I recently dug my iPod out of a box -- yes, we still have boxes and suitcases to unpack, but until our furniture arrives we have nowhere to put the stuff -- and went for a run with some music. I'm not a strict iPod devotee like some people, I usually enjoy my exercise without a musical backdrop. This day was different, though. We had just left Zurich as it was gearing up for the annual "
Street Parade" festival where the city shuts down and jams techno/trance all weekend. I'm serious! It's considered the biggest dance party in Europe; check out
the website if you're really curious. It's so progressive that they have stands that will validate the purity of the drugs (GHB . . . Ecstasy . . . and lots of other new crap I've never heard of) before you consume them -- sort of like a needle exchange program taken to an extreme.
Anyway, as we navigated the train station in Zurich we were surrounded by dancing loonies bouncing to the rhythms pumped out from the city square. People wearing furry arm warmers despite the 70 degree day . . . people in swim suits or elaborate Elizabethan costumes . . . a genuine freak show of the highest order. Here's a picture I snagged from the official Street Parade website:
I haven't seen something like this since
Ybor City down in Tampa during my undergrad days -- and this was much more crazy. Everywhere you went you could
feel the bass through the ground.
The thing is, and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I actually like the techno/industrial sound. And so after surviving the Zurich train station we got home and I rummaged through my junk, found my iPod, and went for a trail run with the smooth sounds of
the Prodigy and
the Chemical Brothers to keep me company. That's right, Prodigy, the band whose
videos have been blamed for inciting British teens to acts of arson, can get my adrenalin going better than just about anything else. Don't knock it until you've tried it!
It was bliss. No need for any pharmaceutical supplement to my weekend, the trail running around here was euphoric enough. There's this brilliant trail system behind our apartment that follows a river and canyon system. Trails weave South and East of Zurich and offer some big climbs and lots of paths to explore. And there are waterfalls. Hundreds of waterfalls -- hundreds!
Coors Brewery should film commercials here (note the plug for this Colorado business -- can an Untamed Colorado be in the works?).
Here are a few pictures of the waterfalls that set the mood for my
drug free euphoric run:
From the psychedelic techno-fest in town, to the serene mountain waterfalls of my trail run, it was a very interesting weekend. Holding it all together, though, was the fierce beats and bassline in my eardrums.
I don't run all the time with my iPod, but every once in a while it can be a really good time!