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July 3rd, 2008
Day 2: Bolzano, Italy

We got up early for our long drive. Breakfasted together with Christoph at the University cafeteria. Spent all day driving and arrived at Bolzano around 20:15 in the early evening to a rain shower. It cleared up though and the rest of the night would be lovely. Our friend Maurice was there to meet us and we spent the entire evening hanging out, catching up.
I played at this little bar called Boulevard. It was a really nice intimate setting with couches and little chairs everywhere in this little loft area where I played. Unfortunately the ice machine was working overtime and it was really loud. Other than that it was a fun show. I played a new song on the Ukulele for the first time tonight. It still needs some work but it felt good to play something entirely new. The crowd was respectful, fun and included many familiar faces. Got to see Verena, Anna, Tobi, Tiberio, Nadia, David, Alex "The Galvanizer" and many more! After the show we walked down the main street with everyone and hung out on the market square until around 1:30 in the morning with all the night-owls.
Something called a "Bombay", a drink with slow-gin, tonic and lemon, did it's work and we felt thoroughly in love again with this beautiful city.
We ended the night crashing at Verena's cozy apartment in Neumarkt, 15 minutes away from Bolzano
Tomorrow is relaxing, sleeping off hangovers and swimming day. And, we get to see Shai Hulud at the Rock im Ring festival! I'm very excited to get to see them play again.

July 2nd, 2008
Day 1: Duisburg, Germany

Well, here I am relaxing on the couch at Christoph's house in Duisburg, Germany. Me, Megan and Joost left Groningen together today at around 2 in the afternoon. Our drive was a nice short 2 1/2 hours. It was scorching hot so we blasted the A/C the whole way through and listened to everyone's choice tunes (see the playlist below).
The show was at a place called Steinbrug. It was an interesting show. It took place on the outside patio (with a sunroof partially covering the patio) of the "Beer Garten".
I played with two singer / songwriters from Duisburg; Stef Boens and her band and Ingo, who goes by the name I.M. Harmful. Both executed their songs perfectly and set the bar high for the evening. I was impressed. I had put new strings on my guitar so I had some tuning problems but it didn't matter much in the end. It was a fun show. Clouds had been looming all night but as soon as I started playing the rain started pouring down. I had major thunder and lightning striking during "Lonely Moons". Best special effects ever. Definitely made my night :)
Right now, we are watching the movie 1408 and I am getting creeped out. Tomorrow we have an 8+ hour drive to Bolzano and then I play @ Boulevard. I'm so excited to see all of our friends there! Alright, I think we're ready for bed. Goodnight...

P.S. Joost took pictures. I hope to be able to upload some soon.

-Geert

Playlist:

Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Soilwork - Figure Number Five
Counting Crows - Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings
Miracle Fortress - Five Roses