Wackeeeeen! Did I really make it this year? I bloody well did. And I did better than I expected. Let me take you through my Wacken experience, starting with Day 1, which was for me on Tuesday, 30th of July.
I am getting up at an ungodly hour after a sleepless night in my daughter's pink bedroom. Our bedroom is already occupied by my parents, who will be looking after the children the rest of the week. Marie is testing her brandnew airbed in the living room.
At half past six, I give up and crawl out of bed, already asking myself how the hell I am going to get through the day. A shower and three coffees later, my head is still aching. Anyhow, we get the last bit of packing done and at 9 AM we are really hitting the road. Our group, endearingly called Horstforce has left for Wacken. First stop - Niendorf, to collect Jan-Hendrik. The drive to Hamburg is a nightmare, the A7 is jammed all the way to the Elbe Tunnel. It takes us nearly one and a half hours to get there. Marie is already making new friends on the motorway thanks to the window decoration on her passenger window. We see many W:O:A-cars in front of us and my excitement is rising.
Once our group is complete, the rest of the road is eerily clear. On the A23, there are no traffic jams, not even stop-and-go traffic. Sunshine, blue skies and windmills in the green fields. We are leaving the A23 at Hanerau-Hademarschen and follow the signs to the Residenz Evil campground. When we pull into the parking lot, it feels totally surreal. We walk to the wristband exchange and then to the Residenz Evil Check-In. Again - nearly zero waiting time. Our Graveyard plots are next to each other and once this information is shared, you can feel the spirits rising. It hadn't been certain we would be able to camp next to each other, which would have been a real downer. Our lots are perfect. Right next to the path, which means we can use the lawn space before our tents as well and can do some people watching while sitting in our camping chairs. It is only a short way to the toilets, showers and food tent, so we are pretty smitten and count ourselves lucky.
Of course, before we can so some actual sitting, we need to get our stuff to the campground from the parking lot. And holy cow, this is ardenous. It is hot, the sun is burning and we definitely have too much stuff to carry. I'm bad with numbers, but I guess the car is not further away than 500 metres. It is a five minute walk. In the searing heat and with our numerous baggage, it soon becomes really tiresome. Many people came prepared and had packed handcarts. We didn't, so we are walking and walking and walking. I don't know how often we made the trip, but at least ten times. I catch myself wishing for moshtel tickets.
Once the tents are set up, it is nearly perfect though. I am having a vegan Falafel bowl for the reasonable price of 14,40 € and my first beer in Wacken. We couldn't be happier. For a long while, we are just sitting in our camping chairs. We made it.
First on my agenda for Tuesday is the interview with Joey Belladonna on the Welcome To The Jungle Stage. I am very fond of Anthrax and Joey Belladonna's voice opened a door to thrash metal for me. Quite a few people turned up for this and I can't see much of the stage. Seats in the shade are of course all taken and standing in the sun listening to the interview is no fun. So we start walking around the plaza and try to find our bearings. I've studied the maps before and I've seen the Wacken area on TV so many times, I was sure to be able to find my way in no time. But everything is so much bigger in real life. I am quite overwhelmed by the sheer size of everything. Bullhead City and the Wackinger area are still closed, but we can walk through the Wasteland area. Marie feels very irritated by the Wasteland Warriors and the concept of Post-Apocalyptic Larp. Spoiler alert - this will change very soon.
The Farmer's Market offers everything from bread to olives and antipasti to ice cubes, carrots and beer. The queue in front of the Merch store is impressively long.
Laden with two bags of ice cubes, we make our way back to the tent to treat us with some dinner. Ravioli, lentil stew, mashed potatoes and pickles. Doesn't sound like much, but tastes like heaven. Jan-Hendrik gets out the fairy lights and together with the many many lights in the Residenz Evil, the atmosphere is quite cosy.
Then it's time for the Witches & Warlocks to haunt the Residenz Evil. I marvel at the costumes and am adequatly spooked. We are brave enough to ask for some selfies though and Marie quite rightly states: "I haven't looked so happy in any pictures than today with those monsters."
On to test the showers. Clean and exhausted, we end our day quite early at half past eleven. For the first time in my adult life, I am lying in a tent, the festival noise outside is oddly comforting and I am asleep in no time. Next day, Wednesday, will be the first official festival day. I am gathering my strength.
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