Life in a year full of Saturdays

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Warsaw (Poland) via Suwalki (Poland) - The Concert Series - Part 1 - Coldplay

WARSAW (Poland) via SUWALKI (Poland)
17 June - 20 June 2017

Summer in Northern Europe not only means great weather, a fun vibe and party atmosphere but it also means that all the big bands that you love to see head out on the European circuit. In the lead up to our wedding, or should I say, in the planning of the lead up to our wedding we discovered a whole raft of concerts that were going to be on. The first cab off the rank that also aligned with our bucket list was Coldplay.

Heading out of Riga late one afternoon we did a six hour drive, mostly south, to the small Polish town of Suwalki. With a population of nearly 70,000 inhabitants it lies some 30kms off the South-Western border of Lithuania. In all honesty it was only an overnight stop, so I don't have a hell of a lot to report other than our lodgings were surprisingly good and we had a pleasant nights sleep in Suwalki. Also, somewhat surprisingly, this would not be the only, or even the second time that we would end up staying in this town, but more about that in later entries.

On the road in Lithuania

All set for Coldplay in Warsaw - Poland

Coldplay at the PGE Narodowy Stadium - Warsaw - Poland

Travelling further south to the Polish capital the next day we encountered a highway system that was under construction. Unbeknown to us, but somehow known throughout the region, it apparently is common practice for major Polish arterial roads and highways to be constantly undergoing some of of re-construction and re-formulation. This of course was our bug-bare all the way into the capital as mentally our constructed time of arrival in a 'perfect' setting literally turned to shit with a 60kph speed limit for what felt like 200kms.

Coldplay at the PGE Narodowy Stadium - Warsaw - Poland

Inga & I had passed through Warsaw previously and found it to be a 'nice enough' city. There are elements to it that make it pleasant but somehow to me it feels sparse. It feels like there's a lot of character and potential charm missing from the the centre of the city itself. Whilst it appears to be trying to turn itself into a modern European city there's a lot of absent soul and I can only guess that WWII did an absolute number on this place. Those wounds obviously cut deep and recovery, full recovery, not just of the cosmetic nature, will take more than just a few generations.

Coldplay at the PGE Narodowy Stadium - Warsaw - Poland

First on the Concert Series agenda was Coldplay. Neither of us had been to a live show previously but a sneak peak online of snippets from their Head Full of Dreams Tour, said a lot for the spectacle that was about to eventuate.

They were absolutely brilliant and their ability to encapsulate the crowd, making them part of the theatre and performance was quite special. No matter what you think of Coldplay (and I know they hit a variety of points on the likeability spectrum), their live shows are dynamic, brilliant and engaging. And let me say, for the record, I think Coldplay are fantastic!

For the record, here's the setlist

Performer: Coldplay

Location: PGE Narodowy Stadium, Warsaw, Poland

Tour: A Head Full of Dreams

O mio babbino caro

(Maria Callas song)
Play Video
A Head Full of Dreams

(extended intro with Charlie Chaplin speech)
Play Video
Yellow

Play Video
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall

Play Video
The Scientist

Play Video
Birds

(with ''Oceans'' excerpt in intro)
Play Video
Paradise

(with Tiësto Remix outro)
Play Video
B-Stage
Always in My Head

Play Video
Magic

Play Video
Princess of China

Play Video
Everglow

(single version)
Play Video
A-Stage
Clocks

(with ''Army Of One'' excerpt in intro)
Play Video
Midnight

(partial)
Play Video
Charlie Brown

Play Video
Hymn for the Weekend

Play Video
Fix You

(with ''Midnight'' excerpt in intro)
Play Video
Viva la Vida

Play Video
Adventure of a Lifetime

Play Video
C-Stage
Kaleidoscope

(extended)
Play Video
In My Place

(acoustic)
Play Video
Don't Panic

(acoustic; Will on lead vocals;… more )
Play Video
Us Against the World

(audience request song)
Play Video
A-Stage
Something Just Like This

(The Chainsmokers & Coldplay cover)
Play Video
A Sky Full of Stars

Play Video
Up&Up

(extended outro)

Friday, June 9, 2017

London (England) - The World We Know

LONDON (England)
09 June - 12 June 2017

On the 3rd of June 2017, a terrorist vehicle ramming and stabbing took place in London. A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge before crashing. The three occupants of the van then ran to the nearby Borough Market area and started stabbing people in and around restaurants and pubs

Ref: 2017 London Bridge Attack - Wikipedia

The nature of these type of events in Europe and their frequency made them feel, perhaps not like a common event, but maybe, not unexpected. I think consciously the awareness of the possibility of occurrences sat in the mindset of most people in much the same way that you might 'anticipate' an earthquake happening if you lived in a prone area.

On our way to London with Ryan Air - over the North Sea

Near Little Venice - Westbourne Green - London - England

Little Venice - Westbourne Green - London - England

The A5 - near Hyde Park Estate - London - England

Our weekend in London was built on the idea of doing some pre-wedding shopping, that really was the initiator for going there, and also the fact that it was so close to Riga. Additionally, when the both of you are in the best shape of your lives then buying clothes doesn't become an exercise in hiding what you don't want people to see. Also for me it happened to be one of those rare moments in life when everything I tried on seemed to fit. That has just NEVER happened to me! As a kid I was always overweight due to 'good 'ole fashion Yugoslav lovin' expressed through food'. The more I was fed, apparently, the better I was being looked after. Anyway, I do recall one time prior to going to a friends birthday party my mum wanted to buy me a new pair of trousers. So we started in the kids section, but there wasn't a pair that fit. We then entered into the mens section and we went through size, after size, after size. After 5 or 6 tries there was not a pair of trousers that fit me, I was too big, and apparently, at 10 or 11 years of age it was my fault!? How that became the conclusion I'll never know. As an FYI, I wasn't earning an income at 10 years of age, so I wasn't buying my own junk food or stocking the fridge with chocolate biscuits.

Oxford Street - Mayfair - London - England

The Mall - St. James's - London - England

The London Eye - London - England

London was always going to be an odd location for me. I had an inherent bias against it that I needed to overcome. Since I was a kind, for some reason, my parents were 'anti-English', not overtly but enough for me to believe that there was nothing interesting to be found there. Also, back in 1991 I had a full day experience of London in a rare stopover on the way to Belgrade and formulates the opinion at that point in time that this city had nothing to offer.

I'm happy to say that I was wrong about this city. My mindset wasn't changed so dramatically, it wasn't like I'd just discovered U2 for the first time, but, I was far more impressed by the city that I anticipated. It was, and is, an alpha city of the same type of elk as New York. Attractive in part, quaint and endearing in some areas, I could see how this large capital of Europe (or is it just Britain now) has been at the centre of many economic, social and cultural movements on a global scale.

The London Eye - London - England

Big Ben from The London Eye - London - England

The London Eye - London - England

We stayed in an AirBnB close to Westbourne Green with an older artistic/bohemian/hippie chick who 'apparently' had been or was good friends with Jimmy Page. To me that simply means that she probably shagged him once or twice in a drunken tryst but ok, let the claim stand, for some reason I believe(d) the claim may be legitimate.

Near Her Majesty's Theatre - Haymarket - St.James's - London - England

Phanton of the Opera - Her Majesty's Theatre - Haymarket - St.James's - London - England

Little Venice - Westbourne Green - London - England

Knightsbridge - London - England

Harrod's - Knightsbridge - London - England

Stomp - West End - London - England

West End - London - England

The area we were in was punctuated by a cool little location known as Little Venice, a waterway that acted as the intersection of a few canals that flowed off into disparate areas of the city.

Some of my highlights was shopping on Oxford Street and actually being able to find clothes - wondering the streets of SoHo, shopping in Harrods (Knightsbridge), going to the theatre in the West End and walking through Hyde Park. I mean, hey, London was really pleasant, I enjoyed myself more than I expected to and I suspect that Inga did too. Did it capture my heart and mind like a Buenos Aires, New York or Rio would? No, but that's ok, it didn't have to.

Henry's Cafe Bar - Piccadilly - Mayfair - London - England

Thank you London. You did well. Here's to life without terrorism and stupidity!

Friday, May 26, 2017

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

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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Saturday, June 17, 2017

Warsaw (Poland) via Suwalki (Poland) - The Concert Series - Part 1 - Coldplay

Friday, June 9, 2017

London (England) - The World We Know

Friday, May 26, 2017

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

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A year full of Saturdays