Music – Tyler's Travel Tales

Daily writing prompt

What would your life be like without music?

This is my first time writing for the ‘Daily prompt’, however this subject definitely caught my attention. I truly feel that music is such an integral part of what makes us human. For me, music is a sort of composition of various sounds arranged in such a way that can produce incredible sounds that can be deeply moving. There are so many different types of music, genres, sub genres & more instruments than I could ever list here. Having the fortune to listen to live music is such a profound intimate experience that I couldn’t imagine never going to see a show again.

When you visit a country, I feel like the two things that really go to the heart of a culture are the food & the music. Of course the buildings & scenery are important, but I feel everything about the history & the people is poured into the food & music. When I was recently in Finland, I sat in a bar on my own for about 2 hours listening to Finnish people sing Karaoke. I had no idea what the lyrics meant, but it was a wonderful experience. I had something similar in Egypt, having no clue what the band were singing in Arabic.

Without music, I would definitely be lost. I love food, but it doesn’t stir my soul in the same way that music can. I have a very eclectic taste & have been fortunate to have seen some incredible live performances. Some of my favourite have been to are Bruce Springsteen, Duran Duran, Oasis, Scooter, Sean Paul, JFDR, Olafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi, Andre Rieu & Johann Strauss orchestra, The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Zimmer, Kasabian, Gerry Cinnamon, Biffy Clyro & The Blossoms (I have been to about 100 shows in last 3/4 years).

Let me know some of your favourite music, I always love to listen to new things, so any recommendations appreciated 😊

Setting the scene

Belgium wasn’t somewhere that was on my radar, but Skyscanner popped it up as a suggestion & it turned out to be a fantastic adventure! An incredibly fortuitous set of circumstances led me to having the opportunity to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on one of the evenings (more on that later in the post!) 🎹🎻

Modern Day Brussels

Brussels is the Capital of Belgium & plays host to elements of the European Parliament, the NATO headquarters, awesome Museums, Cathedrals, Art galleries & cool tourist sites. There is a real mixture of cultural influences within Brussels. There are all sorts of amazing foods & beers to try. I made a solid attempt at completing the culinary scene, however my waistline will never forgive me!

Story time 📔

When I was doing my obligatory Google search for things to get up to in Brussels, I spotted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra were playing 2 pieces, Dvorak9 & Elgar Violin Concerto. I really wanted to go, but it wasn’t exactly on Ticketmaster & the venue site wouldn’t translate into English. I managed to scrape by but ended up paying hundreds of euros & it turned out I had bought a premium champagne reception ticket. A humble guy from the hood, did what any guy from the hood should do, try to make the money back in complimentary booze! I must admit I felt a little out of my depth pre-show mixing with people who were most certainly not from the hood. However, the arts are for everyone & if anyone tells you differently, tell them to sling their hook. The concert was worth every penny 😊

The Brussels bar crawl was great fun, I am pretty confident when speaking to new people, but normally on holiday I just wander around with my head in the clouds, this is the first time I have went to a bar crawl type event. Everything was going so well until a French lad sank 20 Jagarbombs in one go, I often wonder how he is or even if he is still alive, he wasn’t looking too clever about 25 minutes later & that was the end of the bar crawl, photo below of the aftermath! 😂

In Brussels they have these mental trains that are double deckers, they are really cool & an ingenious solution. We need them in the UK, as I type this, sat cramped on a Cross Country train boiling alive 😂. Prime minister, get it sorted, we want double decker trains!

Photos from the trip 📸

Grand-Place Square
Random Cathedral
BOZAR Centre of fine arts
French lad post 20 Jagarbombs
Grand-Place Square
Leffe is a game changer
Random Cathedral
European Parliament
Brussels most famous photo bomber
European Parliament

Useful information 🧑🏼‍🎓

Public transport in Brussels was really great, although I walked most places, the buses, trams & trains were very regular! Some of the bars etc were expensive, but if you read the boards outside you can usually find cheaper local beers etc. If you go to an ‘Irish bar’ & buy a Heineken, you’ll get hit for a pretty penny, try the local stuff! Depending on the length of your stay, if you need to stock up on supplies, the Aldi’s there are banging! Much better than the UK 😂

Leffe is bloody strong, don’t drink it at the same pace you would drink a normal beer. You will end up being an absolute nuisance!

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting about Bruges & then onto travel guides for some domestic places ahead of Summer! The UK is awesome when the sun comes out, for that whole week once a year. There will be a mini series on spots in the Peak District, then more historical places like Chester, Edinburgh & York. Would love to take any recommendations, if I can get there by bus, train or plane, I will go 🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️