Forgotten Gems; Part 3

Ah, back to uploading all my CDs. There's been piles of CDs all over the living room, and my mum (and even my brother) started moaning, so I've got back down to business. Here's some more forgotten gems, that I've since rediscovered.

First up is Christina Aguilera, with her power pop album Stripped. Just read that it was released in 2002, that was just before my rocker-phase, makes me feel old, how fast trends come and go. The album contains 16 full tracks, but never becomes samey. My favourite of all the singles released from it is Fighter;



Next up is Placebo. What can I say about Placebo? They're fantastic. Quality rock music, funky beats, cryptic lyrics, strange lead vocalist etc etc. Sounds like a typical formular, but they pull it off and make it seem fresh and original, because it is for them. I highly recommend the singles album Once More With Feeling (released before the latest album) that has all the singles (funnily enough) and you can hear the journey of the band from the early days (1996) to the more recent stuff. This is one of the early day ones (video features the old drummer) and is called Teenage Angst;



Just to continue about them for a moment. I liked them so much that once upon a time I stood (or more likely sat) outside Virgin Megastores in oxford street for 2 hours at 7am in the cold depths of February to get a wristband to a gig and signing for just 200 lucky few. The gig was fantastic, and I got a signed album out of it, along with a chat with the drummer (who is lovely, very cool guy).
Another piece of trivia, Dima Koldun's video to A Dlya Tebya is a quite obvious copy of the video for Pure Morning by Placebo. I thought it was a strange band to pay tribute to, maybe Dima's a fan?


Back to the videos. Next up we have a track by Bloc Party. Their first album was a real favourite of mine when it first came out. I remembered having it on in the car for weeks driving back and forth to work, while on my gap year. On the re-release of the album was a song called 2 More Years which really struck a cord with me in terms of lyrics, so without explaining that any further I'll just post the video.



Next up is a singer-songwriter called Get Cape Wear Cape Fly. Real name Sam Duckworth from Southend. He spent years touring with just his guitar and a laptop. I love the track Call Me Ishmael, but for some reason there is no evidence of the official video on youtube, in fact most of his videos seem to be absent from youtube. So instead I have decided to post War of the Worlds, possibly his most well-known track (and possibly the reason its one of the only ones on youtube);

Finally!

I finally received complete confirmation of my place at the University of Turku! Hurrah!
I've been given the name of a student tutor/mentor who will meet me at the station when I arrive, so naturally they've asked me when I'll be arriving. So thats next on the 'to-do' list.

So happy :)

Pown

I still havent spoken to that friend again yet, but feeling a lot better about it today, thanks to a good phone call with Rach and hanging out with the lovely Jodie and her minion of children (well, not hers, shes a nanny). Had a lot of fun at Ed's 2nd birthday party :)

Also, there is a very strange site that me and Rach came across ages ago while we were living in the Yellow Holiday Camp which kept us entertained for ages. Its very good for just numbing your brain, hehe. Its a site full of short animations, most of which are rubbish anime-related things, but the occasional one is just so bizzare it makes you laugh. I remember we started using it when there was only a couple of hundred on there, but its more like a couple of thousand now. Going on again today I noticed they've changed a few things, including adding a 'most voted' and 'most watched' section. Most of my favourites are not in the top page but some of them are still quite funny, so I recommend just clicking the 'random' button at the top.

Here's my favourite to get you started;

http://www.pown.it/707

Warning: its somewhat uncensored, and so some of the videos could offend or at the least should not be viewed at work...

Senza te

So today has been a pretty stressful day. Had a bit of an argument and falling out with an old close friend of mine (although the reason we've fallen out is because we're not as close as we used to be). Its been a sad moment but I think its been coming for a while. We may be able to work it out, but we'll see. Either way, what has been said, had to be said and now whatever happens happens.

Last night, I rediscovered a song that I didnt like at all at first, but have been listening to it a lot today, and it seems appropriate even though I dont know what it means. Rachel played it on Sounds of Europe, one of the first shows, and its by an Italian singer called Tiziano Ferro. The song is called Sere Nere;

Ja kello käy

So, just over a month now till I head to Finland, and I'm hoping everything will be quite straightforward from now on (touch wood), I still havent actually got a confirmed place. Until I get confirmation, I'm unwilling to book flights and cant apply for accomodation :/ But ignoring all that, I'm really looking forward to spending August in Helsinki. My placement is only 10months, so will finish in June, meaning this is my best chance at seeing Finland during the summer.

I've been meaning to post another Antti Tuisku song on here. And this one, from what I can tell, has lots of reference to time, including the title of this post which means 'and the clock is ticking'. Quite appropriate. Its called Ei Aikaa (No Time), and its one of my favourites.

Another song of his that I came across on youtube is a pretty ballad duet that he did with a girl called Jenni (I think she was/is in a girlband). Its called Kahdestaan, which I think means 'the two of us'. Could be wrong.

As for my knowledge of the Finnish language, listening to all this Antti isnt really helping. So far, I know days of the week (except Wednesday), and the numbers 1-10 - woo! I hope this course is good otherwise I havent got a chance, hehe.

Above Clouds

In an attempt to drown out the noise coming from the Annual Riverside Festival here in my quaint little village, I've been sifting through some of Tina Karol's back-catalogue of music. Along the way I also read that she married her producer earlier this week. So, for that alone I've decided to post a video to a song I had heard a while ago but has grown on me a lot today. Its called Vishe Oblakov (Above Clouds) and is quite a funky dance tune, different to her ballady stuff. Video's a bit odd, but you can find a translation of the lyrics here if you want to know what she's on about.

Our Evening With Basshunter

Ah, what a night. As I've already mentioned, I had no idea what it was all about, and it wasnt made much clearer when we turned up. After a good 30mins in the reception area (being hassled by a indie-girl with a hand-held camera and bombarded with glowsticks), we were shown down to the studio. Speaking to the guy from Hard2Beat that organised it all, he said loads of people had phoned up and dropped out, which meant we would all get the chance to meet and chat with Basshunter but also meant they dragged a load of children of the street to make up numbers.

We were taken down to the main studio where there was a little square stage surrounded by camera's and lights. We were given a safety talk (dont stare into the lazer! - enough to rival Charlotte Perrelli) and then Basshunter came on, looking lovely. He performed All I Ever Wanted... and then did it again. This was the routine for the evening. Do a song, do it again, touch up the make-up, do another song, then maybe do the first again. He did five songs in total; All I Ever Wanted, a new one I dont know the name of, I Can Walk on Water, Now Your Gone, and Please Don't Go. Obviously Now Your Gone was a highlight, but the new one was also really good.

I can safely say that Basshunter is a complete nutter. It didnt seem to phase him that the crowd resembled a school field trip as apposed to the usual rave crowd he's probably used to seeing. And between songs he was chatting a joking about all sorts of things, and even tried to teach us some Swedish. He went through about 4 outfits (it was so hot in there) and he looked equally gorgeous in each.

The final costume change was for the Question & Answer session, where most of the questions came from the kids. But we did learn that as a teenager Basshunter discovered sneezing on a girl is not the best chat up line, and that he's still scared of the dark... aww. After the Q&A sesh, he signed some photos for us to take home. The kids immediately snatched them from him and left happy while the rest of us then each got to sit with him on the sofa for a while, take a pic and some also asked him to talk into their phones as they recorded a little video of him. Rach and I didnt bother with that, but instead asked if he had plans to enter Melodifestivalen this year. Sadly not, he seems to think theres too much political voting (yawn) but said maybe in a few years. Could you imagine - Basshunter at eurovision, haha.

All in all, a very bizzare evening, but definately one to be remembered. Basshunter is actually a pretty cool guy. Very laid-back and willing to have a chat and muck about. I guess it was pretty intimate so he was more relaxed, but you get the impression he wouldnt let anything pahse him. Apparently the edited version of the evening will be on the hard2beat website in a couple of weeks, so will definitely link it when its up.

Basshunter in London

Thanks to a tip-off from EQ about a competition to win tickets to a secret Basshunter gig, I will be off to see him tomorrow night. Its all a bit mysterious - 6pm? Studio? Willingness to be filmed? I wonder what its all for. Well I'll know within 24hrs. Also makes a good excuse to hang out with Rach in London for the day. What could be better!

Forgotten Gems; Part 2

Continuing with the uploading, I've been having some major technical issues today. First the internet wouldn't connect (after trouble shooting, it suggested I look for updates, so clicked 'yes' only to be asked to connect to the internet in order for it to do so! Gah!), and then iTunes itself seems to have gone on strike (it did this yesterday too). However, I have still got some tunes to share with you today.

First up is an old anthem from the yellow holiday camp where me and Rach lived last year. In fact, the day I bought this album was perhaps our first act of noise terrorism. Yes, me and Rach had complaints after frequent party's (and by party I mean just the two of us in my room, drinking Russian-based cocktails and singing loudly to various music - hardly the level of skins). I digress, this is 'Atlantis to Interzone' by The Klaxons and is a stonker of a track. It used to be my alarm you know, as you can image - it worked.



Now, lets move onto a little known band by the name of Larrikin Love. This is the first song I heard of theirs and loved it. How excited was I then, when my friend told me she had booked tickets to see them in Harlow of all places (scummy essex town near where I live where nothing exciting ever happens apart from this gig and the birth of ME 21 years ago). I dont quite know what genre you'd call it - I think i created a genre on Sounds of Europe once when I called something very NME. Well, in that case, this band is very NME also. Anyway, they've split now, but the album is very good and this track is called 'Edwould'.



Then another track that I loved once upon a time, and still very much do. I dont listen to it much, mostly because the album turned out to be a bit rubbish. However, this track is still very good and I'm surprised it didnt do better. I dont think it would be out of place on the Fratelli's album or some other brit-rock band. Anyway, they're called Boy Kill Boy, and this track is called 'Suzie'.



Finally, I'm ending, not with a full track but a Prelude. I just uploaded AFI (A Fire Inside)'s album Decemberunderground, and as iTunes does, the first track started playing. Its only 2minutes long, but I love this little intro to what is a very very good album. Its actually very mainstream for this band (believe it or not) and they were called sell-outs after its release. However it was a very successful album, and worthy of its success I think. So this is a little intro called 'Prelude 12/21';



Another four tomorrow perhaps.

Vienna Day Six - Spanish riding School and Home

This morning was our first early start of the week in an attempt to be checked out and at the Hofburg in time to see the Morgenarbeit, or morning exercises of the Spanish Riding School. I'm a bit of an equestrian and so had made it clear that although I didnt expect Sophie and Michael to come and sit through an expensive evening performance, I did want to at least experience some of this spectacle. It was only €6 to wonder in and watch the exercises for as long as you wanted, and we ended up staying right to the end even though each set of horses brought out were doing the same thing, and nothing quite as impressive as what the evening show seems to consist of judging by this video;

As you can see, these are very well trained horses, and the riders are exceptional. But even that aside, the arena is just beautiful with its chandeliers and pillars. Its within the hofburg buildings, and you do get the feeling of it being a show fit for a king (or emperor in this case). After this, we only had time for a quick final cafe lunch and then head back to the hotel to pick up cases.

It was a fantastic week, and one of the best holidays I've had. Most of that is due to Sophie, both because she was a great tour-guide and because it was so nice to see her after such a long time. Strangely the next time we meet will most likely be in Finland where she'll be visiting friends from Vienna. Also, must say thanks to Michael for being resident photographer for the week. It has to be said though that Vienna is a brilliant city with so much culture and history. 6 days really wasnt enough! I just hope it survives Euro 2008, hehe.

Forgotten Gems; Part 1

I didn't end up going to the cinema tonight for various reasons but instead spent the night uploading all my CDs onto my new laptop. So far I've uploaded an extra 400+, but that my friends isn't even half way through. But, despite iTunes being an extremely annoying piece of technology at times, I've actually quite enjoyed sifting through my old albums. And along the way I've rediscovered some great songs/albums that I had pretty much forgotten, or at least haven't listened to in a very long while. So I thought I'd share them with you. These are from my pre-europop days when I was into indie, pop punk and emo so beware, hehe.

The first one, however, is a pure pop song from a pop gospel singer by the name of Stacie Orrico. Her most famous hit was 'Stuck', but the album has a really good selection of songs, even if it is a bit preachy in places, and I really like her voice. This is her second single 'More to Life'

The next discovery was from a band called The Used. This is a fairly 'emo' band that started off along the same road as My Chemical Romance. Unfortunately, while everyone was applauding the greatness of My Chem's Welcome to the Black Parade, The Useds' third album Lies for the Liars was overlooked somewhat. Shame, because its a real return to form after the second album and I think some of it is truly great writing in terms of both musical arrangement and lyrics. Here's the lead single 'Bird and the Worm'



Continuing with the emo for a while, another of my favourite bands of recent years is Funeral for a Friend. This welsh band (also Christian, but not so noticeably in their music) had a brilliant debut album, followed by an even better second album, Hours. Shame the third was such a let down. This is the title track from Hours, and the song that brought them to my attention, called 'Streetcar'.



Then bringing it back to the poppier side of things - Travis. I have just one of their albums along with the Singles album. They had some really great singles actually, and I think are pretty overlooked these days. My favourite one of theirs though is 'Side'. Not sure why, maybe its the lyrics, the hook, who knows.



Hopefully I'll end up finding more to post tomorrow. And I really should finish the Vienna diary (only one more day to type up). And maybe I'll end up making it to the cinema. I've been invited to see The Happening now as well - I'm gonna have a film overdose soon!

Betty Blue

So, I know I said I'd review Indiana Jones, but it looks like I'm off to the cinema to see another action film tonight, so think I'll just review them both at the same time. Instead I wanted to right a quick post/review of Betty Blue, a film I've watched before and reviewed on Sounds Of Europe if anyone was listening.

Last night, for no apparent reason, I started watching this film again. Its actually a very sweet film, with likable characters that kind of sucks you in before you realise. Bearing in mind I was about to go to bed, and put it on for background noise perhaps I ended up watching well over an hour of it before I remembered that its a 3 hour film and I needed some sleep. So, I paused it, and finished it this morning before getting out of bed (oh the life of a student, hehe).

The story is told from the perspective of Zorg, an unambitious plumber who starts seeing a local girl named Betty. Betty is wild, and free and very beautiful, and Zorg gets into trouble with his boss after she moves in with him. So, they leave (well, its a bit more dramatic than that, but its half the fun). Before they leave, Betty finds a manuscript of a novel that Zorg wrote a number of years ago, and after moving to the city she begins a crusade to have the book published.

Zorg loves Betty's wild spontaneous nature and you can see he cares very much for her. However, as the film progresses, Betty's wild nature becomes more and more erratic and less predictable, and Zorg begins to worry for her.

This is a very simple story, about two people deeply in love but unable to save each other. Be warned, there is no happy ending here. But it is a painfully real story, told in a simplistic style with great character depth. The acting is superb, and it gets better with each viewing. I highly recommend it to anyone into slightly dark films.

Cutest.Pig.Ever

So my brother showed me this news story about a pig that's afraid of mud. The darling little thing had to be fitted up with wellie boots before it dared go in the mud. He showed me the picture now, and I just thought it was so cute, so I'm sharing it with you. You can read the story here, or click the image below to watch a video (after an ad).

Woo Hoo! I passed!

Today I rang my tutor to get my results, and was so relieved to hear I passed the year - and with a similar mark to last year! Which is great news, not to have slipped much. I failed one of my modules (not the one I thought I would have), but passed all the rest, and even got over 70% in Immunology which was one of my favourite modules. I know one of the students in Finland now has been doing lots of Immunoassay's, so hopefully I can get involved in some Immunology work over there as I seem to have a flair for it :)

I think we're finally getting to the end of all the silly application business too, which is good to know, as the final final deadline is wednesday. Basically, after emailing to ask what I was supposed to put on the form that wasnt relevant to me, they replied suggesting I fill in my name address etc and then leave the rest blank! Riiiight, so all this bother just to send in a blank form. Fine by me - so that's gone off this week, fingers crossed it'll all be sorted soon.

Off to the cinema tonight to see Indiana Jones, so will no doubt return with a review of it tomorrow. In the meantime, I've set up my funky mini-stereo system in my room so I'm off to listen to some Schlager at high volume while I tidy my room to make way for all the stuff bought back from uni - no idea where its going to fit!

Oh Brother

I do enjoy a bit of Swedish stuff along with all the Russian music I listen to and one of my favourite Swedish artists is Måns Zelmerlöw. A long time ago I came across an acoustic version of Cara Mia, which came on the iPod today and made me want to find it again (I lost a lot of the music on my iPod when my last laptop died). Searching youtube, I came across a studio version of it (which you can listen to here) but I also found an acoustic performance of Brother Oh Brother, which I'm liking even more. So here it is;

С Днем Рождения - Дмитрий Колдун

Ok, my Russian is pretty bad, but I hope that's right. Today is of course the birthday of a certain Belarussian Superstar! No, not Ruslan, but Dima Koldun! I believe he is 23 today, and it should also mark the release of his début album (finally). I would write a longer post about him, but I think most people who know me, know enough about him already. So instead I thought I'd post some of my favourite videos of him, spanning his career;

Lets start with some Fabrika Zved, which he won the 6th series of;



And one from the house, complete with inflatables;



Then of course what started it all on an international scale - his being selected for Eurovision. Ok, so this is pretty bad, but its actually the first time me and Rach set eyes on Dima;



As most of you know, he then went on to come 6th in the final of Eurovision 2007. After which he has done some performances, and released a few singles. The first of which was A Dlya Tebya (complete with lovely video);



Finally, and most recently, he has released a video for Tsarevna, and lovely ethnic-style ballad. Here's hoping the album rumours are true and we see some new material from him soon;



That brings you pretty much up-to-date. For more regular news on Mr Koldun, definitely check Rach's blog. Her knowledge of Russian is better than mine. Or if you speak French, there's a blog in my list on the right that's good for Dima news.

So many happy returns Dima, wishing you health and success in the coming years.

Vienna Day Five - Bratislava!

So, Monday morning we had planned to go see the morning exercises of the Spanish Riding School, but apparently they give the horses the day off. So we decided to do some shopping and try again Tuesday. Sophie told us that some of her friends had ventured to Bratislava and we all agreed that while we were in the area it would make a good day trip. Unfortunately Sophie had a lecture at 12 - so it became more of a half-day trip. We managed to get a train at half 1, but it takes less than an hour from Vienna - Bratislava and the trains ran till 11 to come back again, so we still had a good few hours to explore the city.

We arrived, and realised how unprepared we were. None of us were sure whether Slovakia is part of the EU, although we were fairly sure they didnt have the euro, so the first plan was to find some money. We ended up asking some English-speakers that we heard on the train for help. They pointed out where we were on a map the woman at the train station had given us (thank goodness she did!) and told us where we could change some money.


So, we tried to find the tram into the centre but soon got bored with that plan and decide to walk it instead. It didnt take very long, and we passed one of the beautiful Palace's on the way. Had a quick look in the gardens, and saw the guards standing out front in their uniforms. A sign by the fountain was telling us it was 30 degree's! From there you could also see the castle up on the hill, so knew we were heading in the right direction.



We headed along to the one remaining gate to the city - St Michaels Gate. Heading under this, we entered the pedestrianised area of the city with its narrow streets and cafe's. Following along the streets you reach the main square with its little souvenir huts selling the usual tack along with some beautiful hand-made trinkets. From this centre point you could head in any direction any see noticeable buildings, such as churches theatres and town halls.



We carried on through the streets to the Volkstheatre (the map we had was in German), with another fountain (they seem very popular here). From there we could see the river and decided to head towards it. It seemed like a very quiet river-side with only one boat (also a hostel) and one cafe. However we spotted the castle again and headed that way.



Again we got distracted on the way, and ended up at the Cathedral. Decided to pay the entrance fee, and it was worth it just to cool down if nothing else. However it was a pretty church, with a very creepy crypt. Here we met another english speaker, who made us jump while in the depths of the crypt. The treasury was also worth a look.



After that, we started the steep climb up to the castle. Unfortunately the castle was closed for renovation, but it was still worth it to see the views. From here we could see over the river, where big tower blocks of housing showed where all the natives of this quiet town lived. Further down the river was untouched nature of woods and mountains. We bumped into our friend from the crypt again, before heading back into the main town to find somewhere to eat.



We wondered down the narrow streets looking for a cafe that would serve something traditional (not opting for the Irish pub - they really are everywhere!). We found somewhere that did a mixture of eastern cuisine, and very cheap too! Me and Sophie had potato noodles with goats cheese and bacon (apparently Slovakian) while Michael had some sort of chicken Kiev (apparently a Prague recipe). My meal was sooo filling, and ended up leaving half of it. After dinner we decided to head back to the cafe on the river to have a drink and wait for the sun to set. Then we headed back toward the town and found the second palace (better late than never). You had to go through the courtyard of the town hall buildings and you find it tucked away. Outside it, we saw an EU flag waving, and also a information board that seem to suggest that they're getting the euro early next year (although many places seemed to already accept the euro).



Finally, we headed back toward the station to catch the last train that would get us back in time for the last tube in Vienna. Nearly had our passports checked on the way back, but the officials seemed to get distracted by a chap earlier in the carriage who they stopped the train to take off!

All in all, it was a tiring day, but very worthwhile. Its a beautiful city, but small enough to get everything done easily in a day (or an afternoon apparently). I highly recommend it as a day trip to anyone visiting Vienna. The return ticket only cost €14 - thats less than I pay to get home from uni!

Helsinki in August!

So it seems I've been successful in my application to go on a language course. But not only that, I got my first choice - Helsinki! I'm very excited, although now it seems kind of scary. I moved out of my house in Guildford this morning, and am now settling in at home again. But in less than two months I'll be in Finland! Madness!

Unfortunately, I'm still having a bit of a headache where the actual application is concerned. Long story short, they're still requesting something that I cant actually fill out, as I'll be working rather than on a degree course. And until I get a confirmed offer, I cant apply for accommodation (or book flights etc.)

In the meantime, I'm going about the business of preparing bank accounts, insurance etc as though I'm definitely going. This week, I've also been in contact with the current students out there on placement, and they've been giving me some great advice (along with the offer to buy a bike, hehe).

So fingers crossed that I can get this application business sorted and start getting really excited!

Vienna Day Four - Prater

Given Sophie's late night, Michael and I decided to head to the Hofburg to look round the exhibition that Sophie had already seen twice, giving her time for a lie-in, hehe. The Hofburg houses an exhibitions split into three - the first is all the old silverware and table decorations (not the most thrilling thing in the world, but pretty grand nevertheless). Following on from that is an exhibition all about the old empress Elisabeth of Bavaria, or more commonly known as Sisi. She was a pretty interesting character, inspiring films and such which exaggerated her biography and made her an icon. Check out her wiki page if your interested. After this was a chance to wonder round the old apartments of the Emperor and Empress, where you could see their studies, bedrooms etc. Was a well done exhibition, where rather than having to read, every person is given a little hand-held headset, where to hear about a particular item, you simply type in the number next to it, click play et voila, someone tells you all about it in your language. Makes a lot of sense, and I'm sure many museums use this these days, but was the first time I'd come across it.

After that we met up with Sophie and headed to Prater - an old hunting ground of the Emperor, that has since had a fair ground added to the edge of the grounds alongside the old London-eye-like Ferris Wheel. This giant Ferris Wheel was first constructed back in 1897, and apparently survived the war to continue turning today. The cabins and exposed metal structure do seem very traditional, with the cabins rocking from side-to-side as people moved around in side (unlike the steady London Eye), making it a lot more fun in my opinion, although Sophie and Michael clung to the sides the whole time.


From even just half-way round the views of Vienna were fantastic. On both sides there were landmarks to be spotted. Also the nature around the city was marvellous. Miles of the wooded parts of Prater could be seen to one side, with the hills/mountains visible in the distance on the other side. I'd highly recommend having a go round on this.


Sophie pointed out the point on one of the hills where she had planned to take us that night to see the Viennese sky-line at night. Unfortunately the beautiful weather was not to last, and we made it back to the hotel in time for a huge thunder storm (with hale and all-sorts!). So, we waited it out for a while, before deciding we really needed to eat, so made a run to the bus stop where we got a bus to Sophie's. We ended up at the pub round the corner from her halls for more Schnitzel (this time Chicken, with cheese and ham in the middle, like a kiev). So sadly we didn't make it to the view-point, but the Ferris Wheel was good enough to be honest.

Vienna Day Three - Stephensplatz

Saturday we arranged to meet Sophie at Stephansplatz, the main touristy area, and centre of Vienna. Walking out of the tube station, your immediately met with the Cathedral (Stephansdom). It was being renovated, but was still an impressive building. We had a quick look inside before heading off to the Hofburg.

This is the old house and offices of the Emperor and his wife. Most of central Vienna is fairly pedestrianised, but there were a lot of horse-drawn carriages. I owed this partly to the fact that the Hofburg also homed the Spanish Riding School, which I'll talk about in a later post.


We wondered under the arc of the Hofburg and through to the courtyard and beyond, where they were setting up screens in preparation for Euro 2008. From here we could see the buildings for the natural history museum. Walking past these we continued to the parliment buildings and old Rathaus.


After this we sat in a nice cafe (Fratellis) where we had lunch and some gorgeous ice-cream (very welcome on such a hot day). We carried on from there to look at the buildings of the Opera house. Which we had trouble getting to due to the change of Tram routes to accomodate Euro 2008 (poor Sophie was not looking forward to the chaos that it would bring).


After this we sat in a main Park that I forget the name of, but was very nice. Finally we headed back toward the main metro station where we started - passing a fountain on the way where people were paddling, so naturally we joined them, hehe.



Finally we headed back to the hotel, where we decided where to go for dinner. Sophie had heard good things about the schnitzel resturant on the street of our hotel, so we decided to give it a go. It was superb. Each portion of schnitzel came with two, so we ordered two between the three of us. We also ordered chips, potatoes, and two salads. We were absolutely stuffed as the portions were huge, and it was less than €10 each! I'd highly recommend the place, cant remember the exact name, but its the only Schnitzel place on Neubaugasse. To explain what Schnitzel is, its pork that has been beaten flat and then covered in breadcrumbs and lightly fried. Simple but tasty.

Finally we headed to Sophie's halls where they were having drinks in the courtyard. Had a nice chat with an Irish girl about eurovision. Some Americans brought their guitars out and started jamming, and then a girl brought her chello out and joined in. Was bizzare but very good actually. Sophie's friend went on to the Museumsquatier to drink and find a club, but me and Michael headed back to the hotel to rest our weary feet.

Vienna Day Two - Schonbrun

Friday morning we were woken up to the sound of a huge market being constructed outside our hotel window. So after texting Sophie to see when to meet up, we wondered along it till she replied. It was a strange mix of bric-a-brac, and typical market stalls. A schlager radio station was providing music, but I didnt recognise anything, unsurprisingly.


After meeting up with Sophie, we headed to Schonbrun - the old holiday residences of the Emperor. This was a beautiful building that we unfortunately never made it into. Instead we spent the whole day wondering around the gardens. The roses were out in bloom and smelt lovely, and there was a palm house, desert house, giant maze and a zoo! Again we ran out of time to go round the maze, but made it to the other three for which you could buy a combi-ticket. (The gardens were free to wonder round, but the rest required tickets).


First we ventured in the 'houses'. I frequently visit Kew Gardens in London, and love the palm house there. This was just as good with plants from a range of climates on offer. Unfortunately you couldnt climb up and view it from the top like at Kew, but it was still worth a look. We then crossed to the dessert house which had lots of Cacti, and even had lizards and tortoises crawling around.


Finally though, we made it to the zoo - just in time to see the tigers and jaguars being fed. Tigers are by far my most favourite animal, and I was fascinated while watching them eat. These ones were not shy and came right up to the glass to eat. We also saw the seals being fed, jumping after fish off ledges causing great big splashes - much to the delight of the children standing close enough to get wet. Finally, we spent ages watching the baby polar bears playing and also caught a glimpse of the baby panda that is apparently quite famous.



After leaving the zoo, which was surprisingly large given its strange location, we headed back to the hotel to get changed for the evening. Sophie wanted to take us to a traditional Heuriger. At the end of a tram route was a popular area called Grinzing, almost its own town, where we met with Sophie's friends again and tried some traditional cuisine. Apparently each Heuriger owns its own vines from which they make their own wine, which was delicious. Michael had his first Schnitzel of the week (not the last by far) and I had regular meat with sauerkraut and knödel. Not a big fan of sauerkraut but the knödel were lovely. Was a very pleasant evening to sit in the gardens and got to discuss Finland with one of Sophie's Finnish friends. Was most likely the best evening of the week.

Vienna Day One - Donauinsel

We arrive in Vienna on time with an uneventful flight (my first in nearly 10 years!). We wonder out and see Sophie waiting for us. Was a lovely surprise, as I didnt think she'd be meeting us from the airport. So glad she did though. Sophie has been in Vienna studying at the university as part of an Erasmus exchange, and so speaks very good German, and also knows her way around the city pretty well. She buys us our train tickets, and takes us straight to our hotel. The hotel was very cheap, so was expecting a complete dive. It is a little run-down, but the beds were comfy and the room is huge - complete with sofa and fridge.

We headed down Mariahilfer Strasse (the main shopping street) just along from our hotel to have a drink and a quick catch up. It was getting fairly late (it was gone 5pm before we checked into the hotel), so decide to head to Sophie's for some lunch and meet her flatmates who we'll be going out with later that night. We decide to ease into the cuisine slowly with a good old Italian. After which we headed to the Donauinsel to meet Sophie's friends and have a cocktail. This area of Veinna, next to the river, clearly comes alive at night. The area is full of small bars (either on the shore, or as permanently moored boats) and the area is bursting with lights and music. We start with a quick cocktail before finding one of these boats where we have a dance (to some fairly rubbish music in my opinion).

Sophie's friends (all Erasmus students also) all seem really nice, and it was so good to be out with Sophie again, who I have only seen once since September. My first impressions of Austria is that it's quite a bit different from Germany. All the buildings are quite old-fashioned, but there is a lot of modern style cafe's and bars. The public transport is efficient, with the U-Bahn being fairly modern, although still having the manual doors like in Paris.

The Science of Sleep

Whenever I go into HMV or equivalent, I tend to head to the sale section and read the description to any films that catch my eye especially those I've never heard of. I'm a big film fan, and get bored with the general drab that gets shown in the cinema, so am happy to find such interesting DVD's for as little as £3, which was the case with this film.





The Science of Sleep (or La Science Des Rêves) is a beautiful film staring Gael Garcia Bernal from the Motorcycle Diaries and written & directed by Michel Gondry, who directed Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. I have to say I hated ESotSM, and was thoroughly disappointed with it after such rave reviews. I didn't like the characters and found the whole plot a bit silly. So this made me wary of this film, but for some reason I bought it anyway. And I'm very glad I did.

The story revolves around Stéphane, who moves to France from Mexico to be with his mother following the death of his father. He's an artist, but takes up a boring job manufacturing calenders, and thinks of returning to Mexico. However, he soon becomes infatuated with his neighbour, and finds reason enough to stay. He clearly has had a very vivid imagination from a young age, and this is explored in his dreams which come alive on screen intermingled with reality. At times Stéphane has trouble distinguishing dream from reality (as does the viewer), and his dreams become a way for him to try and sort through his troubles in waking life.

The dialogue of the film is mostly in English, but switches between some French and Spanish also, however by having subtitles on all the time (which I do with every DVD anyway) its not at all hard to follow, and somehow adds to the charm of the movie. I was pleasantly surprised with this film. Maybe it was just that I could identify with the characters more, and felt like the story, although partly based in a dream world, was much more realistic than ESotSM. Also I found it quite funny in places, and laughed aloud on many occasions. I would recommend it to anyone that likes 'alternative' films, but those looking for a chick-flick should stear clear. I think this is a film that will remain with me, and that I will happily watch again in a couple of months as it is involving but light enough to enjoy over again.

***** 4/5

Return From Vienna!

So I return safely from a lovely 6 days in Vienna. I had a fabulous time, got a bit of tan (that I hope stays), saw some lovely sights, and ate lots of lovely food. Vienna's a lovely city and the holiday went without a hitch really - partly due to the fact my friend became our personal tour guide for the week! We even had a spontaneous day trip to Bratislava. None of us knew anything about Slovakia (EU? Euro? Language!?) so that was an adventure, hehe. Have been taking notes, and once I get the photos off my friend I will be posting about some highlights.

Will just end with a new song that I heard out there from a band I quite like. They are called Die Ärzte, and have been around for decades. This is a fairly poppy song from them, called Lasse Redn. From what I can tell, its just about doing what you like and letting the people talk as they have nothing better to do. Could be wrong though, my Germans still needs perfecting, hehe.