Hey guys, since the last time I’ve talked to you I have played a show in Lichtenstein and Grant and I have made our way to Germany.

Last Friday, November 29, Grant and I set out in the morning with our hosts (and also owners of the bar I’d be playing that night) Svetlana and Alban for a great lunch at a restaurant in a castle on the Austrian side of the Liechtenstein border before setting out on our own to do a driving tour of the entire nation of Lichtenstein, which only took about 2 hours. Unfortunately, we didn’t have very clear weather for our tour, but were still able to get a good idea of the landscape and what the tiny kingdom has to offer.

Here are a few of the shots we got while driving the entire circumference of Lichtenstein in the rain and fog:

On Friday evening before the show, we reconvened with Svetlana and Alban for a trip into the capital city of Lichtenstein – Vaduz – to eat traditional Swiss fondue. It was only the second time I’d ever eaten fondue, and I have to say it was pretty good!

After dinner, we went straight back to the bar and I started in on my 3 hour show. Svetlana had promoted the show quite a bit, but unfortunately we only had about 20-30 people show up. They blamed the poor weather and the fact that they were many employer-sponsored Christmas parties going on that evening. The people that were there really seemed to enjoy it, however, and Svetlana and Alban told me that they would really like me to come back to Lichtenstein for another show someday soon when the conditions would be better. So I guess I did the best that I could do under the circumstances, but it would have been great to have a few more people out for my last show in Europe.

On Saturday morning, we met back up with Svetlana and Alban for one last coffee before getting on the road for Germany. We developed a very quick friendship with them and it was tough to say goodbye, but I promised them that I would definitely come back to Liechtenstein someday for another show (it’s only 4 hours from Anna Maria’s hometown in Germany) and I intend to keep that promise someday soon!

The weather was much better on Saturday and we got to see some great scenery on our way to Nuremberg, which was our destination for Saturday evening.

We arrived to Nuremberg in the early evening and even though we were both worn out from being up late Friday night and the 3 1/12 drive on Saturday, we decided to go check out the Nuremberg Christmas market since it is one of the largest in Europe. We stayed long enough to have a Nuremberger sausage and a gluhwein before the crowds persuaded us to go check into our room and get some rest.

On Sunday morning, I took Grant around to all of the Nazi party sites that I knew of in Nuremberg, as he is just as interested in WW2 history as I am. Nuremberg was the site of many National Socialist rallies in the years leading up to WW2 and was a bastion of strength for the party. We went to the Kongresshalle, which is a giant building that was to be used to house future party rallies and that ultimately went unfinished due to the outbreak of the war. Afterwards, we went to the Zeppelinfeld, which is the place where the actual rallies were held and Hitler addressed the masses.

After spending the morning touring in Nuremberg, we headed to Bamberg. Bamberg is Anna Maria’s hometown and a place I’ve spent a lot of time in my life. Additionally, it is considered to be the beer capital of Germany due to the 8 breweries that exist for a town of 80,000 people. Grant was very keen to do the brewery tour of Bamberg, but unfortunately since we were in town on a Sunday and Monday we ultimately only could get to 6 of the 8 breweries due to some being closed on those days of the week.

We ran out of gas and time on Sunday night for any more breweries, so we called it a night after number 5. On Monday, we went back to Schlenkerla to have lunch and afterwards went to our sixth and final brewery to split a beer before getting on the road for our next destination – Frankfurt.

Before arriving in Frankfurt, Grant and I made a short detour to have dinner with our friend Natalie, who is living in a town just east of Frankfurt. I’ve know Natalie for many years as she was a high school friend of Anna Maria and Grant knows her from his time as a tour guide in San Francisco when I connected the two of them for Natalie’s visit to the bay area a few years ago. It was great to catch up with her for a couple hours!

After relaxing on Monday night in our Frankfurt hostel, it was time to get on the road to Cologne. Cologne is the last city Grant and I had planned on for our time together, as his flight home is on Friday from there.

Cologne is home to Carnival, a huge Mardi-Gras like celebration where everyone dresses up and parties in the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday. We happened upon a year round Carnival supply store and had a good time looking at some of the outlandish costumes they had:

We spent the rest of Tuesday evening in Cologne walking around the downtown core of the city and seeing the sights and visiting a few of the famous kölsch breweries that Cologne is also famous for. We capped off the night by having a gluhwein at one of the 5 Christmas markets being held in the city.

On Wednesday, Grant and I took the commuter train to Düsseldorf, about 40 minutes to the north, to have a look around. Düsseldorf and Cologne are historic rival cities, with Düsseldorf having it’s own beer (called altbier) and a reputation for being more posh in comparison to working-class Cologne. While it was a nice city, Grant and I both preferred the vibe and energy of Cologne.

After returning from Düsseldorf to Cologne by train, we decided to take the rest of the night to relax and rest up for our last day of sightseeing together on Thursday.

On Thursday, we met up with my old friends Thomas and Kristen for lunch to start the day. These two are good friends with my buddy from America, Robert, who grew up in Cologne and introduced them to me many years ago when they visited him in the USA. It was great to catch up with them for a couple hours for the meal and for a bit of walking around downtown afterwards.

After parting ways with Thomas and Kristen, Grant and I decided to make the climb up the Cologne Cathedral. This is a serious climb folks! It is 600+ steps up a mostly winding spiral staircase to get to the top – but the views are incredible once you are up there!

Grant and I spent the rest of the afternoon just waking around in town and taking in the atmosphere. I attempted to cash in on the crowds with some busking, but the police shut me down within in 20 minutes for using a speaker without having a permit. So that turned into a big waste of time!

In the end, we just went back to the Früh brewery for one last beer together and a light dinner, and then made our way back to the room to chill out for the rest of the night.

In the morning, Grant will be taking the train to the airport and setting off for the rest of his journey home, via London and New York for a few days. It’s been great having him on board for the last 5 weeks and he will be sorely missed!

Tomorrow I will be headed back to Bavaria to meet up with my good buddy Harry in his hometown of Kronach. I can tell you from several past experiences that it will be a big job and while I’m not looking forward to the 4 1/2 hours in the car by myself – I’m very much looking forward to Kronach and to seeing ole Harry again!

This will actually be my final long drive of this trip. On Wednesday, Anna Maria will arrive in Germany for a week and two days after she goes home, I’ll be on a plane back to the states myself. It’s just about all over but the cryin’ now!

Talk to you guys again soon!