Saturday, July 16 - A Medieval Day

By: Nick Mason

Tage 19, WEDNESDAY 16.JULY.2011 - A Medieval Day

Today was just… AMAZING!

I slept so well last night. I didn’t have to get up until 08.00. I ate breakfast with Petra at 09.00.
Then, after finishing getting ready and a little bit of waiting, Jacqueline’s mom came and picked me up at about 09.40. We chatted a little in the car on the way to their house.

We got there and we all got ready. They lent me some leather pants that lace up the side, an awesome jacket with buckles on the arms, some belts, and a bag. They have such a cool house, there’s medieval stuff everywhere. We finished getting ready. Emi, Jacqueline, her mom, her sister, and I all got into their car and made our way to Bückeburg for the “Mittelalterlich Phantasie Spectaculum.” This is a medieval festival that has so much to do, to buy! Here is the website for the Middle Ages Festival in Bückeburg that we attended:

http://www.spectaculum.de/termine/bueckeburg/

We listened to her sister’s iPod on the way there with the car stereo. I knew the first three songs also have them on my own iPod, which is funny to me because nobody in America has ever heard of my music, but here they have.

We arrived at the festival probably around 11.00 or 11.30. We parked, got our things together, and walked along the road to the festival, which took about 10 minutes. We arrived to the main area, got our tickets, and headed to the main stage. There were free posters, and of course I had to take one... well... two!

We sat in the second row! The introduction began. It was very funny. All of the people who are part of the fest, as merchants, employees, etc. all did a little show. It was very random at times; they performed a “wedding.” LOL!

After a good 20-25 minutes they all exited. We went up near the stage as the music would start soon. I was so excited… Saltatio Mortis was going to play! They are my FAVOURITE German band! I couldn’t believe that they were going to be there playing! I thought it was so cool! I have never seen a band that I listen to perform live, in person. It was so awesome. We danced along to the music as well. I took oodles of photos and videos. When they finished their mini-concert I just had to go to the merchandise stand. I purchased their logo necklace and their album T-shirt, “Wer Wind Saet.” YAY! I thought I would never get that T-Shirt, because they don’t sell them anywhere online anymore, so I got super lucky!

We walked around the gigantic Middle Ages market after the show. There were shops selling swords, necklaces, clothing, chests, foods, liquors, and everything else you could think of. We sat down at an area where they had hay bales to rest on. We watched acrobats from the hay bales for a while and talked. It was so relaxing!

We then finished looking at all the shops. We stopped for a food and drink break. Everything was just so real; it really was an experience of a lifetime! My pants, being made of leather, got pretty uncomfortable pretty fast, especially with the heat. So we looked for some new pants. I wanted to buy some pants in Germany anyway, so I decided “why not here?” I bought some wonderful pants. They weren’t cheap, costing €75. I think that they were worth it.

We went around and around, looking, inquiring, chatting. It was so nice, relaxing and unique.
We listened to other bands as well. I’m not sure what their names were, but they were pretty cool.

A little bit later we walked back to the car and changed. I had to put on my new pants, and Emi changed her dress. We walked back, walked around some more, and Emi ate some falafel.

Saltatio Mortis was playing again, and it was getting dark out. We danced, clapped, sang. It was so much fun! People looked at us like we were crazy, but that just added to the fun.

There were these giant bundles of wood and they started to burn them. We went up and danced right next to one of the fires… it was VERY hot! Tonight, I really felt like myself. Everything just felt so right.

After they finished, we all sang for an encore… actually, there ended up being two encores. We all walked over to where the Black Plague performance was starting. We walked with the performers, which was super cool. We walked around picking up the “sick” and the “dead.” It was really amazing, and pretty realistic!

Afterwards there was a fire show. This was SO amazing. How people do these things with fire, I will never know! It was beautiful as well as amazing and confusing.

Then everything was wrapping up for the night. It was about 00.15. I decided that I had to buy another Saltatio Mortis T-shirt. Then we walked back to the car. We drove to a McDonald’s to use the restroom as the portable toilets at the event were now filled with vomit from the drunk people, and that’s just really, really nasty.

People gave us the funniest looks when we walked in, because we were dressed up in medieval costumes... but we just laughed! Then we made our way back to their house. It was kind of a long drive, so Emi, Jacqueline and I slept almost the entire way back. When we arrived in Saerbeck I got my stuff together, changed, and her mom dropped me off at my house.

It was such an amazing day! Everything really felt just awesome! It’s 04.12 and I really, really need some sleep.

To see the rest of my photos from today, please visit this link.

Also, to see my complied videos, please visit this link. (COMING SOON)