Marty Essen's Blog, page 261

Within Temptation among the best

Marty’s photo of the day #2746: Greetings from Arona, Italy. Last night, in Milan, Deb and I savored Within Temptation in concert. Over the years, I’ve seen the best—from the Rolling Stones to Bruce Springsteen to Tina Turner to Garbage to Grace Potter—and Within Temptation is right up there with all of them. The concert hall was packed, and the two of us arrived early and claimed a spot on the risers, right behind the soundboard (always the best spot in the house for sound). The sound was perfect!

Two nights ago, Within Temptation (from the Netherlands) announced a rare North American tour. Between February 28 and March 19, they will be performing concerts in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and other places. We are already talking about catching their show again—perhaps in Denver or Portland. If you live near a city where Within Temptation is performing and love music, I highly recommend buying tickets to their show. You won’t be disappointed!

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Within Temptation in Italy Tonight!

Marty’s photo of the day #2745: Greetings from Milan, Italy. Tonight is the night that brought us to Italy in the first place: Within Temptation in concert! Deb and I have a hotel room about a block and a half from the concert hall. The Fabrique is kind of like First Avenue in Minneapolis or the Showbox SoDo in Seattle. In other words, it’s a very large nightclub that is standing-room-only. I took this photo about eight hours before show time.

Within Temptation (from the Netherlands) travels with three semi-trailers full of gear and two luxury tour buses for the band and crew. Shhh . . . . the band is sleeping right behind me as I’m taking this photo On the opposite side of this semi-trailer is a line of very cold, bundled up people, waiting to be the first inside and up-against-the-stage. Who knows how long they’ve been there? Deb and I love Within Temptation, but we’re not that dedicated. We’ve now returned to our hotel to relax for a bit and then have dinner. I think we’ll show up 30 to 45 minutes early. We have no desire to get crushed against the stage.

Oh, and get this: We bought these tickets a year in advance, figuring this was our only chance to see one of the world’s best live rock bands in concert. Then, last night, Within Temptation announced a rare North American tour. Between February 28 and March 19, they will be performing concerts in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, and other places. Oh darn . . . I guess we will have to see them again.

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New friends in Italy

Marty’s photo of the day #2744: Greetings (again) from Genova, Italy! This is the only city on our trip where we are spending two consecutive nights. Yesterday, I posted about meeting Anna and Andrew after Deb and I ended up locked out of the apartment we were renting. We could only enter by punching in an access code with a cell phone (once we got in, regular keys were waiting for us), but our cell phones don’t work in Italy. It was dark out, and we were on a narrow rock stairway that leads from a lower portion of the city to an upper portion of the city. Anna and Andrew noticed our plight and helped us by handing over their cell phone—in the dark—to use. I then gave them a copy of “Time Is Irreverent” as a thank you, and then today, Anna and Andrew gave us a present by buying us lunch at a local restaurant.

I have to say that Italy is a bit too crowded for me, but the people here are the best! We’ve met so many friendly people. Anna (far left) teaches computer science and Andrew (far right) teaches architecture at the Università di Genova. The university was founded in 1481 and supports 31,277 students. This is the entrance to the university. Yes, this part of the university is in a castle. How cool is that?

Tomorrow we head to Milan to see the Within Temptation concert. Because the band sells out shows all over Europe, we bought our tickets a year in advance. That year finally comes to an end. I can’t wait!

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Sometimes getting lost is the best thing to do

Marty’s photo of the day #2743: Greetings from Genova, Italy! Deb and I spent a big part of our day lost. Basically, our GPS wasn’t quite precise enough to direct us on the turns we needed to make. Then we had to leave our car in a parking ramp and walk about a half-mile to the apartment we rented. That also got us lost, because we had to climb a long rock stairway that split into multiple directions. A friendly local man helped us find the apartment. Unfortunately we couldn’t get inside, since the automatic locks had to be tripped via a cell phone, but our cell phones don’t work in Italy. Finally, a fortyish couple from the nearby university stopped to help us by lending us their cell phone. Yay for friendly Italians!

All in all it worked out great. In fact, we are having lunch tomorrow with the strangers—now friends—from the university who helped us. I always carry a copy of Time Is Irreverent with me, so I was able to give them a signed copy as a thank you. Sometimes getting lost is just the thing to do.

Today’s photo is from last night in Florence, Italy. This is the Duomo Cathedral. The Catholics have way, way too much money!

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Not your everyday velvet

Marty’s photo of the day #2742: Greetings from Florence, Italy! Tonight Deb and I are staying in an old convent that has been converted into a B&B. Outside our window is the Palazzo Vecchio castle.

This photo is from earlier today in Venice. Deb and I stopped by Luigi Becilacqua workshop, where Deb conducted an interview for an article she is writing for Handwoven Magazine. I’m doing the photos for the article, so I get to share one with you today. The studio dates back to 1875, and they weave velvet. Their work is incredibly intricate and incredibly expensive, and their clients include the Kremlin and various castles throughout Eur

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Greetings from Venice!

Marty’s photo of the day #2741: Greetings from Venice, Italy! It’s the end of a delightful day here in Venice. Deb and I just spent the last few hours having dinner (Where we met a delightful couple from England and Scotland—who were quite understanding that we were honorary Canadians until Donald Trump is out of office.) and then walked the streets in the dark. I can’t think of many cities like this, where you can walk down a narrow dark alleyway and feel perfectly safe.

Tomorrow we do the “work” portion of our trip, as Deb is visiting an ancient velvet weaving workshop, to write an article for Handwoven Magazine, and I will be doing the photography for her story. Tax write-off! Also, I’m scouting out places for Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon to visit in “Time Is Irreverent 3: Gone For 16 Seconds.” Double tax write-off!

That’s all for now. Deb has opened a bottle of fine Italian wine and has a gained a head start on me, while I’m posting this. I must catch up!

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Greetings from Verona, Italy!

Marty’s photo of the day #2740:Greetings from Verona, Italy. Other than catnapping on the airplane, Deb and I had been awake for roughly 36 hours by the time we shot this photo. Aside from a 90 minute delay in acquiring our rental car (but we got a free upgrade from an Opal to an Audi, so we can’t complain), we’re off to a grand start. The traffic hasn’t been as bad as expected, and we only got lost twice.

In this photo, Deb and I are standing in L’Arena di Verona, the fourth largest coliseum in Italy. It was built in the first century, and it’s actually older than the more famous coliseum in Rome.

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British Columbia

Marty’s photo of the day #2739: Today we got scenic, with a classic British Columbia shot.

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Leopard seal

Marty’s photo of the day #2738:Leopard seal, photographed on a foggy Antarctica day.

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Hanging out with Larry the Alligator

Marty’s photo of the day #2737: This is an alligator I hung out with while hiking alone in the Everglades. One morning, I sat with this big guy for about an hour while he warmed up in the sun. I named him Larry. After all the stories of stupid people self-eliminating themselves from the gene pool by getting too close to wild animals, I’m a little hesitant posting this. But I have years of experience of working with reptiles and took the proper precautions. I was never in any danger. And, obviously, I wasn’t as close as this photo makes it look.

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