In Search of Caesar

After seeing the Vatican Museum and other sights in Rome that morning, we had yet to do one of the top things on my Rome list: Finding the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15th, 44 BC.  Even with all the bad omens, and warnings of negative dreams from his wife Calpurnia, Caesar’s good friend Brutus- one of the 60 conspirators in the assassination- encouraged him to go forth to Senate that day. Shortly after addressing the senate, he fell dead at the foot of Pompey’s statue succumbing to multiple stab wounds.

After searching the surrounding streets of the Sacred Area for a solid two hours, and even asking multiple businesses in the area for assistance, we came up short and I was crushed. Instead we decided to head out for a beer further north.

I’m not one to wait for a light to tell me to cross the street when it’s clearly safe, so when I made move and Dylan stayed put I lost him in a sea of people. After a few mins. of scanning across the street I spotted him standing near a below-side-walk-level fenced-in area. Clearly we were both exhausted, and needed a break and so I crossed back over to where he decided to rest his legs- and there it was.

Located in the Largo di Argentina square along Via San Nicola de Cesarini were ruins of several buildings including the Statio Aquarum, remains of a latrine in Pompey’s portico, and the very site Caesar met his fate.

If Dylan hadn’t have stayed put when I walked back and forth across the busy streets foolishly, we wouldn’t have found the site we’d searched for hours for. How’s that for an oddity?

Meeting Walt & Natasha

Roaming around Venice in the afternoon we passed another couple, the girl sporting a jacket with Scotland scrolled across her back. It was memorable simply because it got Dylan and I discussing how we wouldn’t wear a jacket displaying we were Canadian, but we would wear a souvenir shirt from a country along our journey. Then again when eating our last Italian meal that night they came into the same restaurant, the Ae Oche (American-style decor, but to-die-for-pizza) at the same time and sat a mere few tables back.

When awaiting our night train to Munich, Germany that night, oddly enough they happened to sit directly beside us on the bench. Natasha and Walt were from South Africa, touring Europe for a couple of months, and as we speculated they had simply visited Scotland on a previous journey. We got to chatting and discovered they were also huge Metallica and Tenacious D fans, as well as catching the same train and going to Oktoberfest.

The next morning when we arrived at the Munich train station we ran into them and mentioned, even though we’d spoken very little, that we were meeting our American buddies at the church outside Oktoberfest Thursday morning and the invitation were open. Too many bizarre meetings here in Europe, it’s still a mystery to me how these things came together.

In the past 3 weeks I’ve been to 4 concerts in as many cities. Radiohead in Vancouver, Beck in Victoria, Pennywise in Amsterdam, and finally, Metallica in Berlin. Now it was my very first Metallica concert, Dylan’s second, so it was truly something special. But it wasn’t an ordinary everyday show for them either.

Friday, September 12th was also the release date for their newest album (in about 5 years), Death Magnetic. They chose to launch the album, and open the brand new O2 World Arena here in Berlin. To top it all off it was one of two charity shows (the next on Sept. 15th in London) for only €10!

Metallica @ the O2 Arena in Berlin

Metallica opened with a string of a few new tunes before turning out the classics like Of Wolf & Man, The Thing That Should Not Be, Wherever I May Roam, Blackened, Frantic, Until it Sleeps, Master of Puppets, One, and so, so many more for an amazing two hours. The masters of metal then mixed in quite a few newer songs throughout, including the singles Cyanide and The Day That Never Comes. They ended it all with Jump in the Fire, right before Seek & Destroy. Pardon the French I picked up earlier this trip, but holy shit- that was unreal! Their stage presence is incomparable and their energy unmatched.

Now that my ears are ringing and my neck oh-so-sore, some sleep must be had. Tomorrow we will see as much of big beautiful Berlin, Germany (population 3 million) as possible during the day.

As for tomorrow night we are jet-setting to the southern isle of Crete, Greece for about 5, 6 days, we’ll see! I can’t wait and could really use the sunshine, sand and sea.

Not only are they playing in Berlin, Germany, but in London a few days later as well.  The only problem is the lack of information on just how to obtain tickets.  You do have to be a member of the official Metallica fan club, but other details are few and far between at this point. And time is counting down far too quickly… So, we’ll see if that plan flies or not.

One month until we fly out. 

So far we have our Eurail passes, they arrived a couple of weeks ago.  We’re free to bound across various borders throughout Western Europe for an entire month.  With the exception of a few minor obligations here and there- concerts namely- we haven’t many set plans. Only to not bog ourselves down with huge lists of must-dos/sees in one place or another, but to get up and go as we see fit.

1,000 person-venue Pennywise show, in Amsterdam? Far too good to pass up.

The Pennywise tickets for the Amsterdam, Netherlands show have also arrived, and now all we have to do is wait patiently, packed full of hope for (an official) announcement that Metallica will play the 02 World Arena in Berlin, Germany… Only then may we rest and anticipate take-off.

When we first started the planning process, some many months ago, we had to come up with the simplest way to organize the many minute details of this one huge trip.  Dylan came across a site to do just that, TripIt, which we’ve been using with much ease.  The iCal feed is a hugely beneficial feature, and this way we’re not fidgeting with a plethora of papers on the road, appearing more tourist-like than we hope to. We’ll have all necessary train schedules, maps, and tour information conveniently in one place. Maybe even as close as our fingertips, with the help of his iPhone.

I highly recommend travellers try out TripIt for future vacation planning, it makes a potential trip blunder much less likely.

70 days until Europe! I actually had to count, as I am not keeping track… it seems quite a ways away still.

Part way through the trip there’s an unannounced- therefore unofficial- show in Berlin at a multi-sport arena currently being constructed, the 17,000-seater 02 World. There to christen the freshly painted walls of 02 with it’s massive sound?

Metallica, September 12th.

When will we be privileged enough to have the “official announcement” to either debunk it or place it on the itinerary, I wonder. That would also allow more time to discover gorgeous Germany, pretty stoked on that.