Eurovision Travel
I can't believe it's Eurovision time again already but I am very glad it is. Last year, I wrote a post about my favourite Eurovision moments and I thought it would be fun to write another themed post this time. Initially, I'd promised myself that I was going to try to get hold of tickets for Eurovision this year but when Ukraine won, I decided against it. Hopefully I'll be able to buy tickets for next year, so I can't wait to find out who wins! Since I've never been able to attend Eurovision in person, I've instead written a post about some of the great cities I've visited that have hosted the contest (as well as some I'd love to visit!)
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Imagine a Eurovision without Sweden. Hard to fathom, isn't it? My highlight by far is last year's Love Love Peace Peace parody. I don't know if anything will ever top that! I visited Stockholm at the end of last year on what happened to be the snowiest November day in 111 years. I guess if you're going to visit Scandinavia, it can't get much more magical than being covered in a blanket of snow. We had a great time just strolling around, enjoying the beautiful architecture and eating reindeer in an adorable little family restaurant.
Read more about Stockholm here
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Rise Like a Phoenix is my all-time favourite Eurovision tune (well, either that or the absolute banger that was Israel's Golden Boy) and, as anybody who's ever spent any time reading this blog will know, Austria is my all-time favourite country. I actually had a dream last night that Salzburg was holding Eurovision. The dream! I wasn't too keen on Vienna at first but it's been almost a year since I last visited and I'm hankering for another trip. Eating strudel, drinking Almdudler, taking in the best museums in the world. What's not to like? Apart from the crowds, the smoke and the annoying wasps. That aside...
Read more about Vienna here
MUNICH, GERMANY
OK, confession time. I started writing this post without planning and now I'm in a pickle. I'd intended it to be like "These are recent host cities and this is the frankly banging tune that won it for them" but, yeah, that's not going to be possible because as it turns out I've been to hardly any of the host cities. Fail to plan, plan to fail and all that. Germany won in 2010 but the song was pretty terrible and Dusseldorf hosted- a city I've never been to. So let's all pretend I watched Munich's Eurovision in 1983 at the age of minus-five and I loved Nicole's winning song, A Little Peace. Anyway, Munich is a gorgeous, historic city that I didn't get to experience nearly enough of. I was a bit poorly when we went, so I spent a lot of it sleeping and only really got to see the city for a day. Even then, we spent our whole time visiting Christmas markets so I didn't get to see any of the main draws. I'm planning to spend some more time next year so I can really take advantage of the city. Which leads us nicely to the Eurovision cities I'd love to visit but haven't...
Read more about Munich here
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Copenhagen has been top of my list for a long time. I was hoping to squeeze in a little day trip this year but I'm not sure that's going to be possible. Maybe I'll be able to slot it in right at the end of the year. Copenhagen's was a great contest because it was not only here that Conchita won, but also the location for the legendary Polish milkmaids which, sorry not sorry, is another of my favourite Eurovision tunes. When I eventually make it over to the Danish city, I will mainly take photos of the bright houses along the canal, visit the Little Mermaid statue and eat pastries emblazoned with the Danish flag. I'm such a cliché.
HELSINKI, FINLAND
Hard Rock Hallelujah is the ultimate Eurovision tune. I remember watching it as an angsty rock kid (mainly emo, to be honest, but I was flexible) and thinking it was just the greatest thing ever when Lordi won. After visiting Stockholm, I've got the taste for Scandinavian countries, and Finland looks great! I'll probably travel over in the summer months because, as lovely as Stockholm was in the snow, it did make walking around quite tricky!
I can't wait to find out where Eurovision will be next year. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get tickets!
Loved this post! I always seem to miss Eurovision. This post really makes me want to go on a road trip through Europe haha.
ReplyDeletetheemeralddove21.blogspot.co.uk
I LOVE EUROVISION! Everyone is hilarious on twitter during eurovision, it's the best. I adored last year's hosting (can there be anyone more perfect than Mans and especially Petra) and I'm not ashamed to say that love love peace peace is on my ipod and it's on shuffle all the time. As are a host of other entries from over the years. Bit annoyed that our song isn't the one I preferred (Olivia Garcia's freedom hearts was my choice) but I'll live. I'll be tuning in with snacks and twitter as usual tonight, can't wait. LOVE IT
ReplyDeletehttps://retrocasual.wordpress.com/
I went to Stockholm in 2016 to watch the Eurovision Song Contest live & it was absolutely amazing! I was gutted when Ukraine won, because they weren't even in my top 10 favourites but also because my friend & I didn't want to visit Ukraine :( We are planning to go to Portugal next year though so I hope that we can!
ReplyDeleteThe four other cities featured in your post are on my travel wishlist and you've made Copenhagen, Munich & Vienna sound so wonderful! I need to see the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, and those pastries sound so cute :) I've dreamt of visiting Finland since I was in Primary School and heard The Rasmus for the first time! 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' is one of my favourite Eurovision songs and I can't quite believe that I was in the same arena as Lordi at 2016's Eurovision when they featured in the Love Love Peace Peace song. Take me back there! I hope that you get to go to Eurovision next year, it was like nothing I've experienced before :)
Sarah | Raiin Monkey