WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5TH & 6TH – NASHVILLE TO ZURICH FOR GASTHAUS ALBISGUETLI COUNTRY FESTIVAL:
So nice not to have to get up at 3 am for a 6 am flight out of Nashville. Had a “decent” departure time of 9 am from Nashville to JFK. I’m flying over to meet up with Kiefer Sutherland and his band who will perform on Friday and Saturday night at the newly renovated Gausthaus Albisguetli in Zurich. This is the opening night of a six week extravaganza of country music artists from the USA and Europe. Lindsey be back in mid-March with Runaway June for a special one day appearance.
Flight left on time and was a smooth flight although the smaller Delta jets aren’t always perfectly “smooth”. Landed early at JFK and headed to the Lounge to work during my 5 hour layover. Departed on time and the interior of the plane had been very recently reconfigured…so recent the flight attendants weren’t familiar with all the bells and whistles. My favorite part is the amount of storage space they added to each seat. Guess Delta finally listened to all the customer’s complaints about not having anywhere to store their items during the flight except in the overhead. The only issue I had – and it was a major one – was that my WiFi would not connect. I knew it wasn’t my phone or laptop because I had used it on the flight from Nashville to JFK. I asked the flight attendant and she just blew me off saying “hers was working”. I kept bugging her and asked her if any of the other passengers had said they could not connect. She came back a few minutes later and said the system was being re-booted. It worked flawlessly the rest of the flight!
The movies have not improved on Delta flights and I watched a bad one featuring Will Smith. We landed early in Zurich and my bag was one of the first ones off the belt. I had a little bit of anxiety because I had decided I would take the train into downtown Zurich and then take the tram out to my hotel. I was very familiar with all these routes but had never done it with a large suitcase and my rolling duffle. Fortunately, Switzerland trains and trams are prepared for passengers traveling with luggage and my trip was so easy. I arrived at the hotel before 11 am and had pre-checked myself in online. They gave me what is called “loft” room in the renovated older part of the hotel. I’ve stayed here many times but never in this part of the hotel. The room is much larger but there is only one tiny, rectangular shaped window and there is a huge wooden column in the center of the room. But I love the “separate” room for the toilet and the huge walk-in shower as opposed to a bathtub.
Had a lot of problems to take care of prior to Kiefer’s arrival tomorrow so I worked all afternoon. My dear friend – Iris – from Interlaken took the train over to meet me and we had a great “catch up” dinner. Her beautiful dog Ginger (and her “baby girl”) died unexpectedly a few months ago and she was devastated. She recently got a new baby – Frankie – a feisty little Shih tzu similar to Ginger. He joined us for dinner and refused to sleep on the soft little mat she brought for him but instead curled up on the cold, hard floor and slept soundlessly all through our dinner. We ate a restaurant next to the hotel that serves Sushi, Thai, and Indian food. I’ve eaten there many times because this is where I stay when the Bellamys perform in Zurich. Great food!
The hotel had a “crash” with their computer system and none of the room keys were working. We had to have one of the staff walk with us to our rooms to open our doors for us. I invited Iris in to see my “loft room” and Frankie decided he just had to have one of the hotel slippers on my floor. Iris chased him around for a while but he refused to give it up. I told her to just let him take it. He is “teething” and I’m sure this is the perfect thing for him to chew up!
Stayed up working until 1 am. We are going to walk to the venue tomorrow because it is only a mile and a half. It’s supposed to be really cold but no rain or snow.
Jude
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH – FIRST CONCERT BY KIEFER SUTHERLAND AT GASTHAUS ALBISGUETLI:
Got up at 7 am and did my morning stretches for about 30 minutes. Showered and walked over to Starbucks for some Muesli. The breakfast bar in the hotel is fantastic but costs $35 per person and there’s no way I can a huge breakfast.
Iris and I were going to walk up to the venue because it’s only a mile but she thought it was too cold. So, we took the tram up instead and arrived a few minutes before 11 am. Kiefer’s bus had arrived at the hotel right before I left and the band and crew were checking in. Then the bus took the crew up to the venue and load in began. It was a massive project since they also had a truck filled with equipment from the UK that they are taking with them on the one month tour.
All his guys and girls are so nice to work with and Albi and the venue took great care of them making sure they had coffee and sandwiches throughout the morning. Christof with Live Sound is handling the production and he had his hands full. A 7 piece band had been booked as the opening act. Once Kiefer set up all his equipment and finished sound check, it wasn’t possible to move their equipment off the stage. The stage is too small to have rolling risers, so the opening act’s equipment had to be set up in front of Kiefer’s! There were two pedal steels, two drum kits, numerous guitars, a keyboard, and the opening act still used floor monitors. Kiefer also brought in a lighting package that added a lot to his performance.
Kiefer did an interview with Swiss TV after sound check and they will return to record a couple of songs during his performance tonight. The group ate dinner at 4:30 pm and after they finished, I headed back to the hotel to have dinner with Iris, Katja and Werner at the Italian Restaurant next to the hotel…the one I’ve eaten at many times! There are different “stations” and where you select pizza, pasta, salad, etc. The pasta is made fresh and you select the type of pasta, sauce, etc. I had the Zoodles which is actually Zucchini Squash and added the sauce and mushrooms. It was delicious!
Had to rush back up to the venue after dinner. The opening act was just finishing up and it took about 45 minutes to get the stage set back up for Kiefer’s group. The venue looked completely full. Several of my friends were there tonight and even more will be there tomorrow night. Kiefer has an extremely high energy show and there were people standing in front of the stage during the entire performance and signing along with every song. He finished at around 11:30 pm and I didn’t get back to the venue until around 12:30 am. It was a great opening night for the festival and a great “first show” for Kiefer and his band to kick off his month long tour of Europe!
Jude
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH – SECOND AND FINAL PERFORANCE IN ZURICH:
Got 5 hours sleep – wonderful! – quick workout, showered and met Iris and Katja to say “good-bye”. Hopped on the tram to go into downtown Zurich to purchase Sprungli chocolates for Zac’s and Zoe’s teachers for Valentine’s Day. Also got a box of Truffles Du Jour for Kiefer’s group. Back at the hotel in time to work for about an hour before heading to the venue for sound check.
While everyone was finishing up sound check, I was looking at the weather in Zurich, Amsterdam, JFK and Nashville for tomorrow. With almost 3 million miles on Delta, close to 2 million on United and almost a million on American, I still HATE flying. Never gets any easier. When I pulled up Amsterdam, it said “wind gusts of up to 50 miles an hour”. And, of course, scrolling on the news section was the information about a plane crashing in Turkey and killing at least 2 passengers. Cause? Wind was gusting up to 50 miles an hour at times!!!
I immediately called Delta and they said that since Delta had issued a “waiver” of all fees for anyone wanting to change their flights, I could change mine to a direct flight from Zurich to JFK at no charge and still make my connection. Was really happy about that because it means leaving the hotel at around 9:30 am instead of 5:30 am tomorrow. But then I remembered that the only thing Zac and Zoe asked me to bring them back is “stroop waffles” and those are only available in Amsterdam. I “googled” and found that Coop (grocery store) supposedly has them in Zurich. There is a huge Coop in the shopping mall connected to our hotel.
Sound check finished and everyone had dinner at 4:30 pm at the venue. I wanted to see if the food was as good as the group told me it was. It definitely was! I gave everyone a Truffle Du Jour at the end of the meal as well.
Took the tram back to the hotel and immediately went to Coop to look for the stroop waffles. Found them but only in one flavor. Better than nothing. Then I realized I was going to need another bag to take the candy and stroop waffles back home in. Fortunately Coop had that as well!
The venue was packed again tonight. Several of my friends were there including Albert and Evelyne, Heidi, my new friend Sidonia, George at the record shop, and Winny (Albi’s wife). I didn’t think it was possible but I believe Kiefer had a higher energy show than last night. It is definitely not traditional country but so entertaining. He is great with talking to the audience between songs and very humble. I don’t think Gasthaus Albisguetli could have had a better opening act and a better attendance to kick of the 7 week Country Festival. All the “new” staff at the venue are so nice and helpful. They had their hands full trying to take care of over 700 people each night – all having dinner and drinks during the opening act’s show and continuing with drinks during Kiefer’s show. Even though their stress level was HIGH, they took great care of us.
The crew had to load out all the equipment so the truck could depart to Milan. The band was going to wait and depart at 4 am on their tour bus. So many rules and regulations for bus and truck drivers in Europe with new, even stricter ones being implemented just a few weeks ago. Also, lots of rules in Switzerland about hours they can drive on Sundays.
I had ordered sandwiches for the group to be delivered after the show but the staff was so busy, they completely forgot and the kitchen was closed. I managed to use Uber Eats and order pizzas for them. But once Uber identified my location, the menu changed to Germany! George with the venue helped me translate and hopefully the guys got what they requested. By the time I finished ordering, I had to run to keep from missing the last tram back to the hotel and couldn’t stay around to see if the pizzas got delivered. The pizza company called me several times because I had put a special note in the order requesting that the pizzas be delivered to the “tour bus” in front of the venue. They understood but then the driver started calling saying he couldn’t find it. He did not speak but a little English and did not understand the word “BUS”. I was texting Nathan while I talked to him and eventually Nathan was able to find him.
I packed and showered and thanked God again that I didn’t have to get up at 4:30 am since it was 2:30 am by the time I got in bed!
Jude
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH – FLYING HOME FROM ZURICH:
Up at 7:00 AM, checked out and walked over to the Tram. I stopped to look at the board to see what time the next tram would arrive and heard a lady screaming. I turned around and my “TravelPro” suitcase that rolls so easily had rolled off the sidewalk and was lying on the tram tracks! Thank God a tram wasn’t coming. I have got to remember to hang onto that suitcase even when it’s not on a slope!
Took the tram to the main train station and the train was non-stop to the airport. Easy check-in and then had about 30 minutes in the Lounge before boarding. It’s the same plane we flew over on with all the nice storage space. Makes having to connect through JFK a little more bearable. I watched a movie called “Sideways” while dinner was being served and it wasn’t a very good movie. It’s older and supposedly had lots of nominations for awards but I’m not sure why!
Was able to sleep for an hour and then worked the rest of the flight. We landed early and my bags were some of the first ones on the belt – surprising! Had to get a boarding pass for the Nashville flight but there’s a counter right outside Customs so it was simple to do. I went through the CLEAR line which was even faster than Global Entry. They walked me to the front of the line for the bag scan. That gave me about 45 minutes in the lounge before departing on time for Nashville. Landed early and happy to be home!
Many thanks to Albi, George, and all the incredible new staff at the “newly renovated and ‘re-named’ Gasthaus Albisguetli. And of course, special thanks to Nathan, Beth, Pablo and Kiefer and his awesome musicians and crew. Everyone made the opening of the Country Music Festival and the first shows of Kiefer’s month long European tour a fantastic beginning.
Jude