Life in a year full of Saturdays: May 2017

KRAKOW (Poland) via BRNO (Czech Republic)
26 May - 28 May 2017

Our migration north for our pre-wedding preparation had commenced. The much loved, and may I add, unfairly maligned 2002 Renault Laguna was to be our vessel of transit over the 1800kms to our new home away from home.

In all honesty I was glad for the move. Living next door to my mother, literally next door, had actually become a form of stress to me. Here I was, a 42 year old, about to be married man, was still have occasions when my mother simply walk through the front door at any time of her choosing, not announcement, no knocking - then there were the endless nonsensical needs to have 'serious conversations' every couple of days or so. These conversations ranged from a 'very serious' interjection about me losing too much weight, to queries as to why Inga didn't like them because we weren't showing up for our necessary quota of afternoons coffees or launches to a range of many other forms of inane and stupid items. It seriously did my head in and became so bad that many times I found ways of negating going there on my own because of the accusations I know I'd face. Seriously, it ended up being desperately unfair. Leaving gave me a lot of breath space.

On the way to Krakow - Poland

The Luneta Warszawska Hostel - Krakow - Poland

The drive to Riga was usually a two night affair for us. On this occasions we aligned our travels with a Bruno Mars concert that was happening at the Tauron Arena in Krakow on 27 MAY, as part of his 24K Magic Tour.

Our first stop was on the 26th of May in Brno. A small town (city) of some 400,000 inhabitants, located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers. Modern in part but still heavy in the former Soviet style, we didn't really see much of the city at all aside from stopping in for an early evening gym sessions.

The next day we had a short drive to Krakow, some 350kms and had accommodation booked at the Luneta Warszawska Hostel Krakow - a fabulous place located in what looked to be an old fort. Impeccable in terms of presentation, cleanliness, space and location. The only thing against it was that it was a 30 min walk out of the city centre, but in a large way that was part of its charm too. It felt like it was in the middle of nowhere and there was something extremely appealing about the feel.

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic Tour - Tauron Arena - Krakow - Poland

In many ways the Bruno Mars concert was quite the surprise. First, he's a performer and that something that aligns with his style of music, pop, funk and rock all mixed into his own style. He's a lot of fun and I guess sometimes that exactly what you need. Another surprise, and what Inga & grew to really appreciate during our Concert Series prior to getting married, was that Polish crowds really got into the spirit of the event. A large part of the atmosphere at concerts of this elk is the form of participation you get from the crowd. Krakow formed the baseline and the expectation by which all future Polish crowds had to live up to....and with that said, we had a few concerts planned, Coldplay in Warsaw (18 June) & Guns 'N' Roses in Gdansk (20 June). Additionally, we had the Foo Fighters planned for Riga (21 June) and Kings of Leon on (27 June) in Vilnius. Not that they were all in Poland but I figured passion for tunes was more a regional thing anyway.

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic Tour - Tauron Arena - Krakow - Poland

As for the concert - here's a set-list from that evening

Performer: Bruno Mars

Location: Tauron Arena - Krakow - Poland

Tour: 24K Magic

Set List

Life in a year full of Saturdays

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Friday, May 26, 2017

Krakow (Poland) via Brno (Czech Republic) - Pre-wedding DAZE!

Fan favourites

A year full of Saturdays