So we're back home in Santa Fe, after ten days on the road in Germany, Sweden, and Finland.
A wonderful trip, all in all. Yes, much of it was work... I did numerous interviews in Hamburg, more in Stockholm, still more on the Alands, yadda yadda yadda... but in between we had some fine old times.
Some highlights:
-- touring MiniatureLand in Hamburg. Wow. Biggest toy train set in the world, but the landscapes and miniatures dwarf the trains. Very glad my hosts took me to see this.
-- the big public event in Hamburg, 3000 fans, sold out months ago.
-- hanging with Sibel Kekilli and her boyfriend, and my German publicist, Sebastian. Sibel fed me Turkish food and showed me some of Hamburg's nightlife, to reciprocate for the tour of Santa Fe I gave her on INTO THE NIGHT. Hamburg stays up later than Santa Fe, you will be surprised to learn, but chile con queso is nowhere to be found. We drank White Russians while huddled under blankets in an outdoor cafe. Took a canal boat tour as well.
-- Stockholm. What a gorgeous city. Comes of not having a major war since Napoleon. That way your gorgeous old buildings don't get bombed into rubble.
-- the Vasa Museum. Okay, the ship never made it our of the harbor, but it makes a great centerpiece for a museum,
-- the Royal Armory, where you can actually see the bloodstained clothing that Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII were wearing when they died,
-- Marieham, on the Aland islands. Just a lovely place.
-- the Aland Vikings, who fed us pancakes and mead and hammered at each other with axe and sword and spear for our amusement. They are building a very cool Viking village, definitely worth a visit if you visit the islands.
And of course Archipelacon was great fun as well. The Finnish fans are second to none, and we had plenty of Swedes on hand as well, and a strong BWB contigent who taught them all how to party. It is events like this that remind me what fandom is all about -- a celebration of science fiction and fantasy, of friendship and family.
A wonderful trip, all in all. Yes, much of it was work... I did numerous interviews in Hamburg, more in Stockholm, still more on the Alands, yadda yadda yadda... but in between we had some fine old times.
Some highlights:
-- touring MiniatureLand in Hamburg. Wow. Biggest toy train set in the world, but the landscapes and miniatures dwarf the trains. Very glad my hosts took me to see this.
-- the big public event in Hamburg, 3000 fans, sold out months ago.
-- hanging with Sibel Kekilli and her boyfriend, and my German publicist, Sebastian. Sibel fed me Turkish food and showed me some of Hamburg's nightlife, to reciprocate for the tour of Santa Fe I gave her on INTO THE NIGHT. Hamburg stays up later than Santa Fe, you will be surprised to learn, but chile con queso is nowhere to be found. We drank White Russians while huddled under blankets in an outdoor cafe. Took a canal boat tour as well.
-- Stockholm. What a gorgeous city. Comes of not having a major war since Napoleon. That way your gorgeous old buildings don't get bombed into rubble.
-- the Vasa Museum. Okay, the ship never made it our of the harbor, but it makes a great centerpiece for a museum,
-- the Royal Armory, where you can actually see the bloodstained clothing that Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII were wearing when they died,
-- Marieham, on the Aland islands. Just a lovely place.
-- the Aland Vikings, who fed us pancakes and mead and hammered at each other with axe and sword and spear for our amusement. They are building a very cool Viking village, definitely worth a visit if you visit the islands.
And of course Archipelacon was great fun as well. The Finnish fans are second to none, and we had plenty of Swedes on hand as well, and a strong BWB contigent who taught them all how to party. It is events like this that remind me what fandom is all about -- a celebration of science fiction and fantasy, of friendship and family.
- Current Location:Santa Fe
- Current Mood:
happy
Profile
grrm- George R.R. Martin
- George R. R. Martin
Page Summary
- ssalem3 : Friendship and family [+0]
- jorricco : .... [+0]
- mcsubbaiyen : Rumors [+2]
Alfonso Cabello : Winter winds from northern Europe [+0] - storm59 : Back In The USA [+0]
- Alfonso Cabello : Winter winds from northern Europe [+0]
- rjcollins : (no subject) [+0]
- athelas6 : Welcome home [+0]
- mangosorbet007 : (no subject) [+1]
- jorricco : Question [+3]
- insurrbution : (no subject) [+0]
- nellyaa : (no subject) [+0]
- unsentauron : (no subject) [+0]
- jophan : Good to hear you're back again [+0]
- richardr1970 : Fare Thee Well [+0]
Comments
On a side note, you have a big Iranian fan base George! Alas, dressing up like Daenerys for cosplay would result in... unpleasant consequences.
Edited at 2015-07-02 07:24 pm (UTC)
https://www.facebook.com/dehieloyfuego
Regards.
Edited at 2015-07-02 08:44 pm (UTC)
And so few of them were actually related to a song of ice and fire.
I also hoped maybe the fans will get to ask some questions too.. I was overall a bit disappointed.
Enjoy the rest of your week, and weekend, and here's hoping it's 'back to it' on Monday, rather than sooner.
Truly a wonderful city, even more so than Berlin or other "famous" german cities in my opinion, but I may be biased since I really like the north of germany. ;)
When you write stories (I guess specifically complex epics like ASOIAF) do you almost always develop the locals & their customs / culture to support the plot of the story or do you develop some of the locals based solelyon what you think would be cool or interesting without direct regard to the story? I was thinking that doing the latter might end up helping you to come up with more interesting ways to get from point A to point B in the story than you originally intended. Am I right?
ALSO, I know you're sorely needed in LA where all the cinematic magic happens, but you've got tons of fans here in the North East who'd love to meet you in person! To entice you, we've got cheese steaks, soft pretzels and pizza that you just can't get anywhere else in the world!
-Johan