2013 Belgian Invasion, Emden & Düsseldorf (Germany), Schwag, Final Words and Thank You

The day after the PPM Fest. It was a peaceful start to the next journey of my tour. When I went to Wacken 2009 & the Euro Metal Fest Tour 2011, the day after the festivals were hectic, as the 2009 Edition of Wacken I woke up to a fire 10 feet away from my tent, and the 2011 Edition of Wacken I woke up at 4:00AM so me and my best friends can beat the traffic, with the rain pounding the living shit out of the camp grounds & the 2011 Edition of Brutal Assault saw me and some newly made friends camp out in a train station on the last night, with many of the other campers not too far behind us. Waking up at the PPM Fest provided a unusual calm I haven't experienced before at a campground, and it was a huge difference. I soaked in the camp site one more time before breaking down my tent.

2013 Belgian Invsasion, PPM Fest Day 3

The last day of the PPM Fest. Waking up today was tough as I knew this chapter of the trip was coming to an end, and with it, a great story that was about to have its final period. When moments like these occur, you got to make the most of it because it won't happen again for a while (especially if you live in the United States, where we don't have the luxury of having a kickass Metal Festival every weekend to keep us entertained). To say this trip has met my expectations and beyond would be an understatement as I had the opportunity to delve deep into a country I have enjoyed its products (specifically beer), and while I can leave it at that, I have managed to be better acquainted through the experiences and people I have encountered \m/

Lets begin this final chapter by having Myrath take the lead point.

2013 Belgian Invasion, PPM Fest Day 2

Day 2, and one of the \m/ HEAVIER \m/ days of this leg of the invasion. The sad reality of some Metal Festivals is that you have go make that executive decision of which bands you want to see, and as I say it before and often, if you have seen "X" band 20x times versus "Y" band 0x times, its best to go with "Y" band as seeing "X" band has already been on your previous agendas for some time and "Y" band probably has not played in your country (yet...).

The beauty of the PPM Fest is they have the 2 stage set up, which allows one band to go at a time, and with this configuration, you are not put in that executive decision making process. Than there's the dilemma of how the bands are spread out, and the majority of the bands on the first day, with respect to all of the bands that went through the process of coming over to this awesome festival, were not on my agenda to watch as I haven't had a chance to check out their material and while this festival would have provided that opportunity, there's the concept of the "burnout" (not the Scorpions song), meaning, you can only watch so many performances before you get tired and eventually need to lay against a wall/sit down/or sprawl yourself on any random floor and sleep/be inside your tent and sleep and before you know it, your itinerary is ruined. This is why the importance of resting during a festival cannot be underestimated, coz before you know it, that one band you came all the way from thousands of miles will be missed because you're sleeping off the first 5 bands you decided to mosh/crowd surf/headbang.

The first band in my itinerary was Seven Kingdoms, and coincidentally, they happen to be my neighbor to the north (Near Daytona Beach, Florida). Power Metal coming out of the Original Death Metal Capital? Welcome aboard my different subspecies brethren.

2013 Belgian Invasion, PPM Fest Day 1

The first official day of the PPM Fest. Its days like these that have the heaviest anticipation of whats to come, and especially if it's a Metal festival one has never been to before. So far, everything has gone perfect as having my tent right next to the venue was a very unexpected but pleasant surprise.

Remember the circus-style tent that Musca brought yesterday? The Wind Gods has cast down its judgement on Musca's tent (among many others, more on this later) and cast it down to the layer of the bowels of earth (aka floor). After several attempts to save the tent, the circus left the town (sort of).

2013 Belgian Invasion, Day Before the PPM Fest

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.

2013 Belgian Invasion, Brussels and Leuven Day 3

The third day of the trip, and quite possibly the easiest so far. Considering the major mistake I did on Day 2, today was more about enjoying Brussels and Leuven in a relaxed state-of-mind instead of the neck-breaking "squeeze everything in 1 day" like the day before. A word of advice to all who are reading my texted words, pace yourselves, cuz even a seasoned traveler like myself can really get caught off-guard due to the hectic atmosphere that is "visiting another country and trying all their beers" and before ya know it, smashed out of your mind".

Before going to my first stop, the Mannekin Pis was not done with me yet.

2013 Belgian Invasion, Brussels and Antwerpen Day 2

The 2nd day in this voyage, and technically the first full day of the trip as I had a good nights rest the night before thanks to all the beer consumed and the convenience of being a elevator away from my room. This day would be a heavy dose of what being a tourist is all about... a Metal Tourist \m/

My first stop, Brussels Central Train Station. One thing that can be said about my 2nd visit to this city is some of what I remember is coming back, and just by getting off the station I already knew a certain bar I hold dear to my heart was very close, but today was not the day to visit the bar. More on this bar at a later post. The reason for the visit to Central Station? Take the City Sightseeing Bus Tour to visit some of Brussels infamous attractions.

2013 Belgian Invasion, The Day Before Departure and Brussels Day 1

Here is the newest series for Metal Trek, the 2013 Belgian Invasion. In this series, you get a first person perspective on Brussels, The PPM Fest, and even a night in Düsseldorf, Germany.

I feel I need to explain why the blog has been delayed as I tried to get it up and running earlier. For starters, when I came back, I had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, as well as launching a new series for Channel 13 called Spurious Harmonics which has been long overdue. Also, I had a number of technological delays as my computer and my cellphones Micro SD Card were not on speaking terms, and Blogger.com and Firefox were having a similar quarrel.

I will try my best to update the blog as much as possible, but as always, there might be delays due to life's usual obstacles.

For the first post, it will will be about the day before leaving for Europe and the first day of travel. Onward, to the 2013 Belgian Invasion \m/

A tradition I have before embarking on major trips is to go to Rock N Roll Ribs. It is located in Coral Springs, about 1 hour north from where I live in Miami. For those who don't know, one of the owners of Rock N Roll Ribs is Nicko McBrain (if I need to mention who this individual is, you are reading the wrong blog), and as one can expect, it is a Iron Maiden Theme Restaurant. While themed restaurants have a tendency to draw a red flag, this one is a MAJOR exception to the rule, as the food is excellent, with a degree of quality that place it in a league beyond majors. UP THE IRONS FOR GOOD CHOW!6!6!6! \m/

To give you a first person perspective what this rib-house can deliver, here's a photo of a plate I ate some time ago. Forgot to take the recent one, sorry =C . The primary purpose for the traditional part of my exodus to Rock N Roll Ribs is in case something happens to me during my trips, at least I got a good final meal.