17 September 2018

#TravelWhereTheMusicTakesYou: Lollapalooza, The Weeknd, 24h in Berlin.

Alina Ceusan # Entertainment # Music # Travel

We’re in Berlin and we’re getting ready for the festival. The Weeknd is playing on the background, our clothes are spread everywhere on the bed, just like in our Instagram shot. I’m opening a beer from the mini bar while Carmen puts on her make-up in the bathroom. I’m also posting some stories on Instagram with my outfit for the night and I pause for a moment to watch the world outside the window. I knew we were scheduled to arrive before sunset and the sun was still up there, lightning Berlin in a modern and clean way, leaving me with a curios feeling from the other side of the window inside a room at Marriot hotel. We are “on tour” at Lollapalooza, hopping on and off here for only 24 hours.

It also happened last time when we were in Paris for Carmen’s birthday (21st of July). The Weeknd concert – the reason behind our visit – and the whole experience has always been great. 24 hours to take advantage of everything: rush, emotions, the time lapse, how the sun sets, the left-right hand moves in the air following the beat of the music, the light that stays on stage after the last performance. It’s a rush, but we like it.

We traveled to Lollapalooza Berlin with eSky.ro, one of the top travel agencies in Romania. They launched a very fine campaign this year, focused on travel deals for the most important festivals in Europe and Romania, #TravelWhereTheMusicTakesYou. We really liked this campaign, especially because they made us crave about a series of festivals promoted on their Facebook page ).

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If you also put Lollapalooza on our list, with Lolla Experience and VIP tickets (access to the backstage and your favorite artist at the concert), we can say it was perfect the combination. We had to seeThe Weeknd again. I’m going to let you imagine Carmen’s excitement about the whole thing and the entire backstage experience. I didn’t shoot anything on stories. I just wanted to memorize the sum of things that formed the props at the main stage: the racks of lights, the cranes, the walkways, the cameras and the trucks. I was sitting there and thinking – damn right, #TravelWhereTheMusicTakesYou.u. Why not? Because these are the best moments – all around Europe, at concerts, surrounded by good music, backstage passes, energy – him or her. When you draw a line, these are the moments how really count.

I was writing you these exact words from Lollapalooza- In the end all we have are moments like this, on fast forward, just like in a movie trailer. Fun with friends and family, flashlights of laughter, music and close ups-of-beloved-eyes. So why not enjoy the moment? Why not care less about what others think and more about living the life you’ve been given, your way ? @esky_travel #TravelWhereTheMusicTakesYou #eSkyRomania @lollapaloozade #Lollaberlin #AcGoesToBerlin.

I have made my mind about what’s truly important for me: what are the things I want to do, how will I do then, what is important and what is not. But it seems to me that, from time to time, we need a reminder. Maybe you need a reminder. Just go out and live your way. You are the only person who can bring happiness around, make yourself feel good. There’s this whole thing out there. And what do others say? Have they been in your shoes? No! Could they handle what you do? Nope! The pressure, the work, the timing, the-fu * ing-schedule? Well, again no. So? Exactly my point. You don’t have to listen to what others talk or what they do and that’s because you have a road to follow and with each decision and action, you create your own future.

Travel is a must. Look beyond the purpose of absolute relaxing moments, every time you go out on the door and go somewhere where you’ve never been … it’s the last time you have to deal with this “me”. This person who is you, the one who came out the door with your luggage. Especially when we talk about a new place. When you go home, you are already a new person. You haven’t changed completely, but you grew up, you learned, you went through some experiences that brought you something extra. Now I know how to get by train from Berlin Airport to the city center, to the hotel. Maybe it sounds stupid, but next time I can go blindfolded. This first time I kept them wide open.

The festival experience was much more complete than the one we had in Paris. We started with the Lolla Experience ticket with access to the backstage and first of all to the concert (pass by the fact that there were also a bunch of other fans of the artist singing on the stage, so you have to own steel nerves to get your girlfriend up to the ” first row “). Moving on to the fact that the festival simply had a bigger place, it looked better organized, you had more options at the food-court (although not all brilliant, I would have expected more pizza in particular from this festival. Camionetta, you rock!) and generally didn’t have to stay in a queue for too long

 It’s very important to avoid standing up for drinks and food too much at a 24 hours festival. You want to have fun, listen music, explore. The wheel, the three big scenes, a stage on the stadium, the food court, the mirror garden, the vintage shops, the circus wonderland, the mascots and characters from other worlds (the white T-rex flamingo, which I saw at night made an appearance in my dream later that night …) – all these attractions were transforming the Olympiastadiom from Berlin into a super cool location for a festival. In a true experience.

Everybody at this festival was waaay under dressed compared to us. There were ubiquitous diamonds and glitter on the face, flowers in hair, all the festival cliches. I didn’t see anything to attract my attention (only later on Instagram, on the #Lollaberlin tag), but the atmosphere was very cool, relaxed. And no, if you dress differently than in jeans and a shirt, that doesn’t mean you didn’t come to have fun, listen to some music. You want to do all that can be done at a festival, but in a nice attire. Just as Gabi once said: If I care to look at myself in the mirror before leaving the house for a concert doesn’t mean I have an empty head, I might as well think too much. I’m making connections. I wear clothes. That’s what I am. Get over it.

Because a festival in a different country then yours doesn’t just mean the hours spent in front of the scene, the guys at eSky.ro  made sure we were treated in the best possible way. We were at the Marriott reception, we were staying in our room – you know the usual speech: “… this is your room, you have the access key, breakfast is from 7:00 to 14:30. Say whaat? Breakfast is until 14:30, because it’s the weekend.

I went down to breakfast the next day at 12:00 – “sunny side up” eggs – courtesy of Carmen, bacon, mustard, mortadella, herbal emmentaler, orange juice, porridge, and black tea with milk. Brilliant. Everything was brilliant. The good part when you buy a service from eSky.ro – whether it’s the flight, the hotel, the travel insurance, the car rental, or all of them), you are always in contact with their consultants for any related question about your trip – if the flight gets canceled, something comes up at the hotel or anything else. It was a smooth ride, I admit it. And I know now that this is exactly what we need when we’re on tour. Am I right, Carmen?

Press play again and enjoy the pictures! By the way, I uploaded a new playlist on my blog. Lolla Themed. Press play.

Love love loveeeeee. This was taken just before our flight to Berlin: