to see Steel Panther my hun and I went back to the camp, had some food and a cozy afternoon.

Friday we went down to the main stages early to see Russkaja. I really love those guys~ it's always a lot of fun! Next we saw Knorkator, also a very funny band from Germany ... they are so crazy. After Knorkator was over we want back to our camp and made a BBQ all together :)

On our way back to the main stages we came across some funny Dutch people: Blaas of Glory
They were so awesome and we had lot's of fun. They just finished in time for us to go to Apocalyptica (with orchestra). I was really looking forward to that but I have to say that it was quite dissapointing :/ Maybe we were to far away but the sound was crappy and idk... it was not what I was hoping for.

Later in the Wackinger Village Omnia was really great! We also took a little shopping trip on the medieval booths and found some lovely bling :)

The glass beads are from Hagediesenhain♥

We met my lovely sec.cousin Katha and her friend Julia on the way to Megabosh.
I first saw Megabosh last year at Wacken and liked them right from the start. They are just great! The show this year was a blast again~ with pretty girls and boys and a lot of naked skin and fire (I like fire) ♥ 

Saturday was the last day of the festival. We slept long, had a shower and had a nice time all together at our camp. With BBQ, games and drinks and my hun playing the guitar :D
Around 6pm we got down to the main stages for Amon Amarth! ♥
The show was fantastic and sooo crowded! People stood all the way up to the Wackinger Village and even further D: We were at a nice spot in front of the sound tower. It was so great! Johann Hegg was grinning all the time and seemed so happy to see so many people~ it was so much fun to be there. 

After Amon Amarth we went to see JBO (and again a funny German band which I grew up with) and then as always off to Wackinger Village (yes we like it there!) to see Firkin.

We really were kind of dead that evening and whilst the others went to see Van Canto my hun and I strove back to the camp... Actually we wanted to see Schandmaul, the last gig of Wacken 2014 and a great great GREAT band but we just were so damn tired and since Schandmaul will be near my place soon we decided to skip that and go to our tent.

On Sunday morning we awake to the sound of our camp neighborst destroing their pavilion ^^;
We packed all our stuff, snatched some energy drinks and started the long journey back home...

Thank you!
See you next year Wacken!

Wanna read about 2013?

Finland is metal!

Helsingin on tosi kiva kaupunki!!!

Helsinki was soooo awesome~ but it was way not enough time to visit every places and try everything I want. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to visit Finland again :) Maybe in Summer this time!

Day 1 - Wednesday

At the evening of January 29th Mari, Colin and myself flew to Helsinki. Right as we walked to the check-in counters in Frankfurt, we passed some cool looking dudes with long hair and a bunch of instrument cases and Mari said to me "Are you thinking the same as me?" YES! Definetly a Metalband!

So we sat there~ waiting for the check-in to open and silently watching the metal guys trying to guess the band and if they are going to Helsinki too^^; Once in a while one or two of them would walk past us with a curious look and a grin on their faces but none of us had the guts to go and talk to them. As the check-in counters opened they dissapeared in the opposit direction.

 But luckily they came back as we already sat at our gate and we entered the plane together and I was able to read the band name on one of their cases :D 

And there was written: Frosttide!
Awesome! I've heard that bandname somewhere before and after checking them out on Facebook I recognized that they palyed at last years Heidenfest :D

So I wrote to them at Facebook as soon as we reached our hostel and made us self at home. 

They just came back from the tour with Ensiferum and we exchanged some nice words and made plans to drink a few beers together at the next concert ;)

Those guys are awesome! Go and listen to their debut album here and like their page on Facebook. You won't regret it!

We arrived save and sound at Helsinki airport, picked up our luggage and went to the bus stops.

Outside it was really cold but that was just what I expected from Finland in February ;) It even was quite "warm" for winter in Finland since it was only a bit under -10°C.

There's a Finnair bus driving from the airport to Helsinki and back. They charge 6,30€ per ride and take care of your luggage :) Since we arrived late at night, there was only one other person on the bus and it was really relaxing. The hostel was located directly at the olympic stadium just a few walking minutes from the Töölön Halli tram stop. We told the staff that we'd arrive late at night and since the reception is open 24h it was no problem for us to check in this late.

Sadly no blood pancakes at the airport :(

Day 2 - Thursday

After a rather pleasent night of sleep we decided to go to the city and check out Helsinki on our own.

At first we went to Alepa wich is a supermarket you find quite often. We bought some snacks and drinks for the day and took the tram to the center. We went to Forum then wich is a big shopping mall right at the center. The Mummin Shop is located there!!! I used to watch the Mummins all the time when I was a child and my grandpa liked it very much too :)
Later we went to the harbor and into a cozy lovely café! The sea was frozen all over and I really loved the view!

Afterwards we went to the Military Museeum. I wasn't so euphoric about it but I have to say it was really informative and even funny at some points. For example a newspaper clipping in German! It was written from the Finish to tell their German allies something about themselfes and I really liked the point that went like "... we are quite tall since our ancestors were strong people just as our German friends but we are not so massive in bodysize unlike the Germans, in more peaceful times at least, because our beer is not as good (...)" ^^;
Also there was this funny drawing in a soldiers diary!
The museeum had also some interactive parts. Like PC info screens in several languages, an air-raid shelter wich started to play bomb and aircraft sounds as soon as someone entered it and a trench complete with a cannon that also played sounds as soon as one crawled inside the trench.
Finnish army uniforms from then and now were provided so that we could try them on and compare the gear and all.

In the evening we wen't to the bar On the Rocks. At first we were a bit irritated... cuz there were only guys in the bar. And we thought we missed a "boys night" sign or something~ but whatever it will stay a mystery. The bartender was really friendly~ we wanted to drink some local beer. I chose Koff because I saw this advertisement:

Beer and alcohol in general is really expensive in Finland. At the bars you can't get a beer under 5€ (excep at the HappyHour in Prkl but more of that later). But anyway! I thought Koff must be some kind of manly beer .... but in fact it was more a girly beer. All beers we tested were not that strong.
After the most expensive beer in my entire life we went back to the hostel :)

No bloodpancakes~

Day 3 - Friday
The next day we decided to travel to Suomenlinna, the fortress isle in front of Helsinki. 
I was really happy to see that it was snowing that day and we had a little winter wonderland outside :) The others weren't that happy about it ^^; And I was the one with like zero grip on her shoes and nearly slipped so many times! But I liked the snow~  no matter what! I really miss the snow here...
Anyway!
So we got up a bit later than planned, went to Alepa to catch some snacks and then off to the harbor. At first we went to a lovely cozy café at a boat not far from the docks were the ferry lies. My grandpa would have loved it :)

After a tasty coffee we took the ferry to Suomenlinna. The crunchy drive through the ice took only 15 minutes. Sadly all cafés at Suomenlinna were already closed and we just had an hour until the museum closed too. I don't liked it very much that I just had so less time in the museum. We raced through the exhibition and watched the info-film. Afterwards we wandered over Suomenlinna on our own :D I wanted to go to the cannons at the shore so we went there!
It was really really windy there and as it already was kind of cold that day the wind made it even colder.

On our way home we bought some beer and microwave food at Alepa and had "dinner" at the hostel. I bought some Köttbullar with mashed potatoes~ and I was sooo happy that I know at least a handful of Swedish words because the instructions on the package were only in Finish and Swedish ^^;

After we had finished our meal we took off to the Prkl Club! :D
Upstairs there is just the bar and around 10pm the club downstairs would open. The entrance fee for downstairs is 3€ and includes the garderobe. Every evening there's a happy hour with one brand of beer, a shot and a longdrink. That day they had a skate punk themed evening with lot's of bands like The Offspring, Linking Park, Limp Bizkid and stuff like that. A Playstation One was provided with Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 on a big screen. AND there also was a band playing! Awesome!
We had a really nice evening and stayed until 2pm. On our way home Colin and I made angels in the snow XD~ wohoo! (Mari: "...they said the snow wasn't cold!")

Still no blood pancakes :(

Day 4 - Saturday
The day of Hellocon, the Helsinki Lolita Convention :D
Mari and I got ourselfes all ruffled up and went through freshly fallen snow to the convention. At the entry we got spotted by Duplica :D It was such a long time since we last met and I was really happy to see her and all the lovely girls of team Austria again.
The Hellocon itself was really cool. So many nicely dressed girls and boys.
The programm included Q&A panels, fashionshows and a dance show with ballet and pole dance!

I bought some green tentacle earrings and a green bat clip from Talking to myself as well as the Cthulhu sailor dress from Ergi (dress sponsored by my lovely boyfriend) :D

 In the evening after the con we went food shopping with Iira and went back to the hostel to eat. And guess what I finally found with Iira's help!? !!!BLOODPANCAKES!! Wohoo! I really liked them. A whole package is way to much for me alone but they have been really really tasty!!! Afterwards we went to the After-Show "party" of the convention :) We drank a beer and had a nice talk with team Russia, so we invited them to go to Prkl with us :D
This evening there was "Trashdisco at Prkl wich means metal and trashy songs combined (for example: they palyed "What does the fox say" followed by "Symphony of destrucion". We declared our table to the party table and everyone who joined the table had to introduce him-/herself and drink with us. We met a lot of cool people there!
I also felt like in "long haired - bearded men - heaven" and supposed a metal band member in everyone ;) One guy told everyone that he's the drummer from Lordi. Either it's a running gag in Finland or a really cheap flirt line, hehe :P

Also~ I'm not wondering anymore that the first pic from Prkl that I've seen was Samuli with a crown and also I have to say that travelwiki was right at some points ;)

Day 5 - Sunday
So we came home to our hostel at 4am~ the way back included along walk that didn't seem long at that time and rolling around in snow again! :D
The Teaparty took place in the afternoon, so Mari and I had lot's of time to sleep and got ourselfes all frilled up. Outside of the venue we met team Russia and had a little talk :D Inside we sat together with Team Austria, Team Switzerland and (another) Samuli from Finland.
There was a teeny tiny buffet with macarons, sandwiches and stuff and tee of course. Before we all got the opportunity to have a little meet and greet with Ashizawa Yuko, the designer from Atelier Pierrot and Midori Fukasawa, there was a small programm with a raffle and a ballet performance.

After the teaparty Mari and I went back to our hostel, slipped into some comfier and more practical clothes and went back to the city. We decided to go to Prkl to buy ourselfes some T-shirts :D
We strolled around in the city and finished the day with a burger dinner at the Morrissons~

Day 6 - Monday
We packed our stuff, got some breakfast from Alepa and took the bus to the airport.
I bought a Finish metal magazine wich I hopefully am able to read some day~ and then we took our flight back home~


I met so many lovely and nice people there~ here are some BIIIIG hugs for you! I hope I have te opportunity to meet you all again
♥ ♥ ♥

Bye bye Finland!
I will come back one day!
Nähdään pian :D 

Lite lite svenska!

This weekend I had a tiny Swedish class :)

It really was a lot of fun and I would like to continue learning Swedish and I hope I will next year. I'm just not sure if I should take the Swedish Class that's parallel to the Finish class wich I will start in February. I know from my time in school that I'm rather lazy when it comes to learning stuff~ but I learn those languages from my own free will~ wich means they are fun and I want to learn them. So maybe I would manage to get along o.o !? But on the other hand: I guess Finish will be a lot more difficult than Swedish...

Ahhh I just don't know x__x

But I'd love to learn both languages!!! Hrm!

Speaking of Finnland! PERKELE!

The lovely Mako Chan and myself will attend the Lolita Convention and Teaparty in February 2014 in Helsinki! This will be an awesome trip :D

We both wanted to visit Finnland for pretty metal boys, trolls and metal many reasons! I myself love the landscape and the country itself and love to learn the language and finally want to taste those famous blood pancakes the pretty Iira told me about. Also it's kind of the metal land! Some of my favourite bands are from Finnland~ like Finntroll, Turisas, Korpiklaani and Ensiferum :)

It will be awesome! And fucking cold! :D But hey~ IT'S COLD IN FINLAND!!!!

Trinken Troll!

I spent the Halloween evening in the lovely decorated Final Destination Club  with all my lovelies! Sadly we totally forgot to take a group shot Q___Q But it was sooo awesome! Lovely drinks and awesome music~ Caught myself a handsome troll boy :)

 

What a lovely and chaotic night it was! Thank you everyone for making it so awesome!

Paaah~ rain... who cares! We're vikings!

We went to the autumn market at Ronneburg  again this weekend :) On Saturday it rained all day... but as the true vikings we are we went there anyways to drink warm mead with some fellow celts we met there.

Jumped around in the mud pits with some little kids... their parents were surely really really happy XD

There really weren't that much people since the it was raining really strong. We had our fun anyway and much time to talk to all our friends at the stands!

On Sunday the weather was much better. 

There were much more visitors and we had a lovely time with our friends of the guards and market stands again! Lenas drinking horn seemed to refill itself everytime it was empty ;) 

We got our names etched into our drinking horns (haha yay) and I bought a lovely amulet showing the Midgard Serpent.

Raise your horns!

Autumn has come and it's market time at Ronneburg castle again! What a lovely weather it was! Met so many people I know and also our scald Halfdan whom I haven't seen for years~ lot's of nice talks, tasty food and mead. Could have only been top'd with a camp and a nice time at the bathing house in the evening. Sadly the boys canceled their camp there, so now viking for me this weekend :/

I also didn't manage to sell my buddy... I'll try it again next week XD
 
Oh, and I made some pagan clothing for my boss! :D

I had this beautiful very dark purple linen wich just screamed to be a dress for her! Including a offwhite linen underdress (the belt and stuff on the picture is mine).

No good story ever starts with drinking tea...

Heidenfest~ war ein Heidenspaß *50 cent in die schlechte Wortspielkasse*

At the weekend I went to the Heidenfest (Paganfest) with coworkers and friends. Mari's fiance and I got some warpaint on as tribute to Turisas and Ensiferum :)

As we arrived I heard someone call my name~ it was the pretty viking I dated at the Zombiewalk and his buddy :3  There also was a fellow Lolita wich recognized me from Dunkelsüß and some of our shop's customers. I was really happy that here where so much people I knew so I had people by my side nearly all the time Even met a lot of new people! Thanks to my viking I had way to much Rum but lot's of fun. Drove home with the vikings afterwards :D Was a really crazy and lovely weekend!
Let's see where all this leads~

Highlights of the Heidenfest: Equilibrium playing the Dragonborn tune, Ensiferum palying "Bamboleo" while wearing huuuge sombreros and of youse finally seeing Turisas live! Sadly I didn't catch one of them outside to "drink some tea" ^^;

And I bought this fucking awesome shirt from Turisas at the merch both *_*