Woke up at a reasonable hour and ordered breakfast in my room. The one problem I'm having in this hotel are the amount of autograph hunters in the foyer, restaurant and bar. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with legitimate fans but these are people who just sell everything on ebay and they pester everyone until they get what they want. The hotel can't really do much about it if they are ordering food and drinks. The unfortunate side effect is that we have to avoid the lounge area if we want peace and quiet. Fortunately they're not allowed past the ground floor so I can at least work out without interruption.

As I head down to the gym I notice that my drunken neighbor's door is still wide open from last night and I can hear the sound of snoring from within. I'm guessing she managed to finally get the door open but had issues with the process of closing it. I saw in the comments that someone was wondering why I didn't help open the door last night - the simple answer is that she was an angry drunk and built like the back end of a bus, I had no desire to grapple with that at 1am.

Five miles later I return to my room and sit down to compose yesterday's blog. I'm finding it easier to write them in the mornings as they tend to take longer than I think they will, and I'd be up until 2 or 3am if I wrote them the same night. I do however normally post the photos at night, hence the delay between seeing them and the blog appearing. After a quick shower it's time to get some fresh air. 

It's a clear day and the first thing I notice is how much colder it is - I'm thankful for the gloves and scarf I was sent! It's also ridiculously busy. One of the side effects of touring is that I lose track of what day it is, as everyday is the same for us. Consequently I didn't realize that it was Saturday. The markets and shopping streets were teeming with people and it was impossible to walk in a straight line for more than two steps. It would be great training for a soccer player I feel - "now run through that market as quickly as you can without touching too many people". 

I saw an angel blowing a kiss, so I sent it to my family (along with a big ice-cream for the kids). I worked my way slowly through the bustling town before getting a little overwhelmed with the sudden realization that I really don't like crowds. So I stopped to watch the ice skaters for a while and am reminded of the Rockefeller Center in New York, only smaller and more German, before slowly working my way back to the hotel on less busy side streets passing the flying car building. 

I'm pleasantly surprised when I get back to the hotel as there are no autograph hunters, apparently they saw the NOTP tour bus leave and presumed we had all left, so I decide to order some food in the bar and settle in to watch some German football that is showing on their TV. 

By the time the game is over and my food has disappeared it's time to video conference with the family in LA and get ready for the show. 

Musically the show was a big improvement on last night and went extremely well, the only negative was me forgetting the lyrics to EWTRTW. I have no idea why, but I started with the 2nd verse then I had no idea where to go - do the 2nd verse again or use the 1st verse for the 2nd verse? Choices, choices and 5 seconds to decide on an answer. I went for the former and hoped that not too many people noticed - when the going gets tough..........

To be honest I don't think many people did but it blew what was otherwise a really good show for me. Let it go, tomorrow's another day................

EZEZ

Papa S.