Far over the Misty Mountains old
Aug. 16th, 2012 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
olorielOr: Fate hath decided: The next update in my long-overdue LJ catch-up will be... *DUN DUN DUN* the Mittelerde-Fest picspam!
With some commentary in lieu of any sort of proper travelogue.
Click on thumbnail for larger version, as usual.
Not actually there yet. - View of Lake Thun from the train. The train ride was a pain in the rear: My first train (from Cologne) was 40 minutes late, so I missed all my connections and had to re-plan the journey pretty much from scratch in Mannheim. On the platform in Cologne, I briefly considered calling Jörg and chatting to pass the time; then I decided against it, as I wanted to save my prepaid account for the expensive calls from Switzerland. This was a fatal decision: Had I decided to call Jörg, I would've noticed that my cell phone was not actually in my bag. Heck, with the 40-minute delay, I even might have returned to the car to see if I forgot the phone there (which I did). And then Jörg wouldn't have received a call from the Colognian police two days later that someone smashed the passenger window to steal something from in there, namely, my old cell phone. Having the car towed and the damage repaired was obviously rather more expensive than the few cents I would've "wasted". Not to mention the hassle with the police and insurance and whatnot. Eh well, hindsight...
Leuk station! Photographic proof of the load I lugged through half of Europe. I really enjoyed the MEF, but during the ride there and back, I doubted whether it was a wise move, several times. >_> Fortunately, Felix slept most of the time and was mostly cheerful and curious whenever he was awake. And once we'd crossed the border, EVERY train was magically punctual. LEARN FROM THE SWISS, DEUTSCHE BAHN.
But now: Let the MEF begin! With Felix, I obviously couldn't participate in the torch procession, so instead I could take a picture of it.
Fuzzy night shots!
TODDLERS WITH STRAW HATS ARE THE CUTEST THING EVER. Ahem. I met this family each morning and most evenings as we returned from/to our lodgings, which were sadly outside of Leuk proper, so we were rather limited by the somewhat erratic bus schedule...
Forzarello and their audience on Friday morning. Meanwhile, we were cooking lunch. Best kitchen entertainment, ever!
This is the Uruk-hai Dancing Workshop. No, I am not making that up.
Random scenery shots.
Picnic time! Aaand Felix lost one of his shoes yet again.
Typical "Ratsschloss and vineyard" shot. I think I've taken that at every MEF I attended so far...
Party tree!
Ents! (In the merciless afternoon light. >_>)
Random crowd shots
The outdoor smithy
Still-life with harp. The storyteller is taking a quick break!
Ready for the Hobbit Feast! I didn't even need to tell people to smile for the camera; everybody was in high spirits anyway.
Astonishingly enough, Felix was patient and happy throughout the entire feast, which was a pretty long affair. He took a taste of pretty much everything and particularly loved to nibble on corn cobs.
I don't currently know if there's any actual canonic statement that Varda is silver-haired. Unfortunately, there certainly is a strong fanonic agreement, leading to bad wigs like this. The dress was awesome though, and she's a pretty talented juggler!
Crowd w/ scenery. The Rhone valley is pretty damn beautiful, although there are some unfortunate dams on the river by now that kind of ruin the view if you look closer. Still, you've got to get your electricity somehow...
DO NOT COME BETWEEN SYLVIE AND HER APPLE PIE.
Dramatic light! Dramatic mountains! What's not to love? Aside from the lousy quality of the photos?
Nowhere near as lousy as this attempt to capture the Faun concert, though.
This is the view we woke up to each morning (except when it was raining). Leukerbad is quike pretty, but bloody far away from everything. You only get there by a breathtaking mountain road that snakes its way along the sheer slopes, and then through a tunnel. No alternative routes, no train connection, nothing. Oh well. At past MEFs, when Leukerbad was an official accomodation option, it used to be dubbed "Gondolin". I guess that should've been a warning.
Unfortunately, you cannot quite fathom in this photo just how steep that wall is. Nor can you see that the ridge with the trees on is actually inverse-sloping (precipicing? WHATEVER THE WORD IS, IF THERE IS ONE) so it hangs over the road. I don't know how people can take this road in winter, I really don't. (What do you do when you're in Leukerbad and the only tunnel gets snow-blocked, anyway? Or do these things just not happen in well-organised Switzerland? Look, I don't know.)
Although the views are great, of course.
A final look at Leuk ;_;
"I am so tired, but there is so much to see!"
Oof! Let's see when I manage to post the next batch of photos. Or just a general old update, whatever. Did I mention that the days are just packed?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-08-16 08:33 pm (UTC)Zitat ich selbst:
"Felix, guck mal vorwurfsvoll. - Reicht schon." ;)
Letztes Bild: 10ct für seine Gedanken...
Jamie meinte schon, dass sie da auch mal mit will. :D
no subject
Date: 2012-08-21 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-16 10:32 pm (UTC)I'm sorry your car was broken into. :(
no subject
Date: 2012-08-21 01:09 pm (UTC)Yeah, that was a major pain. And so frustrating because it was basically my own fault. >_>
no subject
Date: 2012-08-18 12:40 am (UTC)