What a long strange trip it has been indeed…
Well my deepest apologies for slacking on the blogging toward the last half of the tour. So I got a little lazy, what with all the driving, singing, playing, getting lost, crossing borders, getting lost, taking ferries, rocking the socks off the Europeans and getting lost, I didn't have too much free time.
First of all I would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible, first and foremost the most badass booking agent in the world, Mr Kevin Kennedy and my dear pal the lovely and talented Ms Melanie Dekker for introducing Kevin and I.
And to all the wonderful new friends in Europe, Sancho you rule!!!
Ok enough ass-kissing, let's reflect a little…but first a few stats
34 days
23 shows
4 countries
3400 miles (and quit yer bitchin gas is about $8.50 a gallon over there, you do the math)
216 salami and cheese sandwiches
thousands of new fans
27 sets of guitar strings
2 pieces of lettuce (thank you Pia!!)
only one car accident
and the experience of a lifetime

So after about the midway point of the trip I really started to get in the groove of the whole thing. German signs started making sense, and I actually figured out how to operate the funky windows they have over there. Speaking of the funky windows, during the trip I compiled a list of some of the simple, yet genius things that are commonplace in Europe that somehow we have overlooked here in the states, including, but not limited to the following:
-Light switches outside the room…think about it…probably very few stubbed toes while fumbling around in the dark for the light switch
-toilets have no water in them, the tank empties when you flush and then refills for alter use. This uses half the amount of water as our toilets which use two tanks of water every time you flush
-massive recycling charge…recycling in Europe is not an option, it's survival
-lots of wind power
-semi-trucks and equipment trailers have canvas sides instead of metal, drastically reducing the weight and therefore fuel usage
-showers all have adjust heights…very nice for us tall people
-small refrigerators use less electricity and items are purchased when needed, not when Costco has a sale on pallets of Cheerios
-oh yeah, and the funky windows, turn the handle one way to open the top portion for air circulation, turn halfway to close completely and lock, or turn the other way to open as a door…freakin' genius!!
All in all, a very minimalistic, environmentally friendly way of living…let's take some notes America!

Ok, I'll get off my environmental soap box now
So there were oh so many moments of frustration, joy, enlightenment, and learning, but one day in particular stands out.
I had the day off and Kevin had me spending it on a really cool town on the Rheine river called Rudesheim. After the gps lead me horribly astray and I had to backtrack 3 hours, almost ran out of gas, had to take a ferry across the river which was weird because it was only about 400 yards across and I had no cash to pay the boat attendant so I had to barter with the ferry attendant who spoke no English and wound up giving him a few cds and an apple in exchange for the ride the whole time him motioning like he was going to push my car into the river if I didn't pay him, got to the town, tried to find my hotel, got horribly lost again, going the wrong way down every tiny little one-way cobblestone street in town until I finally decided to just park and get out and walk around to find it, pulled into the parking lot, admittedly a little too quickly, lost traction on the wet cobblestone hill, went careening into a ditch, got stuck with my front right tire 2 feet down in a gutter, and my left rear 2 feet up in the air in the middle of a market full of people. At this point I was about at full meltdown. That is until 3 cigar-wielding gentlemen, who's combined age was roughly 210, walked up to the car without saying a work, motioned for me to get behind the wheel and lifted the car out of the ditch as I backed up. They smiled waved and walked away. The whole ordeal lasted about 3 minutes. I finally found my hotel, they had no record of my reservation so they sent me to another hotel where the receptionist basically pushed me out the door motioning something akin to swerving a steering wheel and laughing at me with the patrons at the bar (man word spreads fast in small towns) until finally finding a hotel that would take me. Exhausted I went down to the street to get some food and went to a kabob joint where I ordered one 6 kabob meal…I got 6 1's and it cost me about $50 bucks but I figured better to pay for it then to cause any more trouble that day. The day did end well when I caught an old re-run of family ties dubbed in German back in my room. Ahhhhh the road! Never a dull moment.

So I could keep rambling on and on about the trip until my fingers bled, but I know you all have to get back to work, or internet porn or whatever so I'll wrap it up. More of the trip will be told in the comments that go along with the pics, which are awesome by the way, that I hope to have up by Monday.

Oh yeah one more thing, I kept a list of the greatest/most random sets of songs I heard on the radio and this was the winner of the contest, thought you might enjoy:
Winning radio station: NORA FM Hamburg Germany
Winning block of songs (in order)
Kid Rock – All Summer Long (I seriously heard this song prob 300 times)
Europe – The Final Countdown
Donna Summer – It's Raining Men
Katy Perry – I kissed a girl
Madonna – True Blue
Nickleback – Rockstar
Brit Spears – Oops I did it again
Asia – I left The Rains down in Africa (which by the way has the most obscure metaphor in rock history " sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a leprus above the Serengetti…" really guys? How the hell did that ever get past the record company)

So That's German radio for ya…sweet huh? Funny thing is it still kicks the crap out of Clear Channel

Just one more thank you to all the wonderful people along the road and those that supported me from the home front. I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Stay tuned for upcoming shows in Nashville, Chicago, Portland, Idaho, and hopefully Seattle!

Vrba signing out