Go Find It

jen8601 / CC BY 2.0

When a friend of mine studied Art history in Lund I became involved in “Lundakarnevalen” - one of the largest student festivals in Sweden, always highly anticipated since it only happens every fourth year. At the beginning I only joined because the whole city was talking about it but later that decision became one of the best I had ever made. Why? Because it was mind-blowing.

Lund is a small and cosy student town in south of Sweden, very rich on student life. Here students definitely are the most visible population occupying every street corner and always organizing countless of social activities to get to know each other better. The festival is all that, only funnier. Already a year ahead students start planning the many categories where everyone can take part like for example the circus, cabaret, theatre and “train” (a long parade with trucks decorated in crazy imaginative ways with students dancing on each dressed up in a matching costume). So this means that a year ahead already students start knitting, painting and fixing, all in order to make the funniest, coolest and most original festival ever!

As she was part of a student theatre working with lights, food and painting as well as the large party committee which organized parties for over 2000 people I got involved in that too. And I have to tell you, this is something incredible to be part of. Most of all because you get to meet so many different people, all working together to make the festival worth remembering. There is this sort of feeling of belonging to something bigger than you. And I learned to be creative while having a good time with all kinds of personalities around me.

When the lights went out, everyone continued the fiesta but this time in a more intimate setting away from the buzzing crowd, playing guitar, singing and talking about how the day had been. And no one ever wanted it to end. Fortunately there would be another festival in four years.

Comments Off

Rue Ste-Catherine, Bordeaux / CC BY 2.0

I was looking for new ideas of places to let you know about, folks, and I remembered that a friend of mine spent an entire year in Bordeaux. I’m pretty sure you’ve already heard about this area because of the eponymous wine but you might not know a lot more about it.

Bordeaux is a nice city, the seventh largest metropolitan area in France, according to Wikipedia, full of students and cool places, according to my friends. And it’s for this last part that I thought it could be good to give you inspiration for your next holidays while asking my mate what are the good places to go to…

To make all of you guys happy, I asked her to provide me with a nice place to have a coffee, a nice place to listen to good music as well as a nice place to improve your mind.

Let’s start with the cultural part. If you enjoy contemporary art galleries, it’s worth the trip to go to the Tinbox. The Tinbox is gallery that supports both French and international artists. They also have a studio and, here comes the amazing part, they even have a small mobile gallery that regularly move to various locations.

After having admired nice pieces of art work, what about having a coffee to share your thoughts about it with your friends? If you are in the mood to enjoy a sunny terrace (yes, at this period of the year, it’s still warm in the South East of France), well, this cool café seems to be the right place to chat with your pals as well as the regular customers.

To finish the day, since you were chilling under the sun, I’m sure you will have enough energy to enjoy a visit to Le Cat and jiggle on to The Clash or The Arctic Monkeys guitare riffs. It is apparently the place to go if you are a massive fan of rock music! Very tempting, isn’t it?

Comments Off

d-reichardt / CC BY-ND 2.0

I really enjoy going to gigs and listening to unsigned bands; there are so much talented people out there. That’s one reason I really like Joiners Arms and Debaser that I wrote about earlier, and that’s also why I’ve been looking for good venues in London. I found a few, for example Last Days of Decadence which seems nice as well as 12 Bar Cafe.

I would love to know what your favourite gig venues are! Leave a comment and I’ll try them out sometime

Comments Off