France

So, heading straight on from Switzerland into France, we arrived in the small town of Guebwiller.

 Immediately we all sensed the "small town" vibe of what we were getting into. It was as if the whole world was closing in around us. Not that it was that different from the ancient, winding cobblestone streets of Schaffhausen, but it just felt quieter, more local and not touristy in the slightest. 

On the recommendation of our host at the following night's gig at the Hotel de L'ange, the Italian transplant Franco, we drove straight into the countryside to a hotel a bit outside of town. We were all tired from the day's drive, so after the usual van luggage unloading routine, it was straight upstairs and into bed. It was dark and late and difficult to register too much in the old observation banks regarding our environment, but we couldn't help but be critically aware of the insanely cool space-age decor within the hotel. It was as if we were suddenly transplanted to some uber-hip Palm Springs hot spot! I mean, I'm talking orange molded plastic chairs and nebulous shaped tables!

This alone made the hotel a great location, but upon waking the following morning and seeing the grounds in the sunlight, minds were further blown! 

Turns out the place was situated on it's own lake, complete with ducks and swans, and right on the banks of a soothingly flowing river. Again, it was like something out of a postcard.

The day turned out to be quite a leisurely one, filled with wandering the tiny little streets of Guebwiller, finally doing some laundry and getting situated at the next hotel for the gig.

 We did stop at a cool little local music store and found ourselves involved in a spontaneous jam session on "Apache" with some local kids and were also treated to Lorenzo sharing his softer side, as he serenaded us with a calming rendition of The Commodores' "Easy." 

Later we also patronized a particular little cafe on the main pedestrian drag that served the most incredible home made pastries and seemed to specialize in these crazy elaborate marzipan creations!

The gig itself turned out to be the first of several of what we have lovingly referred to as "Spinal Tap" gigs on the tour. The hotel was very nice--clean, well lit, perfectly laid out with a number of amenities. 

However, we slowly began to notice that more and more of the guests appeared to have white, if not blue-ish hair and be somewhat advanced in age, so to speak. It became even more apparent as soon as we stepped into the stage area to play the gig. We all got plugged in, tuned up and turned around to find two adjoining dining rooms filled with elderly folks enjoying their nice, quiet dinners staring at us like deer in headlights! 

And that's not all...at sound check we had been advised to keep the volume at a "reasonable" level. In this case, basically meaning as quiet as humanly possible. Now, we're not fussy, particular or demanding in any way, shape or form, but playing this quiet was definitely a challenge and took some getting used to. I have to say, though, that when all was said and done, playing that quiet forced us all to concentrate on the playing, the dynamics and our interaction with one another that much more, like being under the microscope. There was no high volume to cover or hide mistakes. It ended up being a really fun show, we felt like we all improved as a band from the experience, and best of all, just had to walk up one flight of stairs to bed! Actually, the highlight of the entire night came next, when our cute bar staff brought us a gigantic platter of cheese as a late-night after-show snack! The 3 cheese heads Dave, Lorenzo and I were extremely happy!

Full of cheese, it was off to bed with sights set on Belgium the next day!

Switzerland

See ya Holland, onward and upward to Germany! I can't believe how far behind I've gotten! With all that's going on every day and night, it really is dificult to post with any kind of regularity. We end up back at the hotel at 4 or later and are just too wiped out to do anything but sleep. Blog veterans have suggested writing while driving and uploading when wi-fi is available, but unfortunately for me this isn't an option, as I become car sick very easily if I do anything other than look out the window. Especially with Lorenzo's driving!!!

We're now on German soil after an incredible string of adventures through Switzerland, France, Belgium and The Netherlands! The whole gang is in extremely good spirits--we've had the Shadows cranked on the van stereo, Dave and Bernard have been discussing all variety of geeky topics and I'm reminiscing about the journey thus far. Let's see, where'd we leave off? Ah yes, Fat Joe's hot sauce and steak debacle!!! Haha!

Well, after departing Keiko's hotel, where young hooligans kept us awake drinking and making noise in the hallways until all hours, it was off for the morning coffee ritual and then to find the closest music store to replace some tubes that were acting up in our Bassman. Thankfully we're armed with 2 ipads, iphones and 2 Macbooks, so any kind of information is always right at our fingertips. After a quick search, we made a pit stop at a music store in the middle of nowhere in Northern Italy that actually had quite a nice selection of guitars. 

It was here that I learned two things..one, that Lorenzo has an obsession with music stores and must always stop if given the opportunity, and two, that no matter where you are in the world, some kid in a Megadeth T-Shirt is always playing Metallica in a guitar store! It really is a small world sometimes.

Tubes acquired, it was time to make the trek out of Italy and up into Switzerland! The drive was quite dramatic as we ascended into the mountains. Tiny little ruined castles seemed to be perched on every hilltop with the greenest brush between them. The road became more and more winding and narrow, until the most spectacular view of Lake Como suddenly appeared out the window to the right. Definitely a location I'd like to come back and explore more in the future. The scenery's impact didn't get any less dramatic, however, as we proceeded on and into Switzerland! Unreal sights of waterfalls, streams, green mountains and old farmhouses lined each side of the highway like some kind of surreal out of body classic European scenery slideshow! 

After oohing and aahing for sometime, it was time for something completely different--the dreaded and notorious third-longest tunnel in the world (16+km), The Gotthard Tunnel!

Now, I'm not claustrophobic, but your mind does begin to go to very strange places when inside a tunnel for this long. When the half way point is reached, you can't help but think "what if something crazy happened out there while we were in here?" Very strange indeed.

Emerging at the other end felt like coming up for air and immediately, the scenery opened up again with spectacular lake and waterway views.

After a short drive further we ended up at our destination, the small town of Schaffhausen, which seemed to wind around in circles with Medieval looking buildings on all sides and a grand central castle looming in the distance on the tallest hill. The gig was at a really cool club called Dolder2, which as a joke, was apparently named after one of Switzerland's swankiest resorts. The place was anything from swanky, rather, it was warm, down to Earth and comfortable, with almost a Swiss hunting or skiing lodge vibe.

The proprietor Tom was another gracious and kind host and went out of his way to make us all feel at home. Also, the guys from Tony Dynamite and the Shootin' Beavers were not only extremely cool guys to hang out with, but put on a damn fine show, especially with their unique song mash ups and unusual trumpet use. 

We had a chance to hear and enjoy them at The Surfer Joe Festival, but they really knocked it out of the park at the Dolder2! We had an absolute blast playing with them and the crowd seemed to really enjoy the entire night!

Afterwards, the only solution was to grab a late-night Doner Kebab in the center of town, as guided by our intrepid local guide and new friend Markus, the Tony Dynamite drummer. 

Retiring to our accommodation was especially interesting on this night, as we had one big room filled with old rickety bunk beds! It was like being back at Summer camp or having a sleepover all over again!

The next day was kind of lazy, as everyone had a bit of housekeeping/responsibilities to catch up with, most notably Lorenzo finalizing the artwork for his new album. So, we took our time, finished what we needed to do and wandered around the little town. Of course, this led to some wonderful food discoveries including the most delicious local specialties of pretzel sandwiches and grilled bratwurst! 

And I couldn't help but be completely mesmerized by the incredible baked goods and gourmet chocolate around every turn!

  

OK, we couldn't possibly be that close to the largest waterfalls in all of Europe without checking them out, right? Just down the road were the legendary Rhinefalls, so we proceeded to have a look on our way out of town. 

Mainly because we could, we next had a quick pit stop to look around Zurich, but were put off a bit by it's shi-shi-la-la nature, extreme expense, and focus on high end shopping. There were some nice views of the lake and sunset, however.

We decided to push on through, continue driving and just make it to our destination for the next night's show in Guebwiller, which is in the Alsace region of France, just near the German border. Next catch up post...France!