43 hours (or the longest day)
last day in hamburg
up at 9am
G and J still passed out
so cute
hotel pacific
nausea inducing yellow room
shower in hall
avoid carpet with bare feet
rouse them at 10
drag 2 heavy bags
guitar
backpack
down stairs
checkout
58 euros
head to tapete offices
for meeting with basti
11am
go over numbers for the tour
11:45 head to new hotel
drop J and G off there
(J has to drag all the bags up 5 flights of stairs!)
'caue i have to immediately race back to tapete to get melanie
for trip to radio station in bremen
12:30
empty stomach
fever
head for bremen
autobahn is packed
sun is shining in my eyes
1:50 get to station
eat one piece of lettuce
slice of tomato
meet a really nice man
martin
the radio host
we talk about music i love
my life
my records
my name
my family
play "the world is full"
"1978"
beatles
kinks
clash
comsat angles
the sound
lilac time
his voice is kind and soft
the hectic world outside dissolves
at 4:30 we're done
say goodbye
melanie and i rush to car
speed out of bremen
get stuck on the autobahn
gotta be at soundcheck by 7pm
should've only taken an hour and change to get back to hamburg
pick J and G up almost 7
weave through city traffic
make knust around 7:30
unload
say hello
sign in
go upstairs and get our badges and info for the festival
go downstairs and outside to palle for some food
FINALLY!
15 minutes later
my soundcheck
lovely venue
reminds me of the bowery ballroom in NYC
8:15 i start my set
G runs in circles in front of me during one song
people smile
finish with "never say never"
around 8:45
go backstage
feeling gREAT
adrenalin rush
5 minutes later
the crash
i gotta sit down
head's in a fish bowl
don't feel good at all
downpilot has started
i've no energy to watch
walk Jand G out to the cab
feel really paranoid letting this stranger take them away
scrawl license number on cardboard
like that matters!
walk back to knust
find basti
downpilot still playing
sounds good
but we gotta go return the rental car
and collect everyone's money for playing the festival
we leave around 9:45
i park illegally
as basti "runs in" to get paid
cops drive by
don't stop
i fiddle with the toddler seat
and go over excuses
as to why i don't have my passport
and my friend (who's coming back soon) does
40 minutes later
i see basti!
he's got coffee for me
so nice
it feels good on my tortured throat
we find a gas station
fill her up
$80
it stings a bit
race to avis
i almost kill us and wreck the car one kilometer away
one last adrenalin rush
we drop the car off
jump in a cab
head back to knust
arrive around 11:45
maplewood is playing
it's 1968 california
12 string guitars
harmonies
room is really smoking
my throat is screaming fro relief
i grab a 2 liter orange juice from backstage
go sit down near the merch table
have a lovely conversation with jeff from downpilot
spend the next 2 hours saying hello
and goodbye
my new dear friends
gunther basti dirk
sad to get in the cab
at hotel inner city
jayme is waiting
G is sprawled across bed sleeping
she hasn't slept a wink
but has packed up everything for us
our cab to the airport comes at 4am
i de-tune my guitar
wrap leftover bunny shirts around it
duct tape the outside
take a shower in the smallest bathroom known to modern man
drag the suitcases down the 5 flights
let the maplewood guys in at 3:40am from being locked out
flag a cab at 4
head to airport
G is bed headed and telling stories of cocoons and spiders
airport is jam packed at 4:30
line out the door
we wait until 5:10 for something to happen
rude old folks cutting in line right and left
ponce french man in suit with floods cuts right in front
german guy says something
he pontificates in french shakes his head and stays there
6:35 flight to frankfurt departs
7:45 land in frankfurt
deliriously make our way to bus shuttle
that takes us to terminal 1
we stagger through several security checks
they even frisk G
a sight to behold even for weary eyes
9am finally on plane
leave for dallas
spend next 10 hours
drifting in and out
G eats chocolate
watches videos on the laptop
we listen to the IPOD
eat a couple of good (for airlines) meals
i listen to the guy next to me recite the same prayer
from the koran
about 1000 times
i think he must be afraid of flying
or terrorists
we finally land
i can barely stand
it takes us an hour to go through customs
fill out the form
collect our bags
we finally exit to find jayme's parents
(aka: grandma and grandpa)
get to our house around 3pm (10pm german time)
it looks strange
like we've been gone forever
is this place my home?
our washing machine is leaking
2 trips to the hardware store with neal
fixed (by him) at 5
unpack
unpack
put away things
go to kroger to get G some dinner
go to teppo for some louisiana rolls
feeling really weird now
can barely stay awake
give G a bath
it's only 8
how am i gonna make it until 10:30?
somehow i do
the longest day is finally over
woke up in one world
about to finally sleep in another
safe and sound
in our own comfy beds
dallas texas
passed out
up at 9am
G and J still passed out
so cute
hotel pacific
nausea inducing yellow room
shower in hall
avoid carpet with bare feet
rouse them at 10
drag 2 heavy bags
guitar
backpack
down stairs
checkout
58 euros
head to tapete offices
for meeting with basti
11am
go over numbers for the tour
11:45 head to new hotel
drop J and G off there
(J has to drag all the bags up 5 flights of stairs!)
'caue i have to immediately race back to tapete to get melanie
for trip to radio station in bremen
12:30
empty stomach
fever
head for bremen
autobahn is packed
sun is shining in my eyes
1:50 get to station
eat one piece of lettuce
slice of tomato
meet a really nice man
martin
the radio host
we talk about music i love
my life
my records
my name
my family
play "the world is full"
"1978"
beatles
kinks
clash
comsat angles
the sound
lilac time
his voice is kind and soft
the hectic world outside dissolves
at 4:30 we're done
say goodbye
melanie and i rush to car
speed out of bremen
get stuck on the autobahn
gotta be at soundcheck by 7pm
should've only taken an hour and change to get back to hamburg
pick J and G up almost 7
weave through city traffic
make knust around 7:30
unload
say hello
sign in
go upstairs and get our badges and info for the festival
go downstairs and outside to palle for some food
FINALLY!
15 minutes later
my soundcheck
lovely venue
reminds me of the bowery ballroom in NYC
8:15 i start my set
G runs in circles in front of me during one song
people smile
finish with "never say never"
around 8:45
go backstage
feeling gREAT
adrenalin rush
5 minutes later
the crash
i gotta sit down
head's in a fish bowl
don't feel good at all
downpilot has started
i've no energy to watch
walk Jand G out to the cab
feel really paranoid letting this stranger take them away
scrawl license number on cardboard
like that matters!
walk back to knust
find basti
downpilot still playing
sounds good
but we gotta go return the rental car
and collect everyone's money for playing the festival
we leave around 9:45
i park illegally
as basti "runs in" to get paid
cops drive by
don't stop
i fiddle with the toddler seat
and go over excuses
as to why i don't have my passport
and my friend (who's coming back soon) does
40 minutes later
i see basti!
he's got coffee for me
so nice
it feels good on my tortured throat
we find a gas station
fill her up
$80
it stings a bit
race to avis
i almost kill us and wreck the car one kilometer away
one last adrenalin rush
we drop the car off
jump in a cab
head back to knust
arrive around 11:45
maplewood is playing
it's 1968 california
12 string guitars
harmonies
room is really smoking
my throat is screaming fro relief
i grab a 2 liter orange juice from backstage
go sit down near the merch table
have a lovely conversation with jeff from downpilot
spend the next 2 hours saying hello
and goodbye
my new dear friends
gunther basti dirk
sad to get in the cab
at hotel inner city
jayme is waiting
G is sprawled across bed sleeping
she hasn't slept a wink
but has packed up everything for us
our cab to the airport comes at 4am
i de-tune my guitar
wrap leftover bunny shirts around it
duct tape the outside
take a shower in the smallest bathroom known to modern man
drag the suitcases down the 5 flights
let the maplewood guys in at 3:40am from being locked out
flag a cab at 4
head to airport
G is bed headed and telling stories of cocoons and spiders
airport is jam packed at 4:30
line out the door
we wait until 5:10 for something to happen
rude old folks cutting in line right and left
ponce french man in suit with floods cuts right in front
german guy says something
he pontificates in french shakes his head and stays there
6:35 flight to frankfurt departs
7:45 land in frankfurt
deliriously make our way to bus shuttle
that takes us to terminal 1
we stagger through several security checks
they even frisk G
a sight to behold even for weary eyes
9am finally on plane
leave for dallas
spend next 10 hours
drifting in and out
G eats chocolate
watches videos on the laptop
we listen to the IPOD
eat a couple of good (for airlines) meals
i listen to the guy next to me recite the same prayer
from the koran
about 1000 times
i think he must be afraid of flying
or terrorists
we finally land
i can barely stand
it takes us an hour to go through customs
fill out the form
collect our bags
we finally exit to find jayme's parents
(aka: grandma and grandpa)
get to our house around 3pm (10pm german time)
it looks strange
like we've been gone forever
is this place my home?
our washing machine is leaking
2 trips to the hardware store with neal
fixed (by him) at 5
unpack
unpack
put away things
go to kroger to get G some dinner
go to teppo for some louisiana rolls
feeling really weird now
can barely stay awake
give G a bath
it's only 8
how am i gonna make it until 10:30?
somehow i do
the longest day is finally over
woke up in one world
about to finally sleep in another
safe and sound
in our own comfy beds
dallas texas
passed out
posted by salim nourallah at 3:29 AM
2 Comments:
As I finished this blog about your return, something unexpected happened; all this emotion slowly crept upwards and tears streamed out of my eyes. I don't know why. There are no thoughts or reasons behind the feeling. It just is. * I can only think that, as I have gone to England many times for the sake of my music, and experienced the most amazing things of my life, you've been to the UberDisneyverse that is Europe, which I have never seen. Through just the (well) written word, I have somehow felt the experience of everything you've described along the way. And as it ends for you, it ends for me. Thank you Salim, Jayme, and Gavin "Poopy Diaper" Nourallah, for allowing us all to tag along. Even though I wasn't there, I will never forget all the great and strange things we did together. Wuv, Bucks.
mmmmm....Teppo. I miss Teppo.
I enjoyed reading this and your other European Vacation posts. Sounds like a year's worth o' memories crammed into a week or so. Maybe next one we can tag along and share a bratwurst in some wee Deutcheland pub. And not that arranged marriages are in vogue these days (maybe in 30 years?)...but Aubrey's dowery will include part of my dad's record collection. So keep that in mind as you groom little G. Welcome back.
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