Hannover December 2018 |
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Hannover was added to my German itinary when I returned from Helsinki. I was suppost to be flying to Dortmund with Ed, my husband, as when we decided to go to the Dortmund concert I didn't feel able to travel alone. However, that has now changed, so I decided to fly to Hannover, and then meet Ed at Dortmund airport two days later for the final two concerts. I flew Flybe this time, from Birmingham Airport. It was a late afternoon flight the day before the concert, so it was about 21:00 by the time I arrived at my hotel. The next day, which was concert day I wasn't feeling particularly well, so I decided to spend the morning in the hotel rather than go and look for the Christmas Markets.
I went to the venue just before the doors opened and met Chris and her friend, and somehow she persuaded me to go to the front row with them, and all common sense left me at the thought, adrenalin killed any pain so I ended up in the middle of the front row again. The crowd was quit rough and noisy even a couple of hours before Scooter started.
I was ok in the front row for the first few tracks, and was in the front row for Oi! again :) Later there was quite a lot of pushing from further back in the crowd and I felt like I would pass out, normally I would have been ok, but not on this day - I had to get out before I passed out but it was not possible to get through the crowd, so I had to be pulled over the barrier by security, which was extremely embarrasing to say the least!! I was taken to First Aid by security where it was decided I was still alive and well, and actually my heart rate was a lot better than it was earlier. I was then sent to sit in a seat at the side of the arena for the rest of the show. I didn't get a particularly good view from there, all I could see was a side view of Michael, but I still enjoyed the rest of the show. I briefly saw the band after the show, and Michael said he guessed that would be my last front row, to which the answer was of course it won't!!! :) I'll just be more careful in future to listen to what my body is trying to tell me. I was very glad that Ed wasn't at this concert to witness it all though. After the show Chris and I walked back to the hotel - Chris stayed at the hotel with me, and went home the next morming and I got a train to Dortmund, because I had to meet Ed at Dortmund airport in the afternoon.
Dortmund December 2018 I was feeling fine again by the next day after my bad day in Hannover which was good as I had to travel to Dortmund, find the hotel and then go to the airport. I got the train from Hannover to Dortmund, which was 50 minutes late, it was the first time I had been on a German train that was late. I found the hotel, which was right next to the venue and luckily was able to check in early, so I could leave my suitcase and bag in the hotel room. I then decided it was time to head to the airport to meet Ed. There was a regional train service from a station quite close to the hotel to the airport well almost to the airport, a short drive on an airport shuttle bus was required after the train. I got train and bus to the airport to meet Ed then we went back to the hotel, and had dinner in the hotel resturant. I was very tired and I fell asleep by about 20:30 and slept for nearly 12 hours. In the hotel lift there was a small poster advertising the events at the venue, I felt like I needed to get a pen and cross Phil's picture out because Etnik is now part of the band.
The next morning after breakfast we went into the city centre and to the Christmas Markets where I had my first Eierpunch of the year :) After the Christmas Markets we went back to the hotel to get ready to go to the concert. As we were getting ready we could hear the concert soundcheck from our room.
This was to be Ed's first real Scooter concert, although he had been to Clubland in the UK before, but Clubland doesn't really compare to a real Scooter concert. We went to the venue at about 17:30 and Chris and a couple of her friends were outside. Ed and I had very good seats for this concert, but he decided he wanted to watch it from the bar, so I decided to go to our seats alone, with a detour first to the standing area. The middle of the front row was of course full, but there was still space more at the side, just a little further over than where Michael stands, so I decided to stand there, as I thought there would be less crush, and it would be easier to get out if I needed to. It was another excellent concert, and Noisecontrollers, who made the new remix of Move Your Ass which is used in the concert finale was on stage while it was played. Ed enjoyed his first concert more than he thought he would which is good :) I was able to stay there for the whole show without any problems. It was a great show, I had a good view of all of the stage and a really enjoyable front row experience. I was soaking wet with sweat when the concert finished as usual, and my confidence to be able to be at the front was restored :) I think slightly to the side in the front row is probably a better option for me than the centre these days.
Bremen December 2018 The next day we were due to travel to Bremen to the last concert. We were travelling by train and I had booked first class travel with reserved seats for an easy journey, but two first class coaches were cut from the train, and we ended up standing in second class for the whole journey, so we were not impressed at all! The Venue in Bremen was opposite the main station, and luckily the hotel was only a 5 minute walk, and was opposite the venue car park. We could not check in to our room until 15:00 so we went to look at the Christmas Markets. My foot was very painful by now, so unfortunately I walked very slowly and painfully (everything seems to be going wrong with me). The Christmas Markets in Bremen were really nice, so we had an enjoyable time looking round even though it was raining. The following day was the concert day, I was looking forward to this one very much as my husband had bought me a V.I.P. ticket as an early Christmas present. Before going to the concert though we went into town again to meet fellow fans Edgar and Rene and went for a coffee together.
Another bonus for me is that Ed enjoyed the concerts, and has said he will be going with me again sometimes.
Summary
I started a few months ago with the aim of going to one concert in Germany and ended up going to 5, in 3 countries, 5 great cities, and 5 amazing concerts - I loved every second!
As I write this I / we are already planning next year's concerts!
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