……twenty six to go.
I was going to post last night but I was just too exhausted. This of course was a good thing as it meant that the jet lag wasn’t too bad. Normally I would be up until 3-4am wondering what to do with myself. As it was I was in bed and asleep by 1am.
The flight over from LA was relatively uneventful, (much like the Man.U.-Villareal game, although a 0-0 result meant that United are through to the next round so I’m not complaining). I ate, I watched the latest Indiana Jones movie, I read, I slept. I was met at Frankfurt airport by Dirk the German promoter and 30 degree weather and we drove the 100 miles to Cologne. One of the interesting side effects of living in LA is that I find cold weather somewhat of a novelty and therefore refreshing, the same way as Diva and WIlder like to play in the rain I like to see my breath in the air.
We arrived at the hotel in Cologne around noon and I quickly unpacked so that I could go for a walk to familiarize myself with my surroundings. I’ve found over the years that one way to get rid of that feeling of isolation on tour is to look around the city. Once I know the local area I don’t feel so cut off.
I decided to walk towards the cathedral as it’s an easy landmark to pinpoint and found myself in the middle of a wonderful outdoor Christmas market (they start as early here as they do in the US). There were stalls selling Christmas trinkets, trees, local freshly made breads and candy. The smell of large pots of boiling Gluwein and sausages topped off the experience. I stopped at a crepe stall and watched a young lady in period costume make me a banana and marzipan crepe (you have to try it). Warm food in hand I went for a stroll along the river, I was starting to feel comfortable. After an hour or so I did what any self-respecting American would do and stopped in Starbucks for a latte before walking the streets of the old town back to my hotel. I’m going to add a new photo set to upload iPhone shots from my trip, so check over there for images.
I had a little power nap at the hotel before video conferencing with the family prior to the kids heading off to school in LA. The lack of sleep on the plane was starting to catch up with me, but I knew sleeping in the afternoon would be a bad idea so I changed and headed to the gym for a run to wake myself up. It’s hard work running when you’re exhausted but I manage 30 minutes which served it’s purpose of keeping me awake and alert for dinner at 7pm.
I met up with Roland, Caroline, Dirk and others from the NOTP tour in the lobby and we walked over the road for dinner at an Italian restaurant (as you do in Germany). I was put out by the lack of limousine service but I’ll deal with it. Dinner was delicious but I felt a little out of sorts due to the jet lag and found it hard to be my normal extrovert charming self (yeah right!). It was nearly 11pm by the time we finished and I was certainly ready for sleep. I tried writing this blog last night but my eyes and brain were just too tired. Unfortunately one of the effects of jet lag is that your body doesn’t necessarily agree with your mind and it was 1am before I finally went to sleep, but for the first night after a 9 hour time change I will chalk it down as a victory.
More soon.
EZEZ
Papa S.
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