Monday, July 17, 2006
the love is back!
The love is back!
Oh my god, the Berlin Love Parade was insane! I met a guy from Cal and another guy from Lebanon of all places at my hostel this time. Needless to say that the guy from Lebanon found a place to stay for a few months until things settle down between them and Israel. Anyway, we kicked off the lovin' on Friday night by going to one of the biggest raves in Berlin with Paul Van Dyk spinning 2 sets for the masses. As my frist techno/rave/whatever party, I was amazed. It was almost overwhelming with the crowds, lights, drinks, drugs, and music all flowing with the beat. The last set didn't end until 8am, so we made it back to the hostel to catch just a few hours of sleep before we headed for the parade at noon on Saturday.
For those of you who don't know what the love parade is, I'll lay it out for you simply. It is all about techno/house/trance music, and has been bringing crowds of people to Berlin for over 15 years. Here's what happens: Starting around noon or so, the parade starts. The "parade" consists of 40 or so semi-trucks each carrying their own portable turntables, gigantic speakers, and of course a dance floor. They circle the center of the biggest park in the city spreading their music everywhere. If you like a particular DJ, you follow the truck for a bit, if not just grab a beer for a bit as another truck will be around in just a few minutes.
At 8pm, the trucks all stop and the crowds gather around the center of the park where there's a tall monument and a stationary stage. Each set of speakers on the trucks as well as the massive non-moving parts are hooked up together, and every DJ is given 20 minutes to make the crowd go wild. Add to this a bunch of fog machines, strobe lights, and a laser show, and you have an E-head's dream come true... oh, did I forget to mention there were 1.2 Million people there?
Needless to say it was wild, the costumes were great, and the love is definately back. :)
Moving on... I went from Berlin to Copenhagen for a night where I met a guy who had an extra bedroom he offered to me. I took him up of course, and gave him a few euro for it. He was also kind enough to let me use his bike for the evening, where I gave myself the self-guided tour of Copenhagen - even if I was lost over half the time :) I am glad he gave me a bike, as some streets only allow bicycles, no cars or pedestrians! Also, every street has special bike rules to follow, complete with speed signs, our own lanes, and even signal lights at every intersection! I heard that there is a 4:1 ratio of bikes to humans in Denmark.
This morning, I woke up to catch the first train to Stockholm which was - booked solid. As was the one after that. So now I am waiting for the next train with a seat, which put me back 8 hours. I made the most of it with a day trip to Malmo, right across the longest bridge in Europe. (5 miles; I just looked it up)
Anyway, it's off to Sweden, where I already saw about a million volvos (although I have yet to see an IKEA!)