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Surya Van Lierde is pure Eurosnoot and proud of it!
Belgium
Gijzegem
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(note, when I say we, I mean me and my wife Myriam)
We always go to Essen on Tuesday so we can check in the hotel without any rush, and chill a bit before the craziness takes off.
My morning started off by meeting Martin Wallace and his lovely wife Julia in the breakfast room. We where to help them out in their booth this year, so they gave me the passes to get in to the fair.
We arrived there at about 9.30, and the halls where already buzzing with activity. Because Treefrog was only getting their stuff in the booth by 11, that gave us some time to walk around, look at stuff and meet people.
One of the first booths we went to the BGG booth because we figured there would be some friends there. And there where. Doug and Shelly where there, along with a few other people I've met before. I had heard Doug talk about how he feared the luck factor in Fortuna would be higher than he liked, so I offered to play it with him, as I already knew the game. We scheduled to play at about 2.00.
We walked around a bit and saw a lot of finished booths (mainly the big publishers) and a lot of booths where work hadn't even started (mainly the smaller publishers). So most games that interested me, weren't on display yet, let alone available for a demo.
I had been interested in Beer & Pretzels since it first came out, so I went to the Bezier booth to check it out. I just wanted to buy, but they couldn't sell yet. We did play a quick round, and I promised to get my copy early the next day. Ted himself wasn't in the booth though, so I'd have to see him later any way.
Most of the day was spent hauling boxes and setting up the tables and chairs, but at 2 we took a break to play Fortuna with Doug and Shelly. I haven't played the final version of this game that much yet, but this was the first time everyone was going towards Rome at about the same pace, making the end game very close and quite exiting.
I'm not sure Doug is completely convinced yet, but his fear has at least been tempered a bit.
We also ran into Stephen & Dave from the Spiel, who where hanging out in the Ludo Fact booth. We had a short chat and inquired about the Spiel dinner, which I hoped to join.
By the end of the day many more booths where ready, although there where still some empty spots here and there. Weird.
That evening after dinner we went to hotel Jung, where we stayed, and met some more friends, mostly from the UK and Australia. Desinger Maureen Hiron was there with a prototype of a trick taking game called Rhino which she wanted to test with 5 and 6 players. I joined both games.
We hung out for just a bit longer and went to bed, hoping to to be too tired the next day, which we had scheduled to be all demoing.
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