All Hallows’ Eve with Daemonia

I've been an obsessive fan of Dario Argento for as long as I can remember. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of his horrific masterpieces is undoubtedly, the music. Composed by Goblin, an Italian rock band, the music added that extra layer of brilliance on already juicy cake.

Although the group has disbanded today, the founding member and lead composer of Goblin, Claudio Simonetti, has developed his own group, Deamonia, which plays tributes to Argento pictures, creates new works, and essentially keeps the candle of Goblin still burning.

When I found out he was going to be doing a concert, here in Tuscany, I totally flipped out. To get a chance to hear Daemonia would be incredible! Plus, it would be my first rock concert!

Halloween is practically non-existent here in Italy, yet the place where the concert was taking place would actually acknowledge Halloween. They have a local festival that parades through the town and showcase a variety of Halloween festivities.

When Sunday arrived, I took two trains to arrive at Longiano, a small town in the farther east side of Tuscany.

Traveling up to Longiano (from Cesena), I soon found the little town situated on a hill deep into the country. Longiano was developed around a medieval castle, and can still be visited as a museum.

As I explored the quiet town, I noticed that the center was being set up for the forthcoming festivities, set to commence in the evening. With much time until then, I ventured up the castle and spent some time taking in the sights from such a vantage point. The interior of the castle held artwork from local artists and a variety of local antiques. Nothing too interesting.

I encountered a very scary door, yet again:

Too many scary doors in Italy...

The view outside was splendid though!

View from Longiano

While charting the town, I stumbled upon thispleasant bench that provided the worst view of all time:

Afterward, I returned to my hotel and decided to take a nap in order to garner some energy for the exciting evening.

After having a very thoughtful encounter with The Sandman, I awoke to find that the festivities within the town had officially commenced.

Exploring the Halloween carnival throughout the town was really charming. They had jesters, fire-breathers, and Knights roaming the streets, putting on shows for children, families, and all visitors.

I captured a fire dancer putting on a very intriguing act:

Fire Dancer

While observing the festival, I noticed a small poster store on the corner of the street. The amount of original Italian posters the owner had available was astonishing. Obviously, he had been doing this for a very long time. After digging through a plethora of ancient scrolls, uh I mean posters; I found a wicked Tenebre poster. After picking it up, I returned to the center of the town. While wandering around, a random figure approached me and commented, "Very cool poster." It was Claudio Simonetti, himself!

I was soo excited, yet shocked. Stumbling to find words, I told him I was basically uber excited to see his performance tonight. Taken back by the fact that I was speaking English, he inquired my reasons for being in Italy. I told him about my study abroad endeavors and such. Since he had rehearsals to do, I bid Claudio Simonetti and his wife, adieu.

I spent the rest of the early evening enjoying the rest of the festivities, and as time approached for the concert, I headed into the theater to find a good seat for the anticipated show.

The concert was amazing! Daemonia played all the classic Argento pieces, as well as working in some incredible original compositions.

Here's Simonetti with a solo on the piano:

Simonetti Piano

The music was utterly bombastic. I could feel the bass on my chest! Argento's music had come to life!

Here's huge piece that records one of Goblin's most memorable works:

Profondo Rosso

After such an awesome Rock experience, I hung around a bit and soon found that I would be able to go backstage and meet the entire band!

I asked them about their favorite horror films, which turned out to be The Shining and The Exorcist. I also inquired about their most cherished Argento picture to which the response was resounding, Profondo Rosso.

Claudio Simonetti mentioned that he's been working with some French filmmakers for a forthcoming horror film, and hopes Argento picks him his forthcoming Dracula film. Simonetti's personal favorite horror film turned out to be, Psycho.

After spending some quality time with Daemonia, I bid them farewell and returned to my hotel.

I had a wicked Halloween, yet again, filled with a delightful festival, insane concert, and an unforgettable meeting of one of my favorite bands.

I also ended up becoming friends with the all the members of Daemonia on Facebook afterward. If that's not totally surreal, yet downright awesome, I don't know what is.

I Hate Traveling...

Ok, maybe the title's a bit of a stretch. I love to travel and venture through different portals of culture, but my return journey from Germany to Italy was just downright miserable.

Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong.

I missed my first flight, which forced me to take a indirect flight to London. But it was to a smaller airport, which required me to transverse to the other side of the city, via underground, to Gatwick airport.

From there I boarded a flight to Rome. After landing, I took the underground to the Roma Termini, and boarded the last train from Rome to Florence.

It took 3 countries, 3 undergrounds, 3 airplanes, 2 shuttle buses, and freakin' train to get home. Is there any vehicle I didn't use?!?!

I started my journey at about 8am and collapsed onto my bed at a ridiculous 2am.

Plus, I ended up being sick for the next days, but I think that had more to do with feeling the repercussions of the German weather. It was practically Antarctica in Neuschwanstein!

Traveling's fun, only when it goes your way.

The Aphotic Past of Germania

When exploring the rich depth of Germany, it's very easy to get wrapped up in its fascinating culture and enthralling tradition.

Yet, it is quite important to chart the entire spectrum. While Germany holds a flourishing past, its time during World War II is one the darkest for the Motherland.

The repercussions of such a period have had a colossus effect on Germany's world reputation and its backlash can still be seen today.

With the final day in hand, we felt it imperative to ingest this important part of Germany's history and more importantly, observe how its had it's effect internally.

We met up with a small group at the Marienplatz (central Munich) for our first tour.

This tour was titled "Hitler's Munich."

Adolf Hitler's rise first began in Munich. After achieving monumental success here, he than furthered his endeavors throughout the country. But the seed was born in Munich.

The basic aim for the guide was to visit key sites in Munich and explore Hitler's climb to power through these specific locations.

Our tour guide was actually British. She's been living in Munich for 30+ years.

The tour took us to a variety of interesting places. Hitler's favorite cafe, art studio, as well as the meeting point for his first revolutionary group:

The above photo is actually from the second floor of the Hofrenbraus!

We also visited key places where important actions turned the tide to Hitler's favor. For instance, we observed a busy square deep in Munich which spurred the first trappings for revolution. In this square, three German soldiers were killed in a gang riot. Hitler used their deaths as means to showcase the lack of authority the current German government held.

There used to be a Nazi plaque below, commemorating the death of the soldiers, but it has since been removed:

We also focused on some of the subtle touches Germany has sprinkled throughout the city that observe the dark period. Interestingly enough, our guide discussed that the Germans do not remember the events in an over-the-top spectacle, but through subtle touches throughout the year that acknowledge the circumstances. Incredibly fascinating...

This monument held a flame inside a chained cubicle. It represents the inability to cage the flame of freedom.

Near the end of the tour, we stopped by two key locations.

The first was the headquarters of the Gestapo in Munich, during World War II:

Alas, it's now become a bank...

The final, was the headquarters for foreign affairs during WWII:

It was here, after Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, that Hitler along with Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier conversed about the effects of Germany's actions. Mussolini, being a master of the languages was able to convince England and France to allow Germany to gain Czechoslovakia. This became known as the Munich Agreement.

When the settlement was resolved, there was a sigh of relief around the world. Having just endured World War I, nobody wanted another war. This agreement would prevent another war from taking place.

Unfortunately, Germany then invaded Poland...

The building is now a school for musical arts.

As our tour came to end, we decided to take a quick break because next tour would be beginning quite soon. This one would involve traveling to Dachau and exploring the infamous concatenation camp found in the outskirts of the town. The Dachau camp was the first concentration camp to be developed and shockingly housed up to 32,000 inmates in its final years.

Dachau is very close to Munich and only requires a 15 minute train ride to reach it.

When stepping off the train, it's almost impossible to grasp it's the nihilistic past. The atmosphere is quite pleasant and simple. It's a genuinely splendid German town. We took a bus to the outskirts of town.

We arrived outside the Concentration Camp to find a carefully designed facility for visitors. It housed a bookstore, cafeteria, bathrooms, and a whole host of utilities for visitors to use, prior to entering the Concentration Camp.

We continued past the facility and soon approached the chillingly entrance to the Dachau Concentration Camp.

 

Many houses are located just outside of the camp. These houses were used by Nazi officers, along with their family, for living purposes:

While we had the luxury of traveling on bus from the train station, the prisoners were subjugated to unfortunate circumstances. As they would arrive from the train station, they were forced to walk to the camp.

Walking through the front gates and observing the expansive space was quite a shock. Just imagining the trials and tribulations that took place on these grounds was quite unearthly. It was totally quiet and very cold.

This should give you a taste of the expansive isolation:

Dachau Camp

We entered into the first barracks, which held much of the historical information.

We saw some of the instruments of torture:

 

As well as beams where prisoners were hanged:

Although the prisoners were living under ridiculous sub-par standards, when higher officials would come and inspect the facility, they would be forced to put on a facade.

The German officers would only show the inspectors certain parts of the Camp, along with reassurance that the prisoners were being kept in good condition. Obviously, the prisoners were sentenced to utter silence and were unable to speak against such false claims. The survivors from Dachau claimed that putting on this facade was the most painful ordeal of all. While they were being under-feed, forced to work ridiculous hours in harsh weather, and treated like animals, this false spectacle is what killed them.

We were then led into the farther reaches of the camp.

We observed the Watch Towers, along with the barbed wired that encircled the camp.

This deep ditch covered the surroundings of the camp, making it almost impossible to even reach the threatening fence.

The prisoners were forced to dig the encompassing pit, formed to keep them in. Digging they're own hole.

We arrived to a small bridge.

If the prisoners were miraculously able to make it out of the camp, a river would be waiting them on the other side.

As continued on, we were presented with two dense buildings up ahead.

As we approached the first one, we immediately understood its purpose:

With the death toll steadily increasing, the burning of the bodies was the chosen solution.

Two bodies could be placed in at each time.

Really dark stuff here, people.

The second building was much bigger.

Dachau was known as the "experimental" camp. They would construct and test out ideas here, and if successful, they would implement them in other camps.

This building was for the development of the gas-chambers.

Oddly enough, the gas-chambers built in Dachau were never used. It's not known why it wasn't put in use here.

Regardless, the construction is exactly how the gas-chambers would be developed.

We saw the compartments where the gas grenades would be thrown in.

We walked through the room where prisoners would change, thinking they were going to shower.

The following sign even reads in German, 'shower.'

Here is the actual shower, along with passages for the poisonous smoke to clear after being used:

After traveling through the depraved chambers, we escaped into the cool breeze.

And slowly trekked back to the entrance.

Just before leaving, we observed some of the memorials developed for the camp:

The experience of visiting Dachau is two-sided. While on one side, it's uncompromisingly bleak, it provides you with an incredible amount of growth. Your able to understand and experience the trials and tribulations of the this dark period without a glass separating you. Experiencing Dachau firsthand is something documentaries or film cannot provided. Subtle details sprinkled throughout, along with the chilling atmosphere is something only a visit to the camp would provide. Internally, it makes you a better person. Realizing how much the prisoners suffered makes you appreciate your surroundings and develop your future in a new light.

While not an enjoyable episode by any means, it remains an essential endeavor and something I thoroughly recommend experiencing while journeying through Germany.

A memorial that encompasses the fiery culmination of the entire ordeal is what I'll end this entry with: