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 :)

Bagpipes are weapons of war!!!

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, 

Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!

Finally I found my way to beautiful Scotland even if we lingered in Edinburgh only, with a little trip to the Highlands...

↟ Day 1 - Saturday ↟

We took an early flight to Edinburgh from Frankfurt am Main airport. Security got much more annoying since my last flight and all those scanner-gate-thingies confused me and the security people were clearly annoyed too. The flight however was a pleasant one and since Hannes has celiac desease I got his sandwich too, hrhr!

Edinburgh airport is a small one and we found our way to the AIR Link bus (Yay, free WiFi!) into the city really easy. We got off at Waverly Bridge and met up with Hannes mum who has been at Aiona for a week and wanted to spend the weekend in Edinburgh with us. We brought our suitcases to her hotel until our check in and went off to the Royal Mile for scones and tea at the Deacons House café (ohh the scones were sooooo tasty there!). I wore my Winter Soldier longsleeve that day (with printed metal arm) and got shout outs from some people who were clearly team Bucky!

In the afternoon we got our suitcases and checked in to our cute little apartment for the week. Not far from Haymarket and right above the Mad Hatter pub.

We met up with Hannes mum again afterwards and went to her hotels restaurant for dinner. They took good care of Hannes and we all had a lovely high standard dinner. The seabass was so delicious!

After dinner the three of us went to take the double dead ghost tour through the vaults and visited the McKenzie Poltergeist at Grayfriars Kirkyard. At the end we even got locked into THE mausoleum.

The tour was really really good and creepy with an awesome tourguide and a lot of creepy stories. It sure is a lot to walk and the guide has a fast pace but I highly recommend it and would definitely take it again!

I got a book about the Mc Kenzie Poltergeist at the "Wee shop at the cemetary" which I wanted to buy for a while anyway and the shop merchant said I reminded him of Harley Quinn because of my hair ^^;

We went back to the apartment late that night.

↟ Day 2 - Sunday ↟

We had a good nights rest the first night and a lovely breakfast at our apartment in the morning and met up with Hannes mum again. We went to see Greyfriars at daylight. What a beautiful graveyard! There are a lot of pretty old gravestones and crypts and when I found a stone with "James Buchanan" written on it I lost it for a bit... was glad it didn't read Barnes after ^^; I surely could have spent a lot more time there but not everyone is so fond of graveyards.

The Grassmarket has a lot of lovely little shops and apparently a lot of tweed stores. I LOVE TWEED! Sadly it is very expansive though... and I didn't want to be one of those people who touch everything and don't buy stuff. My buddy Marco would have loved the stores~ I'm sure :)

I got myself a Batman totebag in one of the nerdier shops called Swish.

The Scottish National Museum was closing early on Sunday so we postponed this for Monday morning and went to find a café instead. While trying to find something for Hannes (he didn't trust the glutenfree cakes in Deacons House because they where displayed lying close to the normal ones) we ended up at Starbucks at the Royal Mile. Much wow! Don't get me wrong! I love Starbucks (more than I should) but it was just so boring because it wasn't any different from our local Starbucks (except for more Sandwich choices).

We went for dinner to Monicas hotel again, since it was really good and safe for Hannes. I got a incredible steak with green asparagus and potato wedges and a rose Crème Brûlée for dessert! All three of us got steak; medium for Monica, medium done for Hannes and medium rare for me; and you could see the difference in all of them! That's something you won't see often so I was pretty impressed. And it was really good!

↟ Day 3 - Monday ↟

After breakfast we met up with Monica again (for the last time this trip) and went to the National Museum together. They had a special Celts exhibit which was very interesting. Including the Celts Kings statue from Glauberg not far from where we live. The museum itself was sooooo big! It is not manageable to see all of it in one day! So we decided to go for lunch before Hannes mum had to go to the airport. We ended up at Mums Comfort food which was a tip at one of the glutenfree travel blogs. It turned out that the owner was celiac herself and the staff was well educated on the issue! Hannes was able to eat nearly everything in the diner and had a hard time to decide. I went straight for the Haggis (which also was homemade and glutenfree so Hannes could have a taste) and it was so delicious! My dad always said "Try Haggis! It's the best thing ever!" and he didn't promise too much :) [we have plans to make our own Haggis some time, haha]  Also I had Irn Bru, a Scottish soda, which I liked really much and a very tasty Reese's milkshake. Afterwards we said our goodbye and parted.

Stuffed we rolled went to Wawerly mall for shopping. I bought too much at the Bodyshop. I went in to get some moisturizing cream since I forgot mine and got out with a bunch of stuff... but also with a great discount so I think it was ok. Also I got a small wobble head Ant Man from a games shop and my hun bought me a fancy shirt at Pulp.

↟ Day 4 - Tuesday ↟

I was in a really grumpy mood that day~

It was raining a lot, which is to expect in Edinburgh I guess, but we found our way to Edinbugh castle nonetheless. It was really lovely up there anyway and the view must be impressive when the weather is nice! I especially loved the cavalry and military museums. What can I say? I have a huge love for uniforms and they had so many stories and things there. I enjoyed the info about the cavalry and the horses and there was a lot to look upon. Also the war memorial was pretty impressive in a way, with all those books filled with names of the fallen.

Later we were pretty soaked and cold and since the castle cafés have been so crowded we went back down to the city into a very crappy small café where I drank the sweetest (and that's not a good thing) Chai Latte I ever drank in my life! It was so damn sweet I couldn't drink it x__x It was like drinking pure syrup! Yuck! So that didn't lift my mood much but the Burgers we had at *drumroll* Burgers *badummtss* where so good (and it was the Burger Burger btw *badumtss*). They had gluten free options there as well and Hannes really enjoyed his giant burger and cheese fries :D Also cool: Hoodoo Lemonade with chili. Fancy stuff!

↟ Day 5 - Wednesday ↟

We skipped breakfast at "home" and went for a full English Scottish (!) breakfast at Mums. It was huge and absolutely delicious! Gluten free and perfectly safe for Hannes of cause! After this breakfast for warriors we went to Mary Kings Close. The tour was really interesting and a lot of fun. The guide was so funny and they sold a lot of Pest merchandise there. Shirts with pest doctors and the black death microbe from giant microbes (which I already have of cause) and so on.

We then went to Deacons House for tea and it was then that I realised something was off. It seemed I caught a bladder infection, maybe the other day at the castle, and it was getting worse pretty fast. Since we had booked a tour to the highland for the next day we decided it would be best to buy lots of tea and spend the rest of the day at the apartment. I spent the evening writing postcards, watching Ghost Hunter docus and strange shows like "Stupid Man, Smart Phone" and playing on the DS.

↟ Day 6 - Thursday ↟

Highlands! Finally!

The original plan was to rent a car and drive around by ourselves. But as I don't have a credit card and Hannes doesn't have a drivers licence it was not possible to book a car in advance. The driver had to be the one inhabiting the credit card used for booking... and I didn't want to gamble.

But as a tourist city Edinburgh of cause provided several Highland tours for tourists. Definitely not the same as exploring by yourself but better than not going at all! So we went for it! I managed to get over the 8 (?) hour trip without drinking much and taking a few painkillers.

The busdriver was a really great guide and told us so much about the Highlands, Lowlands, Whiskey, Scots and Scotland in General. The tour picked us up at the Royal Mile and drove up to the highlands~ we stopped at Kilmahog, Glencoe, Fort William, Loch Ness and Pitlochry and then back to Edinburgh. Yes it was just a tourist tour but it was the best we could get and I wouldn't have missed this! The highlands are sooooo pretty. I hope I will get the chance to visit them once more and hopefully on my own pace then with the ability to explore. They have lovely small holiday cottages there :) Although we sat in the bus most of the time we were pretty exhausted when we got back. Grabbing something to eat at the supermarket on our way to the apartment and dropped to bed shortly after.

↟ Day 7 - Friday ↟

On Friday I really felt like shit. The infection has gotten worse and I was in pain. Eventually I got scared because of the pain and we called a doctor helpline thingy. The nurse asked a few questions and I told her it's better with painkillers but I was really uncomfortable because the thought of damaged kidneys and stuff got to my mind...idk. But the nurse was like "Oh painkillers work? Great! Take more of them and drink some Whiskey, everything should be fine then!"

So I did this and tried to sleep, which I did a lot on that day. Hannes went to the city alone checking out a gluten free patisserie and stuff. When he got back he had a little package for me.

A small Captain America bear from the Build a bear store to cheer me up Q___Q I called him Steeby!

I spend the whole day in bed.

↟ Day 8 - Saturday ↟

I felt much better already. Apparently sleeping a lot and painkillers really did work their magic...

It was the first really sunny day and we decided to take one of those bus city tours with the Horrible Histories commentary which was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went shopping, strolling through the city and dinner at Mums (again! Because it was awesome!) and in the evening we took the Ghostbus tour! This one was so hilarious!!!! Those guys have been really great and funny~ entertainment at it's best including jumpscares, patchouly, a graveyard and a creepy ghost on the bus. Really really highly recommended! :)

Sadly, this was our last day in Edinburgh and it was time to pack our stuff already as soon as we got back to the apartment.

↟ Day 9 - Sunday ↟

Bye bye Edinburgh

We got up early and cleaned the apartment and checked if we got all our stuff. Since we had quite a few hours until our flight and no idea where to store our luggage we went to the airport and stored it there. We took the bus back to the city and to the ocean terminal for window shopping and so on and got a few last minute souvenirs.

Back at the airport we were finally allowed to check in. I had some fun with the airport security people there and then we grabbed some snacks and waited at the gate. Best announcement: "Ball games are not allowed on this airport. Please stop playing football on gate 12!"

Later on the plane we raised the tomato juice in memory of my grandpa (who loved to drink it on flights) and had a pleasant flight home~

Our lovely landlady was so kind to pick us up at the train station when we got back.

Edinburgh is a really really lovely city! We met a lot of great and kind people there and we had a lot of fun despite my illness. I guess we will definitely come back to Scotland and also visit Edinburh again for more ghost stories, comfort food and all the stuff we have missed :)

Historische Stadtrechtsfeier Gelnhausen or: Another medieval market

Every 5 years the beautiful city of Gelnhausen is holding a big medieval 3-day event. 

The historical core of the city is very pretty and during the event flooded with merchants and people showing old handicrafts and stuff. It really is a beautiful setting!

Sadly, this time they had no knights turney, which they had at the past two events 2010 and 2005~ but it was pretty as always. And again I took just a few pictures with my mobile cam since I again forgot my camera -.-

Oh and of couse here is our small treasure haul ;)

Hayner Burgfest "Wildbann"

I finally went to the Hayner Burgfest again this year and it was lovely as always. We had such a nice weather! The sun was shining but it was not too hot. 

The main theme of this years event was hunting. Horus Falkenrei presented us their lovely birds of prey and Irish Wolfhounds adn also the art of hunting with the birds from horseback :) Lovely! The falconry was accompanied by an animal phorographer and a few of his trained animals. For a small donation people could get pictures with the animals. I'm  bid sad I didn't have enough money to take pictures with more of them but I was so in love with that baby skunk! I was allowed to play with it and cuddle it for while and it was such a cutie! My friend Christina took pictures with two of the birds :)

We also met some friends and I shared bit's of my flamed salmon with Abby, a friends pretty husky :D

It was such a lovely day! I need to take more pictures of such days~ yes I do!

I also bought a bit of treasury ;)

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?