Stuck in Switzerland...again! Not a good day.

So today guys, being a bank holiday and therefore being cheaper flights and less chaotic motorways than tomorrow, my parents informed me that it would make much more sense to travel back to France today than tomorrow.

Although reluctant, I knew it made sense. So after the bad mood passed, I packed my bags and headed off to Heathrow airport to fly to Basel airport in Switzerland, and then catch the train to Strasbourg.

Well as it's me, and my luck, before leaving the house I found out I lost my Strasbourg room keys. Great start. So I get to the airport and there's a sliiiiight delay. Nothing too major, but still a bit of a pain. So I land, grab my bag, you guessed it, last one off the plane. That's my luck again. So after a bus to the station, I get there to find the ticket office is closed. This isn't that important, I just wanted to know when the next Basel to Strasbourg train was.

After scouting out the nearest timetable, I found out the last train had left 10 minutes ago. Now is it just me, or is leaving just 10 minutes before you get there, so much more frustrating then a few hours ago? So I was am stuck. In Switzerland. AGAIN. I spent the last hour looking for hotels that weren't £7,803,938,756 a night for a single room, and so now I'm bringing you this from a youth hostel.

My life right now...

The things I do for adventures eh?

Rats Out!

EDIT: I'm now watching Not Another Teen Movie. Life just got more awesomeness


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Mad Caddies adventure last night / Unannounced Mad Caddies UK Tour 2011? / My first month here

So guys if you're reading this now (It's 14:31 Europe time on the 14/10/10), as of this hour I have officially been here a month! Just thought I'd share haha. But yeah life is getting easier here. No longer the lonely, difficult, confused boy I was once, but now...a man. Ok so I'm still kinda confused about this entire country but life is progressing, and so is my level of French, which is always good because it's the entire reason I'm out here.

Anyway, enough of that, if you've been following my Facebook/Twitter/This blog you'll be aware that last night I went to watch the Mad Caddies play!

(Original post here: http://studentaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/mad-caddies.html)


So yeah, last monday I was talking to some German lads who informed me that the mighty Mad Caddies would be playing in Strasbourg! Now for me this was huuuuuge. It's been about a month since I'd been to a gig and I'd started to get withdrawal symptoms, so the fact that one of my favourite groups were playing here on such short notice was awesome.

Anyways, I had no idea how I was going to get to the gig (It's about a hour and a half walk) I just knew it was one bus, then a 40 minute walk. Instead, after staring at a map for about 10 minutes a helpful French woman approached me and told me that to get to where I wanted I had to take a tram. So one bus and one tram later, I arrived at tiny back alley gig which was actually a really good venue.

What surprised me about this gig was that there were only one support band. Either way these guys were amazing! A French ska/punk band called Zéro Talent. They were AMAZING. I would strongly suggest you check these guys out. I haven't found a link to their myspace yet but they can be found on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zero-Talent/119980766185


Anyway, after a very enjoyable 40 minutes, they left the stage and Mad Caddies took over.

And they were just as brilliant as they always are. It was the third time I've seen them and with no barrier at the gig, I was at the very front and all I can say is took part in some serioussss stage diving. There's nothing like running on stage while the group is playing then running and diving into the arms of hundreds of sweaty German's and French. I said I'd take some photos for you guys so here we are:

Mad Caddies singer

Mad Caddies guitarist

Mad Caddies guitarist live

Mad Caddies bass and guitarist

Mad Caddies lead singer

Mad Caddies sweaty singer

Mad Caddies bassist

Mad Caddies trumpet

Mad Caddies trombone

Here's the setlist for you Caddie fans:

Mad Caddies setlist 2010

Anyways, after the gig I asked the guitarist for a plectrum, and the drummer for one his sticks. Although neither were signed, the plectrum is sweet as it has their name printed on it. More merch to add to my collection of band merch I guess! I also bought a pretty sweet Mad Caddies Tee shirt ;D

Front of Mad Caddies plectrum

Back of the plectrum

Mad Caddies tee shirt

Oh, I also met the trombonist after the gig who was surprised to find out that I was English and all the way over in Strasbourg haha. He also informed me the Caddies would be touring the UK in February 2011! So watch this space guys!


After the gig finished at 11 and I discovered that the last tram had left or wasn't running because there was a strike (so typical of the French), I spent the next 50 minutes running and cycling with a lovely chap I found lives at my residence, and as he bought a bike to the gig we kept swapping. It was a brilliant way to improve my language as I spent the next 40 minutes conversing in French!

But yeah that's all. Hope you enjoyed!

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