day 10 - Heidelburg and Cafe NUN
at least the City Hotel, Giessen, had a comfy bed
I woke up well rested to the sound of jackhammers
drilling on the street outside
Jayme had been kept awake most of the night by the sounds
of a Russian businessman snoring next door
yes
it was that loud
or
the walls were that thin
i hauled one load of luggage to the car while she went upstairs
to try and get close enough to the wireless connection
down the cobbled streets i went
ka-chud ka-chud ka-chud
Gavin happily following and singing
“Dada is a poo head, poo – Dada is a poo head”
on the windshield was some sort of parking ticket
or warning
I guessed warning because of this word verwarnungsgeidstelle
maybe i should use the google translator to find out?
after we finally loaded up the car
and tried to get the proper parking pass (which I don’t think we ever did)
from a machine on the corner that kept spitting back our change
we walked to a bakery and had a proper German breakfast
gigantic crème and fruit filled pastries
then we had a proper German post breakfast walk
we bought G a leggo car in a toy shop
and had a nice walk through the Giessen town center
then Jayme said “Why don’t we go to Heidelburg? It’s on the way to Karlsruhe…”
I liked that idea since Heidelburg is one of the prettiest towns I’ve ever been to
we’d already been there twice
so we kinda knew our way around
it was only an hour and a half drive from Giessen
and by 1 we were sitting in a restaurant there having tartes for lunch
(they were excellent by the way - kind of pizza like with a thin crust and cream instead of tomato sauce)
we spent the next 4 hours walking Heidelburg
we completed a 3 time Nourallah family tradition established in Heidelburg in 2006
with the purchasing of the giant chocolate balls
we walked the entire town center
walked alongside the river
over the big fancy bridge
took a picture with the famous bridge monkey
ate ice cream
climbed the tower of a church
two nice elderly people even randomly gave Gavin gifts
(was it because he was adorable or because he was sporting an Obama t-shirt?)
you be the judge…
we got to Karlsruhe around 5:30
it’s only a half hour from Heidelburg
which was easy
from the second we set foot in Café NUN I realized how much I love this place
my first trip here in September of ‘07
was really the best gig of the entire tour
the owner Mark and I became friends that night
and the entire NUN crew was awesome
it felt like I had just been here
like I just stood on this very stage soundchecking while a 4 year old Gavin played behind me
now we were here again
almost as if we’d never left
the sun streaming in the big windows from the West
the cool red and gold mural on the back wall
as we talked over dinner
I wanted it all to go slower
but the entire evening raced by
Mark took us to his house – where we’re staying
an ex-convent that was built in the ‘70s
it looks more like a hip apartment complex than anything else
we met his two boys Noah and Meyo and then had to go back to the NUN
I wrote up both of my set lists and then stood around and talked for a bit out front
of the club
the cool evening air felt great
I started at 9 with “so down”
the sound on stage was perfect
the lighting too
a nice crowd of smiling faces who I could all see clearly
sat to both sides of me
I played 12 songs and then took a fifteen minute break
"saint georges" felt particularly good
throughout both sets there was dead silence
and I felt like the connection I hope for at each show
that only sometimes occurs – happened in spades tonight
they were all with me every bit of the way
from the saddest songs to clapping along on “she’d walk a mile”
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=81090479175#/video/video.php?v=79771409175
I played “bus stop” and “whole wide world” for the first encore
and then
by special request
“it’s not enough”
I didn’t think I’d remember the words but I got most of them right
I also realized I should be playing this song
from here on out – it’s in
so now it’s 2am
and this amazing day
(and night) are over now
this shattered whatever silly questioning wall I’d hit yesterday
the past 24 hours alone (not to mention Hamburg/Potsdam and Berlin)
made this entire trip more than worthwhile
and Rastatte, the South of France with Wreckless Eric and Paris are still to come!
these are wonderful experiences and memories that J, G and I will have
the rest of our lives
I just wish it would all go a little bit slower
I woke up well rested to the sound of jackhammers
drilling on the street outside
Jayme had been kept awake most of the night by the sounds
of a Russian businessman snoring next door
yes
it was that loud
or
the walls were that thin
i hauled one load of luggage to the car while she went upstairs
to try and get close enough to the wireless connection
down the cobbled streets i went
ka-chud ka-chud ka-chud
Gavin happily following and singing
“Dada is a poo head, poo – Dada is a poo head”
on the windshield was some sort of parking ticket
or warning
I guessed warning because of this word verwarnungsgeidstelle
maybe i should use the google translator to find out?
after we finally loaded up the car
and tried to get the proper parking pass (which I don’t think we ever did)
from a machine on the corner that kept spitting back our change
we walked to a bakery and had a proper German breakfast
gigantic crème and fruit filled pastries
then we had a proper German post breakfast walk
we bought G a leggo car in a toy shop
and had a nice walk through the Giessen town center
then Jayme said “Why don’t we go to Heidelburg? It’s on the way to Karlsruhe…”
I liked that idea since Heidelburg is one of the prettiest towns I’ve ever been to
we’d already been there twice
so we kinda knew our way around
it was only an hour and a half drive from Giessen
and by 1 we were sitting in a restaurant there having tartes for lunch
(they were excellent by the way - kind of pizza like with a thin crust and cream instead of tomato sauce)
we spent the next 4 hours walking Heidelburg
we completed a 3 time Nourallah family tradition established in Heidelburg in 2006
with the purchasing of the giant chocolate balls
we walked the entire town center
walked alongside the river
over the big fancy bridge
took a picture with the famous bridge monkey
ate ice cream
climbed the tower of a church
two nice elderly people even randomly gave Gavin gifts
(was it because he was adorable or because he was sporting an Obama t-shirt?)
you be the judge…
we got to Karlsruhe around 5:30
it’s only a half hour from Heidelburg
which was easy
from the second we set foot in Café NUN I realized how much I love this place
my first trip here in September of ‘07
was really the best gig of the entire tour
the owner Mark and I became friends that night
and the entire NUN crew was awesome
it felt like I had just been here
like I just stood on this very stage soundchecking while a 4 year old Gavin played behind me
now we were here again
almost as if we’d never left
the sun streaming in the big windows from the West
the cool red and gold mural on the back wall
as we talked over dinner
I wanted it all to go slower
but the entire evening raced by
Mark took us to his house – where we’re staying
an ex-convent that was built in the ‘70s
it looks more like a hip apartment complex than anything else
we met his two boys Noah and Meyo and then had to go back to the NUN
I wrote up both of my set lists and then stood around and talked for a bit out front
of the club
the cool evening air felt great
I started at 9 with “so down”
the sound on stage was perfect
the lighting too
a nice crowd of smiling faces who I could all see clearly
sat to both sides of me
I played 12 songs and then took a fifteen minute break
"saint georges" felt particularly good
throughout both sets there was dead silence
and I felt like the connection I hope for at each show
that only sometimes occurs – happened in spades tonight
they were all with me every bit of the way
from the saddest songs to clapping along on “she’d walk a mile”
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=81090479175#/video/video.php?v=79771409175
I played “bus stop” and “whole wide world” for the first encore
and then
by special request
“it’s not enough”
I didn’t think I’d remember the words but I got most of them right
I also realized I should be playing this song
from here on out – it’s in
so now it’s 2am
and this amazing day
(and night) are over now
this shattered whatever silly questioning wall I’d hit yesterday
the past 24 hours alone (not to mention Hamburg/Potsdam and Berlin)
made this entire trip more than worthwhile
and Rastatte, the South of France with Wreckless Eric and Paris are still to come!
these are wonderful experiences and memories that J, G and I will have
the rest of our lives
I just wish it would all go a little bit slower
posted by salim nourallah at 2:32 AM
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