Sonntag, 30. Juni 2013

Colorful

Second day of sightseeing in Kiev!
The city is so colorful, has imposant old buildings, all places are clean. The people are very friendly and helpfully. There are so many interesting sights to discover. New stylish restaurants and cafes with tasty food and drinks.
But rarely street signs, so sometimes it is not easy to find out where you are!

I invite you to my picture tour through Kiev!
Enjoy!!!!


Big street " Wuliza Chreschtschatyk"

Monument of independance


Arch of nation friendship 


River Dnepr


Funicular



Funny


St. Andrew Church



Colorful town


Besarabska Ploschtscha : market with native ukranian and arabian products


View from the Pinchuk Art Centre



At Sky Art Cafe in the Pinchuk Art Centre with good vegetarian food



Metrostation





Good night beer

Kiev or " high the cups!"

Friday we had a terrible flight to Kiev because of many turbulences.
From a rainy Cologne we flew into a thunderstorm over Kiev!
In Kiev the rain fell in sheets and I became flustered! Will there be a concert at Saturday ?

Our hotel is a little bit out of town: "Alfavito".
A spacious super clean aesthetic room, very friendly staff and a 24 hours opened bar with good menu!!
We took a late snack and a beer before spleeping and started into the new day with a wonderful breakfast from the generous buffet in the colossal refectory.

Then we went by the metro into the city, where we met good friends from Germany!
We walked to the St. Sophia's Cathedral and had a wonderful view over Kiev from the light blue belltower.
Beautiful city.
Then further to the St.Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral! 
The city is very clean and bright and the ukranian people are so friendly, made lots of fun!!!

We had an typical ukrainian meal: I ate pickled vegetables inter alia pickled tomatoes: unbelievable taste! And then borsch!! Besides ukranian beer in beautiful cups, I know now wherefrom the toast
" high the cups" is!!!! Funny!
At all there in the whole town many small huts where you can buy beer from the tap!
Goody for a thirsty Depeche Mode fan !!

Then we was ready for the warm-up to the concert, means we drank more beer in our hotel and went to the near by new stadium Olimpiyskiy to see Depeche Mode again!
The weather was fine, yeah, was a warm day and a thunderstorm was in the air, but it passed by!!!


I was so happy as Depeche Mode came out because I had deprivation!!
The concert was wonderful, the crowd sang from the first minute, wonderful once again!
" Feels like home" are the best words I have to describe what I felt!
Enjoy the silence plucked my heartstrings, I can't believe, because I heard it so often, but that's right!!!!!
Best songs: " Personal Jesus, Halo, Just can't get enough ( cool version) and I feel you".
After the show there was a humming in the stadium, I was ravished from the concert, the people and the town.
We drank many beer after the concert in one of many bars nearby the stadium and I fell totally happy into my bed!
Thank goodness I will stay until tomorrow in Kiev and have enough time to see more of this amazing town!!


Breakfast in the Alfavito Hotel


The light blue belltower of the St. Sophia's Cathedral


St. Michael's


My lunch!!!


" High the cups!" 


Olimpiyskiy









No thunderstorm!!!

Dienstag, 18. Juni 2013

Dancing with a distant friend

Arrived in Hamburg in the early evening and met many friends in front of the Imtech Arena and inside many more.

I saw the first time the support show of Douglas McCarthy, better known as the frontman of Nitzer Ebb.
Good performance, but not my music.

I was really excited because the concerts in Hamburg was always one of the best of the particular tour
so I had high hopes for a good concert.
And yes, from the first moment as the DJ-Set stopped all hell was let loose!!
And the spirit between the fans was very friendly, strangers danced, sang and drank together.
I met many fans for the first time, a nice woman of Mexico invited me to come to Mexico to see DM there next year, wow!
Many people huged each other, I was so happy and had real fun!

As Martin sang "But not tonight", it rained only during this song.
Then the wonderful Mr. Gahan came back on stage and celebrated the concert together with these amazing crowd.

"Enjoy the silence" and "Just can't get enough" were the best songs of the evening.
Hamburg, thank you very much for this wonderful experience, it made me so happy.
I was a lot easier to survive the trip by the train, which took 3 hours longer than normal for the trip  to Cologne. "Argh!"

Now I will stay 10 days at home until I'll go to Kiew!
I have to relax now for a while and I have to do lots of things but if I'm honest,
I miss DM already now!!!








Montag, 17. Juni 2013

Paris, city of love

Back from Paris, sitting in my kitchen and have coffee and chocolate from Paris!
Little bit tired, because once again the train was too late because an accident at the railway track.

But always it is wonderful to be in Paris!
I love this city, the athmosphere, the architecture,the small shops, the bars & coffee bars, the milling mass of people from different countries.
We arrived at noon in Paris at Saturday and walked through the Marais.
It is my favourite district in Paris, old, small streets, jewish, gay, multicolored.
I ate two "Eclairs"! Love it so much this typical french pastry!,
Then we shopped a plenty of delicacy in the wonderful foodstore in the Gallery Lafayette!!
Can't go home without any glasses of mustard from Maille, good chocolate and other goodies from France.
Short stop in our hotel : Adaggio Acces Hotel near by the Stade of France.
Please do not sleep there, terrible!

So, finally: Stade de France! Giant!!! 80000 people!!
Dave did the best job ever. It is unbelievable how this skinny small man rocks a football stadium!
And he need no costums, stage-effects, backgroundsinger or other stuff!
Only Mr. Gahan himself!!
 It's a question of time, ok, but from " soothe my soul" the whole stadium danced and sang until the end!
"Enjoy the silence"! Dave succeed it to sing out-of-key and then he said at the end of the song:"
One, two, three, four!" I love it when he do that!
Best song for me :" never let me down."
Outside the stadium was many sportbars and like 2009 one of these bars played very loud Depeche Mode hits and we drank, sang and danced until 4 o ' clock in the morning.
I met a couple, oh, so sweet, he made her a proposal of marriage. She wept with happiness, it was so romantic.
So I fell happy in my cheap hotel bed and Sunday we spent some hours in Paris again.
I can't wait until February 2014 when I will come back to Paris when Depeche Mode will play at the Bercy!!
Now I'm in hurry, have to catch my train to Hamburg for the concert tonight!!















Mittwoch, 12. Juni 2013

More than a party

At the concert day in Berlin we visited the big Depeche Mode exhibition in an old department store!
Wow, interesting items. Made fun!

After a good meal as base for the evening we left early to Olympia stadion.
It is an monumental building and the place in front of it got within two hours crowded out with fans.
The weather forecast didn't a good job at Sunday because they said nothing about rain.
Already before the concert started it began to rain and then in the concert it rained cats & dogs.

My honest opinion:
I think the rain made the Berlin concert better.
DM was good like every evening but the fans didn't celebrate a party.
It was really quite at the beginning and then came the rain and a lot of people sought protection under the roof.
The rain wasn't cold and the bravest fans remained at their places and made a good job!
Martin sang again " But not tonight!", how accurate!
The concert was maybe more than a party, it was a mass.

But 4 years ago the concert at the same place at June 10 in 2009 that was a red-letter day for me
and maybe for all the fans what was there at this day, because Dave came back after his cancer.
So I believe I will compare every Berlin concert with the concert 2009 !


Best song for me in Berlin 2013: "Personal Jesus",
We screamed so loud, I felt like going insane!
I'm sure I lost brain cells from screaming!


And my conclusion of twelve concerts in eleven cities is:
I like the party more than the mass.
I like to dance and scream and laugh and I did it together with many nice people I met in Bukarest, Beograd, Budapest, Zagreb, Bratislava, London and Frankfurt.I like this together!
 I don't like the devotional thing so I didn't enjoy the concerts in Munich, Stuttgart and Berlin like the others. 

But this is only my view and I have the great chance to see so many concerts and have the possibility
to compare.

I spoke to a fan who saw his first concert of the tour in Stuttgart and he said it was such a great concert to him.
And that's the truth!!

Nonetheless my résumé of twelve concerts is:

Favourite concert ( DM and the public): Beograd
DM and specially Dave played a fantastic show for the serbian fans which rewarded DM with a good party.

Favourite show: London,the second evening! Unbelievable performance of DM!

Favourite song: "Secret of the end"!

Favourite city: Istanbul

Favourite sentence of Dave: " I love everybody but not anybody!"( Beograd)
 Favourite sentence of Martin:" You makes me love everywhere!" (Budapest)

And the best of the best: Mr. Dave Gahan!
Best living performer of the world!


In the moment I'm happy to be at home, came back from a endlessly trip with the train from Berlin through the floodwater areas.
Oh my god, the poor people what was concerned.


Saturday I will go to Paris. DM will play at the stade de France!! 
Stay tuned and if anybody likes this blog, please let me know!!
Good night!