The Blue Talkz...

So, I figured I should write these here for the friends of mine who were wondering exactly where I was in the past couple of weekends [as in, where those photos came from! ;)].

A few weeks ago we went for a hike in the Winterthur vicinity. We got on the train in the Zurich main station, and went to Effretikon. From there we hiked to Kyburg, and from there to Tierpark Bruderhaus [animal park]. From there we hiked to the tower of Eschenberg, and from there back to Winterthur.

This was a great plan for the day [organized by my friend Gian-Andrea], as it basically included everything I like. A good hike, a castle visit, a tower and even an animal park.

Photos here.

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Labels: Activities, Adventures, Friends, Fun, Hiking, Nature, Sports, Switzerland, Winterthur

A couple of weeks ago there was this years "Winterthurer Musikfestwochen", which I attended for the first time. For some good 10 days there was fantastic open-air concerts in a couple of different venues in Winterthur, a total of 5 – 7 performances every day. I was there with friends as often as I could, and really enjoyed some truly awesome concerts. Here's some of my favourite performances of this year. I must add it's now easier to decide that since I've had time to listen to their albums… =)

Portico Quartet. Modern/Electro Jazz band from the UK. I have no idea how I had not listened to these guys before… I listen to their style/genre rather often, and I seem to know most of their "related" artists. In Wintethur I heard them for the first time, and I had my mind blown. I really truly LUVED their performance, and the guy on Contra Bass took my breath away. I've been listening to their albums since… far too much probably…. ;) [More pictures here.]

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Wilber Calver and his Afro Cuban Celtic orchestra. Can you imagine that? Yes, a mix of Cuban Music and Celtic bagpipes! This is definitely among the most creative fusion music that I've heard in my life, and I really enjoyed the performance. I've also been listening to their albums since. [More pictures here.]

Hathors. High energy rock band from Winthertur, Switzerland. These guys shook the venue really. =) Also a first encounter for me, and quite an enjoyable one. [More pictures here.]

Daniel Norgren. Blues/Folk band from Sweden. Great music, great performance, great talent… And then of course at some point during the performance the guy ripped a guitar string, which he actually managed to replace without even stopping the performance! The song continued, probably a little longer than it should have been [;)], with their singing and the drums and the contra bass. And by the end of it, the guitar string was replaced and tuned. =) Way to go confidence! [More pictures here]