My last ever 12.00 on 12/12/12

There we have it people, the last time I will see 12.00pm on the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012!

Just wanted to take this time to thank you for reading my blog so far, I will of course continue to update throughout my ERASMUS year but for this special day, thank you for keeping up-to-date with my journey so far! I promise I shall post more pictures of Lederhosen, you guys love that Alpine crap ;)

LG,

dein KRONEHIT-Team ;)

Just a quick note...

Hello lovely people :)

Just a quick note on an important topic :)

So my friend sent a link to a video last night which I obviously watched. The music video is by a guy called Macklemore who has been quite famous on YouTube for a few years. He's unsigned but has an amazing voice and ability to write lyrics. His songs like Thrift Shop are quite tongue-in-cheek but his latest is on a very sincere and contentious issue at the moment.

The song is called 'Same Love' and calls for equality and tolerance of homosexuality. The video is an incredibly moving piece of footage and caused me to cry like a baby! I urge you to watch it, if even just to hear how beautiful the song is.

Here it is, and have some tissues handy!

2012 - A Musical Overview

So 2012 is nearly over and it's been an amazing year for music.

Many records were broken this year, from PSY's 'Gangnam Style' becoming the Most-Viewed Video on YouTube and becoming the UK's first, and probably last Korean No.1, to Katy Perry having 5 No.1s off ONE Album, there has been a huge shake-up of the Charts this year.

This is an incredible representation of what's happened this year in the world of music. The editing in it is incredible and it's definitely been on repeat on my iPod since I discovered it!

Enjoy it:

Salzburg, Skiing and Swedish House Mafia

Well hello one and all! I do hope you're all well. Alas, the time has come for me to update you about the various shenanigans I have been getting up to!

Last weekend was absolutely incredible. My lovely employers at KRONEHIT in Vienna let me leave work early on Friday 30th and have the Monday off work (3 DAY WEEKEND BABY!) However, there was such a reason for my relatively short week; I had to catch my train to Salzburg.

A Dirndl

It's a funny one here because when one thinks of Austria, you picture women in Dirndl's, The Sound of Music and Mozart. It's certainly fair to say that everytime I've been to Salzburg, (which is quite a lot!), I have experienced something along these lines. In fact, I once had the pleasure of staying in a Hotel which had a 24-hour-a-day Sound of Music channel on the TV, magic.

However, the Viennese don't appreciate being tarred with this brush and rather resent the 'stupid Salzburgerland people'. Thankfully I don't care about this stereotype, in fact I bloody love it!


SO, Friday I arrived in Salzburg to see my beautiful friends Manon and Charlotte awaiting me in the train station. They had travelled all the way from Heidelberg and Toulouse to come and see Swedish House Mafia with me and they would not be disappointed! My parents picked us up from the station, (They were on Holiday, they didn't just travel from England to pick me up from an Alpine city), and we headed off to Schladming to see Swedish House Mafia open the Ski Season.

Manon and I with our Käsekrainer

 Before the concert, I decided to introduce Charlotte to some 'typical', or 'shit' as my work colleagues would say, Austrian food. Käsekrainer (Sausage stuffed with pockets of cheese) was a      necessity! As well as this, much Glühwein (Mulled Wine) was consumed, maybe a little too much (Manon fell on her face).

Swedish House Mafia

Then it happened, we saw Swedish House Mafia on their 'One Last Tour: The gig was absolutely incredible. 20,000 people in the Open Air in Schladming, right in front of the Ski Piste. They played all their biggest hits such as 'Greyhound', 'One (Your Name), 'Miami 2 Ibiza' and 'Save The World' as well their own famous songs.

Sebastian Ingrosso played 'Calling Generation X' and Axwell played his remix of Ivan Gough's 'In My Mind'.

The atmosphere was electrifying and when 'Don't You Worry Child' played, the music stopped, the crowd sang along and everybody started hugging each other and dancing. A truly incredible night!

Me at Swedish House Mafia

After the fun of Swedish House Mafia, who were also a massive hit with my parents, we had two days of skiing in Reiteralm, near Schladming. An incredible few days with perfect conditions coupled with Charlotte's 'amazing' German abilities ensured that there was never a dull moment.

After 3 days of over-eating, drinking and partying, it was time to come back to Vienna. I said goodbye to parents and friends and headed back to the Big City to re-join the rat-race. Overall, an amazing weekend in an amazing country. Austria truly is a special place.

Here's a quick video I made of the weekend (Be sure to watch it in 720p HD): 

Ohhhhh Vienna...

Hey kids, just a quick update from the weekend :) It's been an eventful one for me!

It all started on Thursday when my lovely friend Daniela from KRONEHIT had her birthday. Being Austrian (Yes, I have now adopted this nationality), the only thing to do was start drinking Vodka, Sekt (Champagne) and, the good old favourite, Jägermeister. Fast forward 2 hours, to 1pm, I'm drunk as a skunk and trying frantically to concentrate on the News Article I'm writing about the 'Human Barbie".

And yes, that is a real person. ANYHOO, the article was published online so it all worked out for the best. 

Friday night saw the entirety of the KRONEHIT Team heading to a Karaoke Bar in Schweden Platz. Now, for those who don't know, I LOVE Karaoke...Needless to say, the Austrians loved my 'very British' version of Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone. They also loved my duet with my dear friend Thomas (We sang PULP- Disco 2000). The night was incredible and made me fall even more in love with this incredible city.

So far, the weekend was turning out to be rather delightful. And then it happened.

Chris moved into my hostel room on Saturday at midday. He stank of Alcohol, has badly hurt his arm (which he refused to go to hospital for, he later obliged to my pleas and discovered he had fractured his radius and ulna). Chris is typical mid-life crisis, moved from Australia 15 years ago to pursue a career as a Life Guard (Surely Australia would have been better than the snowy streets of Wien?!). Needless to say, I'm scared of him!

One thing has come out of my pure horror however. I filmed this delightful, albeit slight shaky, video as   I perused the streets of Vienna and thought I'd show you just a few of the lovely sights here, so enjoy it!

 

Doorbells and Sleighbells and Schnitzel with Noodles...

I know what you're thinking, Austria is full of Ski-Bums, Mountains and Lederhosen. Whilst this may be true in part, I think the most incredible thing about Austria is not its architecture or even its incredible culture. Sure, you can go skiing and of course it's bloody beautiful, but what is better than skiing? Ok, almost nothing, BUT, my two favourite parts of skiing  have to be the two greatest events a human can experience; Lunch and Apres Ski.

The food in Austria is absolutely incredible. Fact. If you're a 'vegetarian' do not come here (unless you don't mind eating outside with the cows). Austria's diet is composed of 4 things; Meat, Cheese, Potato and more Meat. For me, this is a god-send. Nothing tastes better than meat, except meat covered in cheese. The Austrians understand this and have crafted their diet around this fact which the rest of the World seems not to know (except the Americans, but they put cheese on everything, their kids love it).

Since being in this 'schönes Land', my diet has been in a worse state than Lindsay Lohan's driving after a night-out. I think it's time to show you some of Austria's best delicacies:

Wiener Schnitzel

You might know it better as 'Escalope Milanese' but don't be fooled. This bad boy is Austrian through and through and is one of the most well-known and well-loved meals in Austria. The word 'Wiener' literally means 'from Vienna' (Think 'Hamburger' - from Hamburg etc.) These incredible plates of meat are made from either Pork, Turkey or, slightly controversially but even more tasty, Veal. A variation on the Schnitzel comes in the 'Cordon Bleu' (pictured). The one pictured was twice the size as it is in the photo when I started to get my chops around it. The 'Cordon Bleu' is made by stuffing the Schnitzel with, you guessed it, cheese and ham. Amazeballs.

Würstl mit Senf und Semmel

I LIVE off this stuff. Seriously, 3 times a day. Frankfurter boiled in salt water gives it that incredible crunch when you bite into it. Served with a side of smooth 'Senf' or mustard and a nice 'Semmel' bread roll. The stuff of dreams,

To improve, add cheese.

Apfel Strudel

'Cream-coloured Ponies and crisp Apple Strudels... '
So, you eaten your own body-weight in dead cow and now, it's time to wash it all down with a delightfully refreshing and delicious 'Kuchen' or, cake. In my opinion, nothing is better for this than Apple Strudel. Cinnamon, Apples, Sultanas and pastry. A match made in heaven!

There you have it ladies and gentlemen, my incredibly healthy diet. Austrian Ski Team here I come!

It's About Time...

Welcome to Vienna. A true jewel in the crown of Europe's reign over all things 'Cultural'. This city has been home to some of the best artists and compsosers that the World has ever seen. Strauss, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven have all spent time here, drawing inspiration from the incredible architecture (Maybe not Beethoven, but I bet his dog had a BLAST). Vienna, or 'Wien' as it's known 'auf Deutsch', has housed some incredible people over it's history and now, it has taken on another recruit, me! I'm gonna take you on a (hopefully) short history of how I managed to end up here.

Considering the incredible weight put upon my year abroad by my University, you would think that I would have been so scared to ensure it went well, that I forgot to eat and alas would end up looking like I lived in a two-bedroom flat with  Susan Boyle's appetite. However, those of you who know me know that worrying about stuff has never been my style (I'm so casj; Adj. short for the word 'Casual')

So, in February 2012, with the rest of Bristol University's prospective Erasmus students shitting themselves and frantically trying to grab any job available, I proceeded to head to Lizard Lounge for the 4th time that week, in order to fetch myself one of their infamous Toffee Vodkas (£1.50 isn't too bad when blind drunkeness is almost certainly guarenteed). 

My office everday in Thailand

As much fun as it is to turn your Liver into Pâté (so continental), I managed to unstick myself from the sweat-encrusted walls of Lounge to head to Thailand for some well-deserved R&R and Scuba-Diving (Ok, maybe not so well-deserved). As one can imagine, I had a blast but had to return to England to sort out my rapidly approaching Erasmus Year!

While spending two months in Bristol, I managed to land myself a killer job at Austria's Hit Music Station: KRONEHIT. So here I am; 3 weeks in and loving life!

KroneHit : Wir sind die meiste Musik