1100 furs, six days, one convention. For the seventeenth time, Eurofurence opened its doors to furs from around the world. And this year, I had the pleasure of being part of it. So here is my Eurofurence journal, detailing my time in Germany. The past six days have been packed full of events, so this journal is being split into two for convenience.


Day One - Tuesday 16 August
Even with a 3am start today, I was very excited. In just a few short hours, I would be in Germany, on my way to my first furry convention. Leaving home at 4.30am, it took just under an hour for me to reach Stansted Airport. It's a big one-teminal airport, but very modern and I've travelled from there many times. So, checking in and security were all very straightforward. Today I was flying with Germanwings, a no-frills airline but perfectly comfortable for a 1.5 hour trip. Just before 8am we took off, and by 10am I had arrived in Hanover. I was due to meet some furs, arriving from Southampton three hours after me. So, with a copy of 'Die Welt' newspaper in hand, I settled down in the terminal and waited.

As 1pm approached I wandered back to Arrivals, ready to meet up with . After a few quick hellos, we all headed off before descending into the depths of Hanover Airport and into the railway station.

Now, I travel a lot on British Rail. So I'm used to hearing the stories and grumbles of passengers, who often look to Europe as an example of how to run a railway. Indeed the high speed or ICE trains have a good reputation, but we didn't use them. What we travelled on was perfectly comparable to regional services in the UK. They were comfortable enough, got us from A to B, and were similarly priced (i.e. dear). Oh, and trains in Germany do get delayed!

A quick change at Hanover's Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), and we were on a regional service to Magdeburg. Despite the journey lasting one and a half hours, there was plenty to keep us (and our fellow passengers) 'entertained'! At Magdeburg, it was barely a three minute walk to our hotel, the four-star Maritim. And sure enough, as we rounded the corner, catching a glimpse of the first fursuiter outside the rounded glass facade, we knew we had arrived. The hotel is impressive: a long marble-floored lobby stretches ahead forming the spine of the hotel, rooms rising for seven storeys on either side, with a glass roof far up above. Two glass lifts glided up and down at one end, ferrying furs and suiters between their rooms and the events. And already the furs had left their mark on the hotel. It wasn't just the suiters, not the decorations, but also an enormous four-storey banner hanging from the far balcony, featuring some stunning artwork by Kajito with wolves and cats and even a sheep in kung fu poses, keeping with this year's convention theme, 'Kung Fur Hustle'.

Half an hour later we were registered. I broke off shortly to find my room, on the fourth floor and down a long corridor of the hotel. My room was spacious and comfortable, and I even met my room mate for the convention  dougalmutt. Reconvening in the lobby, we headed over the road to the local supermarket, Kaufland. This shop would become a firm favourite of ours over the next week. Coke for 99 cents? Water for 19 cents? Jawohl!

Events actually began on the Wednesday. This meant that Tuesday was a quieter day, to chat and acclimatise and generally to relax. As evening rolled around, a group of us headed out for a place to eat. We heard something about a 'House of Steak', but heading in the opposite direction we came across various eateries, eventually settling for a pizza restaurant. Then, after a couple of drinks, we turned in for the night.


Day 2 - Wednesday 17 August
After breakfast, it was downstairs to meet the group. Again the morning and early afternoon were quieter, so the time was spent visiting a few rooms and generally relaxing. However all that changed at 5 o'clock as we, and the thousand other attendees, filed into the main room for the opening ceremony. Pinky took to the stage as compere, introducing puppeteer Jim Martin as the Guest of Honour, and the other luminaries of the convention. After the upcoming highlights were mentioned, it was over to the chairman Cheetah to declare Eurofurence 17 officially open.

In the evening, we took a break from the convention, we did make it to the House of Steaks, where I enjoyed some very nice pasta. Afterwards it was back to the hotel for more drinks, art and chatting late into the night.


Day 3 - Thursday 18 August
When I first arrived I was slightly confused as to why events started at noon. But by this point, after two late nights and two very late mornings, I was aware why. Either way, today was when the main events kicked off. I spent much of the day with , and we checked out the Dealers' Den, with various artists including some of the Fandom's biggest. I also headed into the Art Show just before it closed, where I placed a couple of bids.

The first evening's entertainment was Uncle Kage with his Story Hour. Whilst mildly amusing as opposed to full-on funny, his tribulations with a till/printer in particular struck a chord with the tech-savvy audience. After the show, it was upstairs to the Artists' Lounge for a couple of hours.

One thing you soon learn about conventions is how irregular meals become. Indeed, as the evening drew on I was feeling quite peckish, so I took a break from the art and wandered into the city. It was now 10pm though, so everywhere was closed. Except McDonalds. This was my first proper McDonalds in seven years, and delicious it was too. Then it was back to the Artists' Lounge, before up to my room.


Tomorrow I will be covering days 4 to 7. Until then.