Budva

Ah, the former Yugoslavia...
Quite beautiful...very fucking hot, but quite beautiful.

Roma

So...holy shit. Rome.
We've had two days off after our 36 hour drive here from El Ejido, Spain.

Just walking around this city will drop your jaw and dilate your pupils. The ruins of Ancient Rome are obviously still visible and blend in seamlessly with the buildings from 500, 100, and 10 years ago. Cobblestone streets add a certain something to the vibe of the city (and make car and bus rides feel like a day at sea), and offer a nice accent to the abundance of sidewalk cafés.

Obviously the Colosseum is a must, and I'm glad to say that I went very early in the morning and was able to spend 2 very quiet hours inside. Later that day I was able to take a tour of Vatican City, including the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's. Again, most if not all of the art visible (buildings included) will cement your jaw to the floor. I felt an amazing sense of reality and history while visiting, my mind busy with thoughts of ancient times and historical significance of the places I was standing.
I feel like I can't honestly describe how amazingly awesome this city is in a blog post.

Anyway, today was load-in for Rome so I'll go over some quick notes:
1)Bus Driver got lost on the way to the gig (oops), 1/2 hour ride took a little over an hour.

2)All of us crew have been hanging out in the hotel bar/lobby since we got here..and it was let out who we work for. I can't tell me how many times I've heard, "so...are you 'here' for 'the stones?'" in the last 2 days. It was novel at first (talking about the industry and what I've been doing on tour) but now it has gotten on the annoying side. Still a unique experience I suppose.

3)As I'm sure you heard we had an unfortunate accident in Madrid a few days ago. It hit a lot of the crew pretty hard as many knew the touring rigger, and it really brought everyone back down to earth and reality. Out here, both of these things are often forgotten in work. You lose a sense of time and place, and go from one city to the next in a near haze. I was completely oblivious to both the day of the week and day of the month from the moment we left Brussels right up until here in Rome where we finally caught a long break (and in all honestly, I didn't know either until mid-way through our first day off). On a similar note, most of us completely forgot about our respective national holidays. Canadians forgot Canada Day, and I forgot Independence day. And to be truthful, it was not a bad thing I lost track of time. The sensation is very zen like. Breaking standard routines and picking up new ones... very peaceful. (And just so you don't think I'm crazy, this happens to every one on the tour except maybe the Band because they work 5 of the 48 we do).

4)Anyone ever been to Montenegro? It is my next destination and I have no idea what to expect. But hey, that could be a good thing.

Peace y'all.

PS: Going to meet Ruth after the show before we fly to Budva. I'm excited to see what she's been up to. I'll try to blog more often and keep everyone in the loop. It's pretty hard with limited internet access, and when I do have hotel access it usually costs an arm an a leg (22 Euros, $30 for 24hrs!).