SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH – TRAVEL FROM SWITZERLAND TO GERMANY:
Pretty easy day…except for no sleep last night. Showered and had breakfast and then the bus arrived at 7:45 am. Our driver was great! I was giving Bill a hard time about the driver who tried to take us through the pass that was closed. This driver got us to Germany in record time – 3 ½ hours – and we even stopped and exchanged dollars for Euros on the way.
Hotel was ready for us and rooms are fantastic compared to the hotel where we stayed these last couple of days. Nice thing about this hotel, is that it is right next to the venue. We just walk over.
Got checked in and then walked to the venue for lunch. The food at the restaurant there is the best anywhere. They really should open up a place in Nashville….or better yet….in DC where there are NO good restaurants to be found…except Old Ebbitt Grill. I had a tuna salad sandwich that was delicious. Came back to the hotel and walked next door to the little “market” and purchased some water and tea….another nice thing about this hotel…having a market next door!
Answered emails and worked until time for sound check. We had dinner at the club again after sound check. I always get the Wiener schnitzel my first night here. Unbelievably tender and good. I was NOT disappointed. J Had time after dinner to come back to the hotel and work some more. Have to figure out what we’re going to do tomorrow. The musicians wanted to go to the music store but because it’s Sunday, it’s closed. Some of them just want to sleep and some of the crew wants to go to Daucha. It’s a pretty depressing place so not sure they should see it right before a performance!
Walked over for sound check and then dinner. I had the Wiener schnitzel and as usual, it was EXCELLENT! I asked Bill to just give me one piece because it comes with 2 large pieces. He said he would and then when it came out, there were 2 pieces. Evidently Marianne said “no one just eats one piece”. But, I gave one of the pieces to the guys.
Came back to the hotel to work and then dress for the show. I had a massive headache as did some of the guys. Think it’s the weather! Took a couple of Advil and laid down for about an hour.
Cripple Creek Band is the opening act and they are recording one of my artist’s (John Adam Murph) songs….Blue Water. They did a really great job on it, too. The little club only holds 250 people and it was “packed to the rafters”. There is a balcony around the top and not one more person could have fit anywhere in the club. The good news is, the club is now non-smoking. That was brutal before they passed that law.
Lonestar did a GREAT show and then signed autographs for over an hour. I left them at the club and came back to the hotel at around 1 am. It’s 2 am now and I’m hoping to go to bed soon. Having lunch with Bill at the hotel where I’ll be staying with Howard and David Bellamy next month….new, nice hotel where his daughter works.
Jude
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH – LAST SHOW IN UNTERMEITINGEN, GERMANY:
Slept 6 hours and it was great. Had coffee and saw the sweet lady at the front desk (Sonja) who takes such good care of me. She had a beautiful pot of tulips delivered to my room yesterday! Worked out to the Beach Body video again. This time I did 20 minutes of the Phase 1 and 2 cardio and then the full sculpting workout for phase 1 and 2. Slowed down and I think that helped. I still am not great with the bands but getting better. Bill called and said since my boys stayed at his club until 4:30 am, he was going to have to cancel our lunch date. I didn’t want to sit in the room all day, so I sent a text to the guys who drove the van to Dauchau to see if they were going into Munich. Said they were still at Dauchau but would meet me. I walked over to the club and Bill called me a taxi to the nearest train station. Bought a one way ticket and left for Munich. It was about a 40 minute drive. Guess I misunderstood the guys because I got a text saying the were not coming into Munich but would pick me up. I decided to just take a train back. Absolutely nothing was open in Munich except train stations. I walked around for a while then bought a pretzel for lunch and took the train back. Totally wasted my afternoon!
Made it back just fine on the train. Now if I can just figure out where the shopping street in Munich is from the train station, I’ll be comfortable going back and forth. Bill met me at the station and took me back to the hotel.
Walked over to the club for dinner. Had a really good cup of hot tea. It had 2 different kinds of berries in it. I talked them into only one piece of salmon and it was even better than what I have in Norway. And this time I saved room for the apple strudel. Marianne would have been offended if all the guys had not eaten some as well. They were so full but rallied and had the same opinion I did…delicious. It was snowing really hard when I walked back. By the time I left to come back over 2 hours later, there was at least an inch on the ground. Sure hope there are no flight delays tomorrow. I wanted so see some of the opening act’s set (Cripple Creek Band) and walked in just as they kicked off JAM’s song “Blue Water”. They did a great job, too. I called him and let him listen to a little of it and he was pleased too. Lonestar did a great job again tonight. Cody’s voice is definitely better. It was sold out again tonight. Bill thought some people might not attend because of the snow but everyone showed up. The autograph line was less than an hour though because people were worried about the roads and left right after the show. There’s at least 2 inches on the ground now and still snowing. When we land in DC tomorrow, it will be 70 degrees. Sure hope it’s that warm in Nashville all next week!!!
It’s a little after midnight here and I need to get up at 5:30, so going to bed very soon.
Jude
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST – GERMANY TO NASHVILLE:
Why do I usually get to spend my “holidays” traveling overseas?
Woke up at exactly 5:45 am and alarm went off a few seconds later. Good internal clock today! Showered and tried to check email but internet was out. ent to the front desk and asked them to re-set the system but the young girls at the front desk had no clue what I meant. I left them with instructions to call “someone” who did. By the time I finished dressing, internet was back up. Took my luggage down and ate a quick breakfast. We left 7 minutes early for the drive to the airport. It was a new bus and driver that Bill was trying out. When the driver couldn’t get the bays open for the luggage and we got on the bus to blasting, freezing air conditioning, Bill just looked at me and said, “Want me to come with you to the airport?”. Think you know my answer to that! What should have been less than a 1 hour drive turned into almost 2 hours. Traffic was horrible — I guess because of the snow and rush hour traffic. I was really worried about making the flight. I got checked in quickly because I am “Global” but it took forever for the guys to check in and pay the excess. I left them and went to the gate since there was nothing I could do to speed up their check in process. Figured I could at least beg the flight crew not to leave them if I was on the plane — which is exactly what I did. The production techs were the last ones on board but thankfully everyone made it. It was a pretty full flight. It was one of the older planes and I had an empty seat next to me. Just as they started serving the meal, one of the flight attendants asked if I was “Judy”. Seems one of my guys in coach had sent his laptop up for me to charge since there were no outlets in their seats. What he didn’t realize is you need a special adapter to plug in even in business or first, so I couldn’t help him. I put his laptop in the empty seat next to me and figured he would eventually come for it. After the meal, the flight attendant said I would have to store it because if there was turbulence, it could injure someone. I took it back to coach but he was asleep, so I just stuck it in his overhead. Watched a movie with Bruce Willis titled “Red”. Had a ton of big name stars in it. Funny movie and fairly predictable. Slept for a couple of hours and then read. There was no turbulence the entire flight until about 1 hour before and during landing. But the info on weather.com was wrong last night. It was not 70 degrees in DC. Temperature had dropped and it was raining and cold. Had to retrieve my coat from the suitcase I had stuck it in when leaving Germany. We landed DC on time and all the bags made it. Had time to make a couple of phone calls and download email. I usually sit in the Exit Row and when the flight attendant asked if we were willing to assist with an emergency, the 2 ladies in the exit row across from me just stared blankly at her. She asked 3 times and one finally said she didn’t understand. The other just kept staring. The flight attendant told them they would have to move them and the one who had answered her was fine with that. The one who was staring at her became “hostile” and finally spoke with an accent I didn’t recognize. She refused to move and it got pretty tense for several minutes. She finally said she was asleep when asked the question and that she was willing to help. Hmmmm, asleep with both eyes open? I think not. I was very surprised that the flight attendant allowed her to stay in the exit row. The passenger quite obviously had no idea what to do if required! I decided to keep an eye on her during the flight! 🙂 Terrible turbulence getting out of DC and just as bad landing in Nashville. But, we made it home and so did all our bags! Great trip, Great Shows, Great Group of Guys!
Jude