As the Brussels leg of my tour is wrapped up, I woke up in the morning anticipating what's to come as I prepare my bags for the departure. In retrospect, I'm still surprised by everything I managed to do in Brussels, Antwerpen & Leuven in the span of 2 days, leaving me with a heavier appreciation and admiration for a city and country I have the privilege of knowing intimately.
As the hotel shuttle bus arrived, I took one last long look at the hotel I called "home" during my visit to Brussels before departing on the next leg of the tour.
With the hotel shuttle bus dropping me off at Brussels Airport, it was time embark on the next leg of the tour and go to Mons for the PPM Fest. As mentioned in this blog before, it is advisable to arrive the day before the festival begins so you can have a better grasp of the layout and to gradually get into the Metal Festival mode. Upon reaching the Gare de Mons (Mons train station), I walked around looking for a taxi, but instead found some locals who helped me a great deal by pointing out the bus stop I stumbled upon would get me to the Lotto Mons Expo. This turn of events lead to 2 very interesting discoveries: 1) The bus was free of charge (many thanks Mons \m/) and 2) the one person I spoke to in the bus about which stop got me closest to the Lotto Expo happened to be the wife of the organizer. This was definitely an omen from the Metal Gods. Upon arriving to the Lotto Mons Expo, the wife, hereby known as "Mom" (a nickname given to her by the festival staff as she took care of the people who made the festival happen very well, including a stranger from a far off land =D ). The decision of arriving the day before also made me a celebrity with a fitting nickname ("Miami" =D ).
Another surprise this festival has to offer is the camp site right next to the festival venue, and to say this was convenient would define what this festival is all about \m/
My new home, being deployed to the front-line for the first time. The last tent I had from my last travels needed to be retired as this one offered 2 major advantages: 1) It was bigger in terms of internal space and 2) when collapsed and packed, it was smaller than my last tent. The evolution of camping gear before your eyes.
The camp sites restrooms and shower stall. Once again, the convenience that is the PPM Fest \m/
The luxury suites. This is the PPM Fests equivalency of a Four Seasons hotel.
To put in perspective the location of the camp site to the festival, here's the proof. All it took was a 15 second walk to the main entrance.
Time for the panoramic view, so you get the "bigger" picture.
Got the picture?
One of the festival crew, Musca ( \m/ ), brought a "circus style" tent to act as a private club. Unfortunately, its future would be determined by the wind gods, and it would be a short future (more this on a later post).
I know I have said many times how convenient this festival is, but now is the time to provide what is the most incriminating evidence. I introduce you to the prime exhibit; Les Grands Pres. This shopping mall offers a variety of stores and restaurants to dine in, but its most important asset is Carrefour Planet (aka the Walmart of the Carrefour chain of stores). Having this close to the festival grounds came in extremely handy, with its supermarket (and especially the beer selection), to electronics, to jut about everything else that makes this portion of the tour very comfortable.
The sunset with 3 Dezperadoz walking towards it.
The numbers are growing, soon there will be a sizable army to conquer all that is holy.
With the campsite up and running, it was time for a late night stroll near the Mons Lotto Expo \m/
Myself and some of the PPM Fest Crew went near the earlier mentioned train station to grab a late night meal, and the walk towards the area was a lot of fun as it was pitch dark, with awesome and eccentric company, and taking the backroads and shortcuts was a mini adventure within a adventure. Upon arrival to the restaurant, I tried the Belgian fries with a curry-based sauce. The result, a unique (the sauce) but familiar (the way the fries are made) experience, but kickass \m/
With the meal consumed and the ensuing pandemonium on the way back finished, it was time to call it a night to recharge the batteries for the first official day of the PPM Fest. I feel the best way to end this post would be a picture of the boots in the bag, to prove a point about bringing the proper gear to Metal Fests.
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