THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, JUNE 27TH AND 28TH – NASHVILLE TO INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND:
Today I left Nashville for Interlaken, Switzerland for the Annual Trucker and Country Festival. Performers are The Bellamy Brothers, Heidi Newfield and Farewell Angelina. Problems started before I ever woke up.
I had an email waiting for me when I did get up advising that Farewell Angelina’s flight had been delayed and they missed their connection and would be arriving several hours later than scheduled into Zurich. Since Zurich is 7 hour ahead of Nashville time, Albi was already at the airport waiting for them to arrive. I began texting and emailing everyone to let them know about the change.
As I was getting ready to go to the airport to meet The Bellamy Brothers for our flight to Atlanta and on to Zurich on Delta airlines, I got a message that Heidi’s flight from Nashville to Atlanta had been delayed. She was scheduled to fly to Atlanta on Delta and then on the Philadelphia and Zurich on America Airlines. Fortunately, she had a long layover in Atlanta and did not miss her connection. They also let everyone check their bags all the way through to Zurich.
Finally arrived at the airport and got the Bellamys checked in with no issues. Even had time to sit in the Lounge for a while. Our flight took off and landed early into Atlanta. Again, we had time to visit the Lounge. The food in the Lounge was the best I’ve had all year in a Delta Lounge. Our flight boarded on time and right after getting on board, I got a text message that American Airlines would not allow Heidi to board because there was a small “hole” in her passport and it would not scan! From what I was told, they tried several times and even though the hole was tiny, it would not scan. So, she and her fiancé/musician stayed behind and the band departed. She was going to go to the passport office early Friday morning and have an emergency passport issued. Then she was able to book a flight on Lufthansa Airlines that would arrive Zurich at 9:30 am. Meant she would miss the autograph session and radio interview but should arrive in time for the concert Saturday night.
The band’s flight was departing over 2 hours late which meant they would not be able to ride to the hotel with The Bellamys on the Tour Bus. The festival had to arrange another smaller bus to meet them at 11 am.
Our flight over was pretty turbulent at times but I think Howard, David and I managed to sleep a couple of hours. We had told the flight attendants not to wake us up for breakfast but I was already awake when the time came. The flight attendant woke Howard up and then woke David up to apologize to him for waking up Howard! Otherwise, it was an easy flight that again landed early at around 8:15 am.
Our bus and driver “Pedro” was waiting for us and all our bags/equipment arrived. It was about a 2 ½ hour drive to the hotel. Because we arrived so early, our rooms were not ready which was what I expected. Katja met me and gave me our passes for the festival and then Howard, David and I had lunch next door at a restaurant. Howard and David’s room was ready by the time they finished lunch. I had started receiving messages from Heidi’s band who had arrived the Zurich Airport. One of their bags was missing so they had to stay and file a claim on it. They found it still sitting in Philadelphia. It will be on the flight tomorrow and “might” arrive at about the same time Heidi arrives. If so, she can pick it up. If they have to deliver it, they probably won’t receive it before it’s time for them to fly home!
While I was waiting for the band to arrive, I started getting text messages from Farewell Angelina who had gone on a sightseeing trip to the Schilthorn today compliments of the festival. There is a long gondola ride to the top of the Alp and when they were scheduled to come back down, there was a huge crowd of people waiting. Not everyone got on and the crowd started pushing and shoving and one woman got trampled. Fortunately they made it back in time to attend the Meet and Greet at 6 pm.
I walked outside the hotel to wait for Heidi’s musicians. There are two huge parking spots for buses right in front of the hotel and otherwise, there’s no where they can park. Some delivery guy in a huge flatbed with a trailer connected parked in front of the bus parking spots, blocking the entrance. He started unloading several pallets of boxes and then delivering them up and down the street. The bus arrived and could not pull in so the guys had to unload across the street and bring their bags and instruments across the street to the hotel! I got everyone checked in and went back outside over an hour later to find that his truck had broken down and they couldn’t move it. Payback for blocking my group! HA!!
It was 94 degrees today in Interlaken. It’s usually hot – maybe in the 70’s or 80’s, but only a couple of times has it been this hot! Howard and David’s rooms are two of the few with air conditioning but everyone else only has a fan. It is so, so miserable.
The Bellamys and Farewell Angelina and I went to the VIP Meet and Greet at the venue at 6 pm for an hour. Saw lots of our Swiss friends – Heidi, Markus, Brigete, Sandro and his family. Sandro and his family brought Swiss chocolate for us and they had put it in a “thermal” bag to keep it from melting. Didn’t work…there were several pieces of chocolate soup! But I’m sure it will still be fantastic and very much appreciated
We were back at the hotel by 7:15 pm and walked to the restaurant connected to the hotel for an excellent dinner. Howard and I had grilled salmon with spinach that was wonderful. I was receiving updates from Heidi the entire time. She had gotten up early, had her photos taken and applied for the emergency passport. It was supposed to be ready no later than 1:30 pm and she was going to pick it up and go to the airport. Everything seemed to finally go smoothly for her and as I type this, it’s 5 pm in Philadelphia and I’m waiting to hear that she is on the plane. Had the airline allowed her to fly to Zurich with the damaged passport and if it would not scan when she arrived, she would have been denied entry into Switzerland and flown back to the USA on the next flight! So, as stressful as it was, it’s a good thing she stayed behind and took care of the problem.
Going to try to go to bed within the next 30 minutes so I can get up and run tomorrow morning. It’s not going to be the usual perfect weather to run in this year. Going to be miserably hot the entire time we are here!
So for everyone who has told me multiple times they “want my job”, read back through this report of the last two days and tell me you still want it. HA!
Jude
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SATURDAY, JUNE 29TH – PERFORMANCE DAY IN INTERLAKEN: Well, I didn’t get text messages all night long but only because the cord came loose from my device and the battery died! I discovered that at 5:20 am and could not go back to sleep. I finally got up and went for a 3 mile job. And, the weather was not perfect but at least it hadn’t reached the 90’s yet at that time of the day. It was still a great jog and just what I needed to face today. I thought everything was running smoothly because Heidi and Matt landed on time in Frankfurt. But, I got a text shortly thereafter saying they missed their connection to Zurich because the security line was so long. There were more flights every 30 minutes but the next one was sold out. Also, the taxi that was supposed to pick her up had already left Interlaken. They called the driver and he turned around in Bern but still charged them 200 CHF. Heidi was able to sweet talk Swiss Air into putting them on the next flight out and I told her to just take the train to Interlaken because it only cost around 39 CHF per person. Of course, their bags did not arrive. Thankfully she had her show clothes and makeup in her carry on bag. But, her harmonicas were also in the bag. We were able to find some but not in Interlaken and it would have meant her paying someone to drive to the next town to get them and bring them back. Heidi and Matt talked to Lufthansa and they are convinced that the bags will be delivered to the hotel between 7 and 7:30 pm. I hope they will but from many previous experiences, they won’t see them until they leave for the airport! I spent the remainder of the day trying to sort out instruments and passes and running back and forth to pick up bands from the hotel for their sound checks. The heat just zaps the energy out of me even though I am constantly drinking lots of water. I don’t think I’ve been this miserably hot since Iraq and Afghanistan!!! I walked around the festival grounds and it was depressing to see how few people were attending this year due to the heat. There was one big crowd of people underneath a pavilion and I’m sure they will come into the tent once the show begins. The show started on time and there was a large crowd but the tent wasn’t packed. I got to watch the first 2 songs of Farewell Angelina and then had to start running back and forth to the hotel to pick up bands and artists. Everyone I talked to said they had a great show. Heidi had not received her bags by the time she had to depart to the venue but was told by the courier that they were on their way. One of her friends was going to deliver the harmonicas to the venue if they came in before the show started. We found out after the show that they were delivered but not in time for the performance. The promoters and their wives from Liechtenstein attended the concert and it was so great to see them again. Lukas (Gola’s manager) and Sandro (the person who has filmed the Bellamys on tour in Europe and in the USA many times) also attended the festival. I got to see several more friends but only briefly because it was so busy trying to take care of 3 groups. Katja does an amazing job for the festival and makes my job so much easier. I am told Heidi also had a great performance and the tent filled up even more when she took the stage. Again, I only got to see 2 songs. The Bellamys went on stage at exactly 11 pm and I watched the first, middle and last song between taking care of business in the festival office. I did walk through the tent and even more people had come inside to where it was very full! As always they had another great show. Iris told them “she started with the Bellamy Brothers” and was ending with the Bellamy Brothers!” We presented Iris with a beautiful turquoise necklace as a “parting” gift since supposedly this will be her last time handling the festival. She is a partner but will be leaving at the end of the year. We are still hopeful something will happen to change her mind! I was back at the hotel before 2 am but didn’t get in bed until almost 3 am. Going to be a short night because I have to see Farewell Angelina off tomorrow morning at 8 am. Jude SUNDAY, JUNE 30TH, 2019 – DAY OFF IN INTERLAKEN: I didn’t fall asleep until 3:30 am and at 7:10 I heard a text message come in. It was Katja apologizing that she would not be able to come to the hotel and say goodbye to the members of Farewell Angelina when they left. I had totally forgotten that 5 people were leaving at 8:00 am. I jumped up and put on my jogging clothes and headed to the lobby. A huge bus was waiting for them even though there were only 5 people! Everyone came down on time and that’s when I learned that 4 were going to the Zurich train station downtown and only 1 going to the airport. The driver agreed to drop them off at the train station before driving to the airport. I went for a very quick job and then back to my room to shower before heading back downstairs to see guys in Heidi’s and Bellamy’s group off to Schilthorn. Then back to my room to try to get everyone checked in. At noon I met Franz-Josef and Isabella in the lobby and we walked over to a restaurant for a drink and chat about their events next year. At 2 pm, Gola met us to drive us up to his home for the “annual” BBQ. It’s always so great to see him and Heidi and their two beautiful daughters – Nikki and Leslie, now 5 and 6 years old! Several other friends that we had met previously were also there and it was a fun afternoon. Gola grilled meat and vegetables even though it was still in the 90’s and miserably hot. The food was great as well and Heidi had made a great Caesar salad and Craprice salad. I had brought gifts for the girls and they played with them for over an hour. They are beautiful, sweet girls! We took our annual “group” photo and then David and I had to go back to the hotel for our dinner meeting with Iris and Lorenz. Driving back, there were several emergency vehicles that passed us and the traffic was backed up for miles – exactly the route Gola would need to take home. He decided to come in and we called Howard to come down and join them. I had to change clothes before dinner. Iris picked me up and we drove to a local Country Club for dinner with Lorenz, Howard, and David. The food was excellent and even though we were seated outside, it had cooled off considerably now that the sun had gone down. We mainly talked about artists for 2020. I was back at the hotel before 10 am and took a shower and packed as much as I could I have to get up at 3:30 am and my goad is to be in bed by midnight latest! Jude MONDAY, JULY 1ST – INTERLAKEN TO NASHVILLE: Got in bed at 12:30 am and up at 3:30 am for a 5:30 am departure to the Zurich Airport. There are 9 of us in the Bellamys group and 2 people with Heidi who are flying home today. Bellamys are on Delta via Atlanta and Heidi’s musicians are on American via Philadelphia and Atlanta and Delta back to Nashville. Everyone was on time for the departure including the large tour bus that was transporting us. The hotel had our “breakfast boxes” ready for us to take with us. It was a really nice “box” of food but just too early to eat that much food. I ate one piece of cheese out of it and that was all. It included a sandwich, boiled egg, apple, peach, Evian, juice box, roll, jelly, butter, and a cheese slice. I probably left out something, too! The driver was really nice and a good driver. I think everyone slept almost the entire drive. I sure tried too. We unloaded our luggage and I went into the terminal to find the Delta check-in counter. Guess I missed the most special part of the ride because the driver is a famous yodeler and decided to yodel for the guys. Fortunately, they captured it on video! The first part of “checking in” for the flight involves an agent asking each person individually some “security” questions. I was asked where I stayed the night before, why I was there, and then she wanted to know how many people attended the event. I told her I had no clue since I was only there with the entertainers and not responsible for ticket sales! Some of the others were asked some even stranger questions. One guy was asked what he does in his “free” time and when he said he hangs out with this wife and children, they proceeded to ask the ages and birthdates of his children. I don’t’ know if we all looked “suspicious” or if this is now standard procedure. We were able to check everything in and were not charged any “excess” fees. The equipment cases had to be weighed but could not go through on the belt but had to be loaded onto a special cart. Next step was to go through the boarding pass scanner and into the security check area. I made SURE that I did not leave my bottle of water in my bag this time!!! We had less than an hour before our fight boarded and everyone scattered to either go to the gate or eat breakfast. I went to the currency exchange to change Swiss Francs to U.S. Dollars and then to Sprungli to purchase chocolate for gifts. Then we had to go downstairs and go through Passport Control. The lines were so long, it took me 30 minutes to get through that area. A “tram” ride took me to the terminal for our gates and as I was exiting the escalator, a boy on the escalator next to me dropped his rolling suitcase and it completely blocked the people trying to get off the escalator. People were screaming and piling up on top of each other because the escalator didn’t stop and just kept throwing more people on top of the dropped suitcase. I didn’t have time to stick around and see what eventually happened since it was now time for me to board my flight. I did stop by the restroom and even the line there took another 15 minutes. I was hoping to check out the new Lounge in the gate area but did not have time today! The flight boarded on time and it’s the same aircraft that we flew over on. The seats are incredibly small even in business class and other than the overhead storage area, there’s no storage around the seat area at all. I always check my Delta App to track my bags and it was still showing that my bags had been checked in but that they were still en route to the airplane and not been loaded. I asked one of the flight attendants if she could check but she was clueless as far as what to do. I decided to just hope for the best when we arrived Atlanta. Since it is a new month, I was hoping for some new, good movies. Not so. I swear I’ve never heard of hardly any of the movies they are showing . I did watch one that was mediocre while lunch was being served. Then I slept 3 hours so I figure I got a total of 6 hours sleep last night. Got up and worked for about 3 hours before another meal was served right before landing. We landed Atlanta on time and I was surprised when all the bags and equipment arrived on the flight. We kept waiting for our equipment to come out on the oversize belt and it never did. We finally asked someone who told us that belt was broken and we had to hike across the baggage claim area to another oversize belt. Would have been nice if a sign had been placed on the broken belt advising of the problem. We had to go through security and surprisingly enough, they had the TSA line for check in which makes it much easier. There was a very long line though, longer than for people who didn’t have TSA. Once we cleared security, we had over an hour before boarding for the flight to Nashville so I decided to go to the Lounge and work as long as I could. When I boarded the flight for Nashville, the Delta app still indicated that all 3 bags I had checked were still being loaded onto the flight FROM Zurich! Then as I was checking it numerous times, the first bag tag number disappeared and it said “Bag has been removed from plane and taken to the Sorting Office”! I asked the flight attendant what that meant and he said he would contact the control tower to find out where the bag was. The person sitting next to me suggested I call the Delta Diamond Line and ask for assistance. I did and within 5 minutes she was able to tell me that the bag had already arrived in Nashville and was taken to the Delta Service Office by baggage claim. Since I had checked 2 pieces of equipment and my one suitcase, I had no idea which piece was already in Nashville. Flight departed on time and arrived Nashville early. Turned out 5 pieces of equipment had arrived on an earlier flight and my suitcase was on the plane with me. At least, everything finally arrived and I said good-bye and thanked everyone for a great tour!!!!! I’m home until July 11th when I fly to Norway for a festival with Emmylou Harris. Not sure what I will do on the 4th of July since Zac and Zoe are with their Dad until Sunday. Sorry it took so long to post this. Just have not had time to type it up since I returned. Jude
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