"Why are you coming to the United Kingdom," the woman at passport control in Paris' Gare du Nord train station asked. I'm headed to London for the last stretch of my Europe trip on a Eurostar train.
In typical David fashion, I gave an overly explained answer that shared that I was visiting my friend's parents, I was on holiday, and that I was coming for a concert (amongst other things).
"Oh really? What concert?"
This part I had covered. "Arcade Fire!" I say with a boom and an upwards rising left fist, for no reason in particular.
"Hmm. Well, don't freak out but they came in right before you." she said, clearly expecting that I would in fact freak out.
"Oh my god, what really where?! Through here? Were they Canadian? Did they say they were Arcade Fire?!" I love living up to expectations.
She laughs. "I knew I shouldn't have mentioned this. Yes they were Canadian. Yes they said they were Arcade...whatever." She was clearly less impressed.
"Wow. Sorry, I have a weird idol worship thing with people I respect. And I REALLY like Arcade Fire." I say, hoping to come across as charming, not as a creepy weirdo.
"Clearly." she says with a laugh. "Well enjoy the concert, and hey, you'll see them there!" She stamps my passport and sends me off.
"It's not the same." Cue Charlie Brown sad walk, George Michael style.
Sigh...oh well. No meeting Arcade Fire and taking a picture with them for my world trip scrapbook. No big deal. I don't ca...OH MY GOD IT'S ARCADE FIRE!
There they are. Crafters of one of my all-time favorite albums (Funeral), creators of 2010's Grammy winner for Best Album (The Suburbs), and world renowned budding rock gods. And there they are!
Cue myself frantically digging my camera out and rapidly going through an internal debate as to whether or not I should go talk to them. I think "Wayne Coyne!" and go for it, even though I am crazy nervous (meeting someone mildly famous for me is like a crazy religious person meeting Jesus. And Arcade Fire is more than mildly famous).
"Hey, are you guys Arcade Fire?" I say to the group of 15 or so people who, amongst their number, are clearly Arcade Fire.
"Yeah man. I'm Will!" says the guy closest to me. Will Butler, multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Win Butler's brother.
I chat with Will for a bit. I mention my world trip, that I'm from Alaska and that the only part of my Europe trip I had planned was seeing their show in Hyde Park. I survive this, but I am probably acting like a person who is asking a girl on a first date.
"That's great. We're really excited for the show too."
"Hey, could I get a picture with you guys? I totally understand if you're not down, but I figured I would ask." I look around and see Regine, the other singer and multi-instrumentalist as well as Win Butler's wife. She looks extremely unenthusiastic, potentially attempting to use Superman-esque heat vision to decapitate me.
Their manager, or who I assume is their manager, informs me that they are on their morning routine so no pictures. While I am unsure as to what that is, I just say "Oh. Alright. I totally understand."
Will says "Yeah, we are just kind of relaxing. But hey, enjoy the show!"
Sigh...no picture for my world trip scrapbook. I say thanks and scatter nervously, standing in a line to buy a sandwich at a nearby shop while refocusing my chi. That's a bit of a bummer.
Then I think "hey! I had a conversation with a member of Arcade Fire! That's personal growth!" I smile to myself and hold myself high.
This trip just keeps on getting better.
And that is how I met the band I am seeing with 80,000 other people tomorrow in Hyde Park.
Music of the day: Arcade Fire's "Funeral" (of course)
Showing posts with label Trains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trains. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
No Matter Where You Go...There You Are
These days it feels like I am in perpetual motion. Always moving forward to the next place, the next sight, the next city, the next train. In the past 24 hours I have been on five trains in four countries, attempting to get to somewhere to call home for a day or two. That next place is Interlaken, Switzerland, until it isn't.
It's an interesting thing to always be somewhere new or to be traveling from place to place. It's like I am constantly on the first day of school, meeting people on their vacation in the best possible mood at all times. Who isn't happy during vacation? It leads to a lot of quickly developed friendships and/or conversations, and, at "best," an add on Facebook.
That leads me to the one thing that I've started to miss while traveling: roots. When you're always moving, it is pretty difficult to cultivate lasting connections. Granted, I could easily change this for myself by sticking around somewhere for a little more than a day or two at a time, but there is so much to do and so little time! It's a choice I've made, and there is no reason I cannot go to some of my favorite places later and develop those roots.
But it is kind of interesting...when I look back to the places I liked the most (Wanaka, Melbourne, Hiroshima, Chiang Mai, London, Paris, Heidelberg, Barcelona) they were all (besides Hiroshima) marked by extended stints in one place. The only reason why I don't change my itinerary and simply stick it out at one or two locations for my remaining time is for one simple reason: I know if I did that the opposite would be true.
I would be ten days into my stay in Prague, enjoying a coffee and the mighty fine architecture they have but thinking "man, it sure would have been cool if I made it to Budapest." You always want what you don't have...isn't that true?
That said, in my current final version of my remaining itinerary, I think I get the best of both worlds. A ton of places in there, but with multi-day stints in Interlaken, Siena (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia), Budapest (Hungary), Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Bruges/Brugge (Belgium). Sure, it would be cool to go to Greece or Turkey or Poland (or rather non former concentration camp parts of Poland), but this allows me the best of both worlds: elongated stays while also visiting a bunch of places that are awesome.
Because really, the fact that I stayed in those favorite places for multiple days isn't the reason why they are favorites. I stayed there multiple days because they were awesome and I didn't want to leave them. If these places coming up are crap, I'll leave, simple as that.
Roots be damned.
Music of the day: Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - Self Titled Debut
It's an interesting thing to always be somewhere new or to be traveling from place to place. It's like I am constantly on the first day of school, meeting people on their vacation in the best possible mood at all times. Who isn't happy during vacation? It leads to a lot of quickly developed friendships and/or conversations, and, at "best," an add on Facebook.
That leads me to the one thing that I've started to miss while traveling: roots. When you're always moving, it is pretty difficult to cultivate lasting connections. Granted, I could easily change this for myself by sticking around somewhere for a little more than a day or two at a time, but there is so much to do and so little time! It's a choice I've made, and there is no reason I cannot go to some of my favorite places later and develop those roots.
But it is kind of interesting...when I look back to the places I liked the most (Wanaka, Melbourne, Hiroshima, Chiang Mai, London, Paris, Heidelberg, Barcelona) they were all (besides Hiroshima) marked by extended stints in one place. The only reason why I don't change my itinerary and simply stick it out at one or two locations for my remaining time is for one simple reason: I know if I did that the opposite would be true.
I would be ten days into my stay in Prague, enjoying a coffee and the mighty fine architecture they have but thinking "man, it sure would have been cool if I made it to Budapest." You always want what you don't have...isn't that true?
That said, in my current final version of my remaining itinerary, I think I get the best of both worlds. A ton of places in there, but with multi-day stints in Interlaken, Siena (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia), Budapest (Hungary), Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Bruges/Brugge (Belgium). Sure, it would be cool to go to Greece or Turkey or Poland (or rather non former concentration camp parts of Poland), but this allows me the best of both worlds: elongated stays while also visiting a bunch of places that are awesome.
Because really, the fact that I stayed in those favorite places for multiple days isn't the reason why they are favorites. I stayed there multiple days because they were awesome and I didn't want to leave them. If these places coming up are crap, I'll leave, simple as that.
Roots be damned.
Music of the day: Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - Self Titled Debut
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