Side Trips

The number one perk to this “backpacking through Europe” year is, well... Europe.  JR, you are right, it is much harder to get the full effect when in Sacramento.  Hi Molly!

Show director and choreographer, Karen Kresge, told us (Brent and me) during the beginning of this tour- “don’t let the show get in the way of your experience.”  Ah, such words of wisdom.  Although there are some definite responsibilities Brent and I have to fulfill within the show, we have some responsibility outside of the show to see as much of Europe as possible.  We wouldn’t want to upset Karen. 

Enter “side trips.”

The first side trip came impulsively, in more of a problem solving scenario.  It was way back in Grefrath, Germany, our third official “city” on tour.  And I say “city” instead of city because, well, I am sure there are some criteria that a geographical place must meet to be called a city that I doubt Grefrath meets.  Sorry Grefrath.

As our tour bus pulled up to the hotel, Laurent turned to me and asked, “Do you think we could rent a car and go somewhere?”  Because, it seemed, we were nowhere.  

And that is how we--Laurent, Michael, Charlene, Brent, his whiskey flask, and I--found ourselves in Cologne, Germany the next day.  We went to what was the Philly gang’s (that would be me, Brent, and Michael) first ever Christmas market (amazing!) and stayed in a five-star hotel for super cheap (thanks Michael, Priceline.com, and Brent and flask, who both slept on the floor.)  

The next side trip occurred between cities number four and five (Dortmund and Rostock....notice no apostrophes)  This trip was planned ahead of time by Brent, and planned pretty perfectly.  A good friend, choreographer, and just one of those people you want to be around all the time-- Stephanee Grosscup-- was choreographing an ice show at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, a city that lies almost evenly between Dortmund and Rostock.  Easy.  And it would be Stephanee’s birthday and there was a chance we would stay at the the Ritz Carlton.  Well, we had to go.

So that is how, or more why, we-- Michael, Brent, Fatima, Dear Joel Dear, and I-- ended up at the VW Autostadt, picking out our favorite cars in all museums, taking ridiculous photos, watching a skating cyclopes run into a palm tree, “frolicking” in a heated outdoor pool, enjoying both a chakra sauna and regular sauna, drinking out of enormous wine glasses, and hearing “Tales from Burning Man,” by Stephanne Grosscup.

While walking around city number nine, Hannover, Michael noted that Berlin wasn’t too far by train.  Deciding that he didn’t want to go back home (U.S. home, not hotel home) without having been to Berlin he asked, “You want to go to Berlin tomorrow?”

And that is how Michael and I ended up seeing Berlin, checking out Egyptian art at the Neues Museum, grabbing a drink and playing a little piano in a fancy hotel, taking our time at a nice Italian restaurant and.....oops....missing the last train back to Hannover.

And that is how Michael and I ended up staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Berlin, sleeping in our clothes, getting ready early (easy when your clothes are already on!) seeing some of the Berlin Wall and checking out the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.  

The next side trip was once again a planned one, by travel agent Bommentre.  Although city number eleven was Cologne, we were staying in Dusseldorf (another reason I am grateful for the earlier side trip to Cologne.)  Brent figured out that Dusseldorf was a little over two hours from Utrecht, the Netherlands.  Another good friend, talented choreographer, and person who makes you want to break out in song and dance--Doug Webster--would be in Utrecht working on a skating television show.  Yes, we had spent many weeks in Utrecht during rehearsals, but we had never done Utrecht with Doug Webster.  We had to go back.

So that is how we-- Brent, Erik, AJ, Lucy, and I-- ended up in Utrecht, eating about twenty five too many tapas, drinking about three too many glasses of wine (okay, huge underestimate,) and eventually breaking into ice skating choreography on the streets of Utrecht.  Thanks for taping all four minutes of that disaster, Erik.  Proudest moment that I don’t remember.

Since then I have also ventured to Brussels with Charlene and Michael, seen good friend Natalia Zaitseva skate in Disney On Ice in Rouen, France, visited Mark in Dijon, and visited Bordeaux with Mark (highlight- St. Emilion.)  Always about the wine isn’t it Mark?  That better be a promise.

Most recently--as in these past few days--Brent, Joel, Michael, Brian, Jane and I celebrated our last four days off in a row with a side trip to Italy.  We stayed in the cutest smallest town and felt like we had the place all to ourselves.  We tasted Borolos and Barberas in Barolo.  We had an amazing meal; the kind where you don’t order off the menu but tell the chef (“crazy” Nino) what you like and dislike, because that is how he likes to do things, and he has just sat down in the chair next to you.  And you might be just a bit scared of him.

And the grand finale to what will be the last side trip for a few weeks was a breath-taking drive through the snow capped alps.  Absolutely incredibly and completely worth the million euro toll.

Next up:  side trip to Braux, France for a house party.  Come on Mark, Sarah, Daphne, JR and Molly-- let’s put the above stories to shame!

Things I Have Lost Along the Way

Every week it is the same thing.  We have to pack up our stuff into two suitcases (one large, one small) and each week it proves challenging.  I feel like its natural to accumulate things over time, but we try our best not to on tour.  There is just no room for a bunch of shtuff.

Luckily, I have lost a number of things along the way.  Some intentionally, some accidentally.

I can easily remember the first item I lost because it continues to perplex me-  Pajama pants.  And I lost them mid-week.  Tuesday they were in the hotel, Wednesday they were no longer.  They were dark blue with small white polk-a-dots.  Capri length.  Please let me know if you see them anywhere.

Other things I have accidentally left behind:  slippers, cord for an Ipod, a sweater, dishwashing soap, a loofa. 

Then there are the things I left behind intentionally.  Two Tupperware containers(Paris,) a broken purse (also Paris) an old make-up bag (Nantes,) a pair of skating tights (Nantes again,) and an exfoliating sponge (Toulouse.)

And there are the things--more specifically the thing-- I have left behind (twice!) on accident and have been recovered by someone else.  My Ipod.  Once I left it on the tour bus and once in the hotel room.  Thank you Allister and thank you “eye-candy” roommate Michael for its recovery.

To all these things that have ended their European travels abruptly, I want to say sorry and I hope you enjoy your new home.  It just wasn’t meant to be that you continued tour any longer.

Then there are some things that I expect will literally disintegrate into nothingness before I make it back to the states.  My jeans, for example.  When I bought them, they had no holes.  That was not their style.  Yet through daily wearing and bi-weekly washing I have noticed the fabric thinning and my skin peeking through.  And that is just to mention my left pant leg.  My right leg has a massive hole from an incident while trying on shoes.  While in Paris, I saw some cool-looking shoes, tried them on, and when I went to pull up my right pant leg to get a better view, my finger nails went right through my pants. Just right through them!  And I don’t have particularly long nails.  I left the store with zero pairs of cool shoes and one new hole in my jeans.

But this tour is an excellent opportunity to feng-shui my life.  And yes, I like to just toss around terms that I don’t know much about.  I “feng-shuied” my life once prior to this point in time, before I moved to Philadelphia.  I broke up with my then boyfriend, got rid of my apartment, and got my life down to two duffle bags.  In retrospect, I may have been thinking too much big picture.  This time around, I can start small.  How many forks, spoons, or knifes do I really need?  Turns out, just one of each, and I can get them all in one combo camping knife.  

My mom sent me an article about a couple who got their life down to 100 things.  100 items.  I guess this “100 Items Challenge” became pretty popular a few years back.  It is embedded in the idea that material things do not lead to happiness.  This article (from the New York Times, check it out!) talked about how research shows that life experiences lead to happiness more in the long-run.

So, me being me, constantly fascinated by what leads to happiness, I am thinking I am on the right track.  One combo camping knife, a pair of jeans that will disintegrate before the end of tour, and a ton of stories.

And now off to enjoy Marseille, France!