Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Leaving today for Switzerland with The Bellamy Brothers. It’s been over 4 years since I was out with them last and I’m really looking forward to catching up with everybody.
Met everyone at the airport at 11. David and Howard were suppose to fly into Nashville the night before from Tampa but during the freak thunderstorm we had Tuesday afternoon lightening hit the airport and all computers were down. Howard and Davids flight was canceled so they had to take the 5 am flight in this morning. They are a little tired..
The Delta agent was extremely nice and a big fan of The Bellamy’s. He didn’t charge us excess on the 2 extra pieces of equipment 🙂
It’s is so hot in Nashville. I think the heat index is around 110 today? We boarded the plane to Atlanta and even with the ac blowing and windows covered it never cooled off. On top of that we hit major turbulence landing in Atlanta. It’s the worst I have felt on a plane in a long time.
No problems in Atlanta and our flight left on time.
Thursday July 30 2015
Landed in Zurich with all the luggage and gear! Steffen, our promoter for Flumserburg met us with 2 passenger vans. The band ended up riding in one and David, Howard and I rode in the other one. Howard and I are coming down with a cold and David said the lady next to him on the flight was sick. We are all popping some meds 🙂
Our hotel is a 1 1/2 hrs drive from Zurich. It’s a beautiful drive. The city is Maienfeld, where the book “Heidi” takes place. So everything here is Heidi.
We arrived a little after 11 at the hotel and all the rooms were ready. The band and I have to leave at 3:15 for sound check. Hoping everyone gets a little rest before we depart.
The venue is a 30 min drive…up a mountain…on a curvy road….
But it’s beautiful. They are expecting about 15 thousand tomorrow. Steffen introduced me to Freddie who owns the festival. He started it about 15 years ago down on the river with a capacity of 700. He is a very nice man and a big fan of The Bellamy’s.
Sound check went well and we left around 5:30. The bus has to seats that face backward. Of course I am in one of those next to Randy….going down the mountain…on the curvy road. Randy is løving it, I’m about to get sick and I look straight ahead and see Rocky buckling his seat belt. It’s never good when the drummer puts on his seat belt.
We made it back to the hotel without incident however I have to do this all again tomorrow 🙁
Everyone had dinner at the hotel. I was so tired I went up to my room. Made a few phone calls and tlakes to the kids and crashed!
Bellamy’s in Flumserburg Switzerland
Friday, July 31, 2015
I was wide awake at 4am! It took me another hour before I could get back to sleep. Finally at 8 I woke up, got ready and went to eat breakfast. Ran into most of the band and our promoter Steffen. The boys want to go up to the venue and ride the Alpine Slide. Steffen said if they could be ready in 20 mins he would take them. So Randy, Rocky, Jim and Tim went.
It is a beautiful day today. Sunshine and about 75 degrees. I walked into town, following the directions the guys gave me for the Spar (grocery store) or so I thought. After 30 mins of wondering around town I couldn’t find it but did run into David. So I hung with him and a few minutes later we found it 🙂
David wanted some lunch so we found a cute little cafe and had some rostii!!
We have to leave the hotel at 3:30 for the venue. It’s an early show and if all goes well we will be back here by 7:30. So back up the 2 lane curvy road..
There are at least 15,000 people here. It looks like a fun crowd. Lots of lederhosen!
The Bellamy’s did a couple of interviews and then it was ready to take the stage. We were anxious to see how the show would go since this is a schlager festival.
However there was no need to worry as the crowd just loves them!! It was an awesome show and you could tell the band was having a great time.
They did 60 mins then I took them over to sign autographs. I met Roland, who is their distributer with Universal over here. Very nice guy.
While the guys were signing the band loaded up the gear and went back to the hotel. Wally, David, Howard and I rode back down the mountain in Steffens BMW. Me sandwiched in the backseat between Howard and David hoping I don’t toss my cookies.
Once back. I talked to Steffen for a bit before he had to go back to the venue and met Howard and David for dinner. Howard found a nice restaurant today at lunch and took us there for dinner. The restaurant is in a building that is about 1000 years old! It was such a nice night we chose to sit outside in the garden. All 3 of us opted for the red snapper. Delicious. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel. Saw a few of the guys downstairs and talked to them for awhile before going to bed.
Day off tomorrow and it’s Switzerland birthday!
Saturday Aug 1 2015. Day off
Today is a day off and it’s Switzerland Birthday and it’s raining!
The rain quit around noon and I decided to take the shuttle train into Chur. It is the oldest city in Switzerland and only a 15 min train ride away. Made it to Chur around 1pm and walked from the train sration to Old Town. All these wonderful clothing shops, toy store and confectioners…and all of them closed bc of the holiday. Still enjoyed walking around the town and I did find a gelato store open. Sounds like a good lunch to me!
Went back to the train stain and a few of the stores are open there so I was able to get the kids a few things but I think I will be doing most shopping at the airport tomorrow.
Made it back to hotel around 3 and will go back to Chur tonight to see the fireworks. So the shower here is awesome except it floods out into the rest of the bathroom a little. No biggie. However today I did something wrong and it flooded not only the bathroom but all the way out to the carpet in the room!
Went downstairs for dinner and ran into most of the guys. The food here is OK. Not many choices but it works. A few of us are leaving at 8 to go to Chur so I hugged David and Howard bye since I have to leave tomorrow morning at 7 AM and they do not depart for Germany until 11.
I don’t think I will have a send off committee in the morning.
So me, Rocky, Jim and Tim went to Chur and they did a great fireworks display. Kinda cool to be celebrating Switzerland’s birthday in its oldest town! Very glad we went. Back at the hotel by 11pm too! Have to pack and be up by 7 for my ride to the airport. Quick trip