As time wound down and the days disappeared our first trip to Europe with the band was approaching. I was not sure what to expect when we got there, I was just happy to finally get a chance to go over and show people what this band is like. There is so much skepticism about my singing, so much frustration from the Savatage fans. I have a lot to prove. Ira had already left for Europe with Vicious Rumors. Jeff, Paul, Nick and I were flying from JFK on this fine day. Well… we were hoping to leave. Nick had never made me aware of his correct last name from his passport. I will not put it here to protect his privacy, but we were all a bit nervous about him getting onto the plane! Igor had helped me the night before to bolt my guitar cases together. Ever since 9-11 flying has become a pain in the ass. We used to get away with so much extra baggage. Now you have to pay over $100 for each bag! It kinda sux! So… I wanted to make my 2 guitars 1. We used to duct tape them together with Savatage, however this is not allowed because they have to be able to open all baggage. We arrived at the airport, met up with Nick and were fortunate to have a very friendly ticket agent. She was very helpful with the Nick situation and allowed 3 of our extra bags to go on for free! We were very early and checked in. Better safe than sorry! I made a few calls from the airport bar, we all sat and had some food and drinks. I checked my e-mail one more time for any last minute disasters and we were soon boarding. The flight was not full, however I was stuck near the one screaming baby on the plane. I always am! Luckily she fell asleep when we took off and was quiet the whole trip after. The flight was quick… seemed quick anyway. I sat next to Paul, this was his first trip to Europe and he was very excited. We had one transfer in Germany from Frankfurt to Dusseldorf. It was now Saturday morning. We were met at the airport by our merch sales people Claudia and Britta. They helped point us in the right direction for our hotel and had provided Nick and I with cell phones to have for emergencies. Plus I was away from Elissa for the first time and I did not want to have to chase phone booths if I needed to make a call. The hotel was very nice. The Renaissance hotel. I had been there before with Savatage, I just don’t remember when! There was wireless internet in the room so I was happy. I also was happy to finally get some sleep! I had been moving constantly since October of 2003. Later that day Jeff and I went to do a little shopping. I needed more minutes for my phone and wanted to hit McDonald’s! Of course I had to eat there!!! We were going to see the Scorpions that night. I was excited to see them in their home country. We left from the hotel and I got to drive!!! This is fun on the autobahn! We arrived and had all access passes, Wolfgang my European business manager does promotion for the Scorps. We grabbed a beer and headed to the arena floor to watch. They were amazing as usual. The rhythm guitar sound was insane. The were having so much fun. Matthias Jabs was great and Klaus sounded perfect. There were many Savatage fans in the crowd. There were excited to see Jeff and I but also frustrated that there was no new Savatage CD or tour. This became an ongoing theme throughout the trip. I did not expect to see my friend Mark Cross… the former Metalium/Helloween drummer there. He had hooked me up with Black Lotus Records… we hung out and headed back to the hotel for a nightcap. Paul and I spent another hour or so organizing our stuff from the flight. The first day in Europe was a very fun and exciting one. Back to sleep!!!!

I managed to wake up just before breakfast ended at 10:15. Paul and myself headed down to eat. There were a few guys from the NFL Europe team that were staying at the hotel at breakfast. Big guys… but not big enough for NFL! We also saw Kurdt Vanderhoof and Jay from Metal Church… I also saw Sebastian and Harold, 2 of our new crew members. I was still exhausted and headed back to sleep until 4PM!!!! I woke up and decided to have a quick rehearsal in the hotel room. We had all remembered things… still a bit nervous because Ira was in Italy and would not have time for any rehearsal! At 7:30PM we headed to the cinema to see the new Star Wars! Yup… we found an English cinema. We met up with Mark Cross and got our tickets. Kinda strange here in Germany. Reserved tickets. Also, it was 1 Euro more for a seat in the back. I dunno? We got our tickets, got our popcorn and got our beer!!!!! Yup… had to do it! There were a ton of previews just like in the US. The movie itself was very good. Much better than the last 2. Not the greatest Star Wars ever, but just what you would have expected the others to be finally! Afterwards we headed for some pizza… I was not hungry, so I sat and watched everyone eat. We then left back for the hotel. Jeff and Nick were in a car with 2 friends, Paul and I with Cross. Well… Cross got lost. We got back to the hotel an hour later. It was a 15 minute drive! So… it was 1AM when we returned! We headed to the bar for another nightcap and got ready to sleep before show day #1. Everything SEEMED organized so far!!! Back to sleep!!!

The very first trip of the new generation Savatage to Europe started in this city. January of 1996. Hard to believe it was 9 years ago that we did the DWD tour. Sad actually considering we have only done 3 Savatage tours in 9 years! NO COMMENT! We had an interesting morning… Paul and I woke up at 8AM and decided to go eat. While we were gone the phone rang… and rang… Ira was trying to get on a plane in Milan and could not. His ticket was not showing a paid register in the computer. So… when I returned from breakfast it was a bit of a nightmare! I had to contact the Greeks and the wireless internet was not working. We lost contact with Ira at 11AM. Things were supposedly ok… we would not know for a while! The venue I had not played before. But, the people from the Zeche were running the venue. Franni the catering girl was still there. She is always a pleasant face to see so far away from home. It was really cold in Germany. Not what I had expected. I decided to go and buy a jacket from a German Wal Mart type place. I also got a pillow… since we were taking rooms and traveling by vans I figured this would be smart. With the large number of days off we decided not to go by tour bus. Smart move? I dunno yet. My new shirts showed up. The Pisses Me Off comic shirts. They looked amazing!!!! Hours went by and still no Ira!!! We did our soundcheck as a 4 piece and sat nervously waiting news from the airport. We finally had an Ira arrival report at 6PM. He was on his way. I was really nervous for this first show. Ira arrived 15 minutes before we had to play. The lights went down and we were on. The band was really great right away. The show was fun. I was happy to see so many people singing the words! The crowd response was great. The first show in Europe was a success. I went to the merch booth to sign autographs with the band and finally got a chance to eat dinner!!! Frode was there… Gotz from Rock Hard Magazine…. Theo from my Benelux Record and Promotion Company Rock, Inc. Lots of familiar faces. Lots of great compliments. The funny thing everyone was saying two things. First asking what was up with Savatage and second telling us that they did not think I would sing so good live. Or the band was better than they thought. Gee… thanks for the confidence my friends! ;) A long drive to Switzerland awaited. We were going to take rooms in Frankfurt… BUT things do not always run smoothly do they? On the way there one of the vans ran out of fuel. We stopped and awaited a decision. This was about 4AM. The decision was for one of the remaining vans to go and bring fuel, the other to go to the hotel. BUT… which hotel? We went to the wrong Marriot… then drove around for another hour searching for the right one!!! We finally got to sleep at about 6AM… with an 11AM lobby call….YIKES!!! Lotsa rest for the singer… NOT!!! ‘til tomorrow… wait… it already is!!!

We woke up pretty early to start our journey towards Switzerland. We had to meet up with the other van somewhere by the border. When we arrived at the truck stop I quickly ran to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. The food actually looks like the pictures here in Europe, I guess this is the price we pay for the ketchup! The trip into Switzerland was quick from there… a slight border hassle, but it was ok. Ira’s passport photo is really worn out. We arrived at the Z7 and I immediately began to think of the past memories. I think I had played there 5 times before with Savatage. We always looked at this place as another home in Europe. We had many great shows there. The one highlight was always Atilla the cook. I found out a week ago that he passed away last year. I was very sad when I walked to the kitchen and he was not there. He would always go and buy me wild game and we would cook together. You will always be remembered my friend. Everything else seemed to run fine that day. I had a bit of a problem with my merch, not too much had gotten into Switzerland. But, the stage always sounds great here. The monitor system and engineer are amazing. The whole place is ‘A’ level in every way. It was showtime before I knew it. The crowd was not huge, but I was just happy to be playing. The sound was so amazing onstage. I felt great singing. The band had a great show. I was working on Piece Be With You in sound check. We are going to add it to the set soon. After the show I sat and ate alone in the catering area. A bit tearful from thoughts of the past… both relating to Atilla and Savatage. Both had given different memories in that building. The one thing I am learning that I think Savatage itself did not even realize was just how important this band was and still is to the fans' lives. I feel at times like the industry and fans are punishing me in some ways for the band disappearing. I had nothing at all to do with this. I lived the band. It is a bittersweet feeling. I want so much to play and there are people who blame me for the lack of playing… mentioning TSO and solo projects. TSO only takes up the holidays for me and my solo CD’s were done because Savatage just did not fire up and go again after Poets. Metal Church had another great show. I really enjoy this version of the band a lot. I had a long talk with the owner and promoter of the Z7. They want my band back and feel it can build to something very special in a few years. This made me happy. Lots to look forward to, lots of work ahead. They built a new hotel right next to the venue, I walked over and had a glass of wine before going to sleep. We were to leave back for Germany at 10AM… YUK!

We woke up in Switzerland and found out that our agent had to take one of the vans we were traveling in back to Germany. This left Jeff and I to have to travel with the merchandise sellers in their car. I have known Claudia and her friend Britta for a while. They have been friends of Savatage and have helped us with a lot of things on the road. The band was leaving at 10:30, we were to leave at noon. I was happy ‘cuz I got to go back to sleep! On the way back to Germany we stopped at Burger King. I got my first Star Wars meal. Chewbacca was the toy! The rest of the drive was pretty quiet and we arrived in Aberg at 4PM. We actually beat the band there! Of course they brought out lunch and I had just ate! We had played this venue with Savatage. The people there are really nice. The club is right on the main shopping street. A few minutes later the rest of the guys arrived. Shortly after we arrived Steve and Ronnie from Metal Church and I went shopping. There were tons of women in this town. I nicknamed is Ass-shopping burg! We were looking for the music store that was a block away. Well, we did not find it right away, we lost Ronnie… we walked in a complete circle and wound up right back at the club… a few feet before the club we noticed the music store was the right there! Duh! We went the wrong way! Nice town so we did not mind. When we got back I heard that Sergeant Ed Rossman and his son were there. If you read my old Savatage diaries you will know more about them! Ed had just had surgery so his neck was in a brace. His son Drew is huge now… he was 11 when we met him first! Soundcheck was over, I was getting ready for the show. This night the band was really strong. The crowd was great. They were calling for an encore….it felt great. The Sirens crew was in the house!!! Everyone always sez they did not expect me to be able to sing this good live. Again….thanks for the vote of confidence!!!! I had 2 days off before the next show so I decided to have fun after we finished. I ate my dinner after the show as usual, went to sign at the merch booth and from there it was Jaegermeister and Metal Church! I love watching this band. They are amazing live. We all stayed up and had a great time this night. There was a long drive ahead to Austria… I was not looking forward to 2 days off… but I think I could use the rest for sure!

We woke up a bit cloudy this morning. I actually had some Jagermeister in my coffee and got in the car for a long drive. We lost the bands quite quickly. We stopped for a Burger King lunch and I grabbed another Star Wars toy. About 1 hour from Austria we found out that there was no hotel booked! The promoter was scrambling to find us one. We could not get rooms in Worgl so we were sent a little further out to a town called Kramsach. On the way in we passed a cool little city near a river, hopefully we were not staying too far away. We finally reached our hotel. It was kinda in the middle of nowhere, which is ok, but there were no phones in the hotel, no internet… not a single luxury! I was too tired to care at that time, but we were to have 4 nights there! We sat down for dinner, I ordered everything I could and was too full after my soup to eat anything else! I headed upstairs and decided to go to sleep. This did not last too long because I woke up a few hours later and tossed and turned all night… at about 3AM I finally went to sleep. It was at this time that I realized I had lost my book with my horror story in it. I was tired and sad… I was hoping for a better day tomorrow… Goodnight!

I finally woke up after a sleepless night. I headed down to catch breakfast before it closed. Most hotels in Europe close the breakfast buffets at 10:30. I think some of the guys went out the night before. Paul and Ira went hiking up a mountain and returned back to the hotel at 7AM. I am glad I at least tried to sleep. Jeff and I decided to travel into the town across the river and seek out phone cards, internet… something! The town was called K…. it was actually very cute. Immediately I found the post office and got my phone card. We soon located an internet café’ that opened at 7PM, it was a café’/bar… go figure! Kinda reminded me of a mini Salzburg. There were tons of craft shops. It seems the town was famous for glass blowing. I found some cool little things for Elissa and my Mom and we stopped for some coffee and cake. Yup… METAL! After continuing on we encountered the last shop before the river. It had a schnapps shop on the second floor, it was built into the side of the mountain. Really cool. We decided to sample a local schnapps and head back to the hotel. What we did not realize is that everywhere we would go for the rest of the day someone would offer us schnapps. It is an Austrian thing! My ancestors were Austrian so I thought I may as well go along with it. On the way back we ran into Steve and Ronnie from Metal church, they were with Nick. We stopped to check out a mini-golf canter. There was an old guy named Alfred and his dog there. It was his business. Next thing we know he brings out a tray with shots! Ugh… once again we did not want to disappoint the locals! ;) I headed to the hotel to drop my gifts off and see if anyone had a schedule for the next 2 days. We still had not decided where we were going to stay, or if we would stay. I found out we were stuck here ‘til Monday… so… I turned around and headed back to the city. I found Nick and the guys… we walked, wound up back a the Schnapps shop, took some funny pictures with hats on and ran into Jeff. From there we decided to hike to the old castle on the hill. The view was amazing. Something about Austria that we always point out is that everything looks like a postcard! Once we hit the top of the hill and reached the castle we ran into the caretaker Harry. We took some pictures with him and he invited us inside the castle. There were all sorts of cool old weapons and things. Guess what happened next… he brought out a rack of shot glasses… Yikes! Refusing to insult the locals we had another shot and headed back to the city. We all stopped for a little food and some coffee/beer/whatever you may have needed at the time. Of course the owners of the café’ decided to buy us some schnapps… YIKES… this place was kinda silly this way. We stayed for a bit and headed back to the hotel for a break! Some of us ate, others showered and rested. We were going to head back into the internet café in a bit. By the time we got there it was 11PM. We fought over the few machines they had and decided to take a swing over to a local disco. The place did not want to let me in cuz I was in combat boots but Ronnie our tour manager/tech/babysitter told them I was in Bon Jovi so they let us in! Interesting place, lots of young kids on acid… I think the drinking age was 16 there. We stayed for a bit and headed back…. there was a show the next day and I definitely needed sleep at this point!

OK… maybe it was not such a good idea to spend so much time with the locals. I woke up and everyone was ready to leave for Worgl… well, everyone but me! So, I told the band I was going to sleep and take a taxi at 4PM. I think it is expensive, but I needed rest. I did wake up and have some goulash. The people who ran this hotel were very nice. I was about to leave in a taxi when I saw Jeff. I did not know he stayed behind to do laundry. So… I was able to cancel the taxi and sleep for another hour and go to the gig with Jeff and the merch gals. I have played this club before, I was also there on my promo tour watching Monster Magnet. We were not playing upstairs, but downstairs in a different room. I had a cucumber and something sandwich and went to work on changing my guitar strings, luckily Paul had some spare parts because the Wood Rhoads needed some help with its tremolo. I still had about 3 hours on my phone card so I went and called Elissa and my Mom and awaited soundcheck. We all wandered to a restaurant for dinner, I just had some salad and a weird pancake soup. After lots of water I was ready for the show. There were 2 opening acts this night. The second was really quite good. The room was totally packed. Their was some sort of drama with the merch girls and they quit. I dunno. The crowd was very receptive to us and many were singing along to all of the songs. It was a really hot stage and I was still a bit tired from the night before, but we had a great show. I said hello to the fans and checked some e-mail. Metal Church was great as usual, I was so tired… I just wanted to go back and go to sleep! A few people left to go to The Empire, I went to crash and get some more sleep, the hotel had some rooms open up so I had my own room for the next 2 nights… I was happy to rest, but sad that I lost my horror book! I need to remember what I wrote… never the same the second time, but it should be ok… Goodnight!

OK… day 4 in ye ole Austrian countryside. Kinda getting old by now. I woke up at 10AM and walked down to breakfast. Nothing looked good to me so I went back to bed! I woke up again at 1:30PM, Jeff informed me that he was leaving in 30 minutes to go meet Mee Eun Kim from TSO. Mee Eun and her boyfriend Gunther have a house close by. We received a ride to Worgl at 2PM and met Mee Eun. I was very tired, but I wanted to see her and get out of the hotel as well! I met Gunther on the TSO tour. He is a producer and writer who had a lot of success in the 80’s and 90’s. He has written some hits for European artists and also American artists like Taylor Dayne. Once again the post card factor was at an all time high. The ride to their house was so amazing. Over the river, through the woods and up the mountain! The house Gunther has had for 15 years .The view was so intense. Forests, mountain ridges both near and far. Breathtaking. We sat and talked about life, the road, music, the music biz. It was very relaxing. The house was really quaint, I definitely liked his decorating style. Lots of trinkets and tons of indirect lighting. Also tons of bottles of wine and of course Schnapps! Mee Eun even got this started. A definite twist from the TSO tour! We tried a couple of the local favorites and listened to some of the music Gunther has worked on past and present. From there we were heading to dinner. There is a very famous hotel nearby. Gunther is friends with the owner. The hotel was called Biohotel Stanglwirt...www.stanglwirt.com… once we arrived I was immediately amazed. One thing I have noticed all over Austria is that everyone has really good wood. I mean piles of firewood. They are always neat and organized! This place was no different. We got a grand tour, it was definitely straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The hotel had tons of indoor shops and boutiques, a movie theatre, sauna and spa that was insanely cool. You would not have to leave there at all once you got there, that is for sure! Well, I would imagine you could leave to ski and do local outdoor activities, but the need to look for material things or needs was definitely excluded. We ate at one of the three restaurants. Everyone knew Gunther and Mee Eun there. The service and food were splendid. Of course there was wine and Schnapps! I know, this diary sounds like a tour of Europe’s finest drinking establishments at times, but this is just a way of life here. I had some Schnitzel from their own inclusive butcher. I was definitely full and happy! We were ready to head back towards Worgl. Soulfly was playing at Komma. Gunther dropped us off and we thanked them for an amazing day. Soulfly was almost finished when we arrived, a bunch of our crew was there. The bassist said hello and was so happy to meet us because he said we were in the bands that got him in trouble at home as a kid! It is always so cool to hear how much other bands love Savatage. Also very frustrating because I want the damn band to be a bit busier! We headed out at about midnight and headed back to our home away from home in Austria. I still had about an hour or so left on my Austrian phone card, Jeff too. We were dropped off over the river at the phone booths since there was no phone at the hotel! I talked to my Mom and heard about the intense heat, we were still freezing in Europe! I talked to Elissa about her horse shows and the intense heat… ;) We walked back to the hotel, I headed to my room and was finished for the day… the week for that matter! ‘Til tomorrow!

Everything on this trip has had a bit of a by the minute feel to it. The reality is, noone seems to have a frickin’ clue as to a schedule. We were told last night that we were leaving the hotel at 11AM. So… I wake up to get ready to leave, only to find out that there are no hotels in Munich. So, we were going to drive straight to the venue. At 1PM!!! So…I went back to sleep. I did want to get to a store before I left town to get some more shampoo, mine had all drained out of my bottle the night before. Anyway, I slept ‘til 12:30 and ran quickly to the store. When I returned everyone was gathering outside waiting to leave. Ira was eating a French fry and ketchup sandwich. He is vegan… sometimes you really are what you eat!!! A vegetable! ;) We took some photos with the owners of the hotel, it seemed like we were there for a month! Of course right before we left they brought out some Schnapps! Before long we all crammed into the vans and were on our way. Nick had already left for Munich 2 days prior, his sister lives there. For once the weather was actually nice, figures we had to leave. I think everyone was praying for warmer weather. Unfortunately in time we got what we were wishing for! Once we entered Germany we were met with a nice surprise encounter with the German narcotic police. We were signaled to pull over. Probably because the vans had Dutch license plates… who knows. They searched, they found nothing… was there nothing… well… they found nothing… I will leave the rest to mystery! We arrived at The Garage and of course noone was there to open the place. I had not eaten at all yet and there seemed to be nothing open in the vicinity. There was an internet café’ I went in to check mail and was greeted by Nick Douglas. I was happy to see him until he spoke. I found out the lovely news that Doro wanted extra rehearsal and that he could not do any more shows this week after tonite. I really did not know what to say, so I left and found somewhere to eat. There was a rather good 24 hour diner type place. I had some chicken curry and pondered the next disaster as it unfolded. Of course we also had new a different merch sales person so I had to count out all of my merch and go over totals for the prior sales. Of course none of the figures matched and of course I had to eat about 500 dollars in the process. Eventually we got to soundcheck, there were virtually no monitors, this place was rather amusing. Whatever, I had other things to worry about. On a bright note, Vulker, our old tour bus driver with Savatage in Europe arrived to say hello. It was great to see him. I wish I saw his bus! The show went on as usual. The voice felt great… even though I could not hear it. Metal Church had an awesome show! Afterwards I once again checked my e-mail. I also said good-bye to Nick, I assured him that we would be ok and we would try to fly him into London. We all gathered in the diner type place to eat and discuss the plans for the drive and hotels. It seems we were going to try to drive halfway to Hannover and take rooms for the night. Hmm… I have been in this movie before. Trying to find rooms at night in Europe sux. So… we begin to drive… we keep driving, we stop and look for rooms… nothing… we keep driving… we stop and look for rooms… not enough… by 7AM we finally get to a hotel. I checked my e-mail in the lobby, seems Michael Jackson was found not guilty… OJ… I mean Oh Boy… We can actually sleep for 3 1/2 hours. YIPPIE! We were leaving at 11AM… so ya say you want to be a rock and roll star? I wonder!?!?!?!

Wow… we actually got to sleep until noon… then it was off to Hannover. We stopped for food, actually a really good Chinese Restaurant. Then we were on our way again. We also stopped at a Burger King later and I was amazed to see an internet terminal there! By 10PM we made it to Hannover for our supposed day off! By the time we arrived and checked in everything was pretty much closing down near the hotel. I ordered the high speed internet and decided to call for a fan chat. Unfortunately Metal Church came in for a business meeting and I was a bit too busy to concentrate. Tomorrow we have a day off in Hamburg and finally pick up a tour bus! I can’t wait to try and sleep! We are going to play the warm-up show for the Bang Your Head festival, Metal church is a special guest. I am excited! Especially since 2 German shows were cancelled, this will be a good way to make up for it! Gnite!

There are way too many days off on this tour. It happens during festival season! We got up and left for Hamburg at noon. It was only 2 hours away. Or so we thought! Unfortunately nothing has gone according to plans on this tour. There was a tremendous amount of traffic, roads were closed everywhere. Why? Well, let me tell you! First there was an escaped convict in the vicinity, running around armed! There were road blocks for this… NEXT… there was a WWII bomb found in a vehicle on the highway, it was not detonated! So… they were going to blow up the bomb at 2PM… Yikes! So… we hit many different detours and our 2 hour drive took 5 1/2 hours. We got to the hotel in Hamburg where we were to meet the bus… I hit an internet café’ to deal with some serious business with Greece and returned to find most people gone. They were either heading into the city or the Reeperbaum. I lived here for 6 weeks with Metalium, it is a fun city for sure! The bus was to arrive at 7. I awaited the arrival. When it got there I helped our crew Ronnie and Sebastian load the gear from the vans to the bus. A tight fit, but we made it. We also were meeting a new merch girl today. A Spanish girl names Iona. Ronnie knew a bunch of people in town and was to be my guide once he showered. I was excited when he told me he wanted to eat at an Italian restaurant in the Reeperbaum. I was hoping it was the one I had went to with Metalium. When we arrived I was all smiles! This place is amazing. It is Robert DeDeiro’s favorite Italian Restaurant outside of Italy in Europe. The food is perfect! I had a Frutta di Mari Rissotto, yum! Afterwards we all headed for a walk around the Reeperbaum… it is always funny to hear the rap of the street girls there. Definitely Europe’s most active red light district for sure! At 2PM we loaded onto the bus and got ready for our ride to Copenhagen. I decided to stay awake and enjoy the ferry ride. The bus was pretty nice, the A/C did not seem to work too well, but it was not that hot here… YET!… at about 7AM we crossed the sea to Denmark. I had some breakfast and enjoyed the view… it was off to sleep and the next step was Denmark and trying to figure out how we were going to get through the show without Nick!

I woke up and had no idea where we were. When I looked outside I saw Steve from Metal Church and Ira working on music, this was a good thing. I also saw a McDonald’s and a train station. I guess we were parked for the driver to sleep. I went to get something to eat at McDonald’s. It was like 9 bucks for a happy meal, fish sandwich and some water! We continued on our way to Copenhagen. I was hoping to see Hal from King Diamond here. The club was really cool. The people were so friendly! I actually got to finally get some laundry done! The club washed it for me. The food was great… there was wireless internet in the dressing room… a clean shower… we had a bus… life was good… if I had a bassist! During soundcheck we ran through the 5 songs that Steve learned. We decided to do a few with Kurdt Vanderhoof too! Steve was to play Faces, Fool, X, PMO and Abandoned… Kurdt was to play Sirens, War Pigs and Power of the Night. We were all going to keep close watch on each other during the show! I went for a walk and looked for some postcards. We were right in the center of town, this city was really cool. I had been here before, but I kinda slept too late to see anything! Before long it was showtime again! We hit the stage and hoped for the best. Surprisingly the show went very well. Steve, Kurdt, my voice, the crowd, all fine! We sold more CD’s than any other night of the tour! So… SUCCESS! Metal Church was great as usual. After the show Hank Sherman from Merciful Fate stopped in the dressing room. He told me that Hal was at the dentist and was in too much pain to make the show! We talked for a long time and awaited our departure for Holland. The next stop was Fields of Rock. Metal Church was to play this festival, I was to do press and network amidst the crowd! Of course this was not the next day… there was yet another day off to come… OH Goody!!! I forgot to mail my post cards! Duh! I enjoyed yet another Ferry ride and headed to bed.

Since we did not cross the sea until very early in the morning I did not wake up until very late this day. I probably should have just slept through ‘til Saturday! The bus was parked at some crazy disco in the middle of an industrial park. I showered before we left Copenhagen so I was not in a hurry to run in and see what the showers looked like here. Some people wanted to head to town right away, I wanted to wake up and gather some brain cells first. Eventually the only ones left at the bus were myself and Kirk from Church. We were told that in one direction there was the town and in the other a McDonald’s. We opted for McDonald’s! We were joined at the last second by Ira. McDonald’s was not good for him for 2 reasons. #1 he could not drink his beer inside and #2 they did not have anything vegetarian. So… he wandered off towards Burger King and we never saw him again. I can’t remember exactly what I ate this day… when we finished we headed to a grocery store for some water and wandered back to the bus. When we arrived I was greeted by Kurdt Vanderhoof, he wanted to go get something to eat… so I walked with him back to Burger King. There I was able to check my e-mail and grab some Star Wars stuff. Once we got back to the bus I received a call from Elissa and went for a walk. My European cell was able to receive free calls and texts in Germany. In other countries it cost like 4 dollars a minute to make and receive calls, it was frickin stupid. By the time I returned everyone started showing back up. The disco was opening for a rock night, but there was noone there. A few of the guys wanted to go for pizza and Doner Kebab’s. I joined along out of boredom. I had some Turkish tea and a taste of the food and we headed back to the bus by midnight. We still had 2 hours before we were leaving for Holland. Ronnie, Ira, Iona, Jay and Paul were in the disco, I stopped in to pass the time. The music was really good, there was still noone there but us and 2 locals!!! The clock reached 2 and we headed to the bus. I hate all of these days off on the road!

Today had to be the most fun and frustrating day off of the tour! Fun because of all of the great bands that were playing, frustrating because we were not! We arrived early, I immediately found the showers and got in before the rest of the bands and crews. Something to remember if you ever play a European festival! Either get in the shower after a cleaning shift or right away in the AM! I skipped breakfast and awaited Metal Church’s performance. They were the first band on at around 12:30PM. Actually by 11:30 lunch was up. So I decided to eat lunch and wander the festival grounds with Jeff. I was recognized by so many Savatage fans. I wish Savatage would decide to play already! I met up with some people from the Legion and arranged to drop off some shirts for sale. I was also selling them at the festival itself. Before long Metal Church was on. They were playing a side stage, the area quickly filled up and I believe they played for about 3,000 very enthusiastic fans. Afterwards I had to deal with some business and continued to watch more bands. The frustration would continue to build! I saw Mikkey Dee… Motorhead was on at about 3PM. We watched them on the main stage. Afterwards we visited Phil Campbell to steal his vodka and awaited Velvet Revolver on the main stage. I got to say hello to Duff, we met in Spain a few years back, very nice guy. Jay knew Slash. Slash traded a t-shirt for Ronnie Munroe’s cross… Ronnie was supposed to get it back after the show but this never happened! Revolver was really good, different which I liked. Up next was Audioslave. I am a big fan of Chris Cornell. The band had a great show. I then headed in for dinner. Lobster tail and French fries! The next band up was Slayer, they were very metal as usual! It was kinda cute to see their kids wandering around backstage… Angel of Death Dad? I was excited for the next band! Black Sabbath!!!! I got up very close to the front and watched the band. I loved seeing how much fun Ozzy was having, the guy just looked like a little kid in a toy store. The set was amazing! I was excited to find out that we had wireless internet in our bus! I checked some mail and awaited Rammstein. I for one was not as excited to see them as everyone else. I do find their music very cool and modern, but after 3 or 4 songs it is very repetitious to me. They did put on an amazing show, but there was just something about the SONGS of Black Sabbath that made me more excited. I caught a bit of Machine Head’s set, they were playing on the stage that Metal Church played. This band was very intense live. We once again ran into the Soulfly guys… there was lots of drinking and silliness going on Ronnie Munroe and I wandered the grounds. One of the most humorous things of the day was Ira’s tan lines… Red and White!!! We eventually wound up in the Aardshock magazine booth and once again Phil Campbell’s dressing room. The whole day was fun… and frustrating like I said. I sat in my bunk taking advantage of the rare wireless internet signal and we soon were off for England. It was frickin’ hot in our bus. The A/C did not work when the bus was turned off… this will totally suck if the weather keeps getting hotter… but it is England next… how hot could it be?

“Look Kids… Big Ben, Parliament!” Yup, why does it always seem like you are driving around in circles looking for somewhere when you are in England? The trip was rather interesting. We put the bus on a train and the train drove through a tunnel to England. It was so frickin’ hot. We had to shut the bus off in the tunnel. There was absolutely no air movement at all. Kirk from Metal Church was getting sick. This worried me! A 90 degree bus and germs! Our driver, Klaus, was a nice little German guy… but he smoked constantly. I had to tell him to stop when we were in the tunnel. When we arrived at the Underworld there was noone there yet. This was the Camden/Kennsington part of London. As soon as we got off the rolling sweat box I was hit up by about 10 street characters… yup… make sure the bus is locked today! I grabbed some cash and looked for an internet café’. It was so hot that you really did not feel like doing anything. It figures there would be record breaking heat when we got here! The club was in a basement… it was going to be a while until soundcheck, but it was so hot that it was impossible to concentrate on anything. Jeff and I ate dinner early. I had Thai food. We did get a short soundcheck, Nick was flying in later so we really could not check much. We actually did not know where Nick was! I believe he landed in England but an arrival time was in question! I headed to the hotel for a shower….I just sat in the room and enjoyed the A/C. There was one opening band this evening. Yawning Man. They were quite interesting. 3 piece, instrumental. Nick arrived 30 minutes before show time and we were all happy to see him! We hit the stage and played before a very enthusiastic crowd. Many kids from all over the world. Greece, England, Poland… lots of people singing the words to every song! I was excited. Savatage always did well in London. My voice felt great… I was tired but happy! We finished up and awaited Metal Church as we signed some autographs and dried off from the sweat fest! The night was a lot of fun, I was making sure I did not drink at all because Kirk was sick and I did not want to get it. It was soon time to drive to Bradford… Nick was flying back to rehearse with Doro. We had to do the next 2 shows with our stunt bassists! I just went to sleep in the nice warm confines of my bunk. I hope it is cooler 6 hours north!!! Life in London is bittersweet… Pat Travers I believe! Gnite.

The ride from London to Bradford was non-eventful. Well, at least it was getting cooler as we headed north! We stopped at a few rest areas and forged ahead. Of course when we arrived at the venue noone was there! ? This town was really bizarre, it was about 80% Indian/middle eastern people… great food, not a lot of Metal! I wandered around to try to case out some local Indian food and a phone. When I returned the venue was open and everyone was eating some typical deli sandwiches. It took a few hours before there was even a local crew in the building. A few of the guys failed miserably at trying to find laundry, others succeeded. I just changed some strings and awaited soundcheck. Steve was to play bass again, well Kurdt too! Dinner was a “Buyout”, this is where they give us money instead of food. I was happy for this ‘cuz I wanted Indian food. A few of us wandered to the restaurant I found and sat to eat before sound check. I returned and was checking my computer for the night’s guestlist when I noticed a wireless signal. It was from some air conditioning company. There was no need for a log-in! I was happy and checked some aggravating business mail and headed in finally for the check. When we finished I visited the merch booth to see how things were going, I was almost out of WARPED CD’s! I really needed a shower and wandered to the hotel on foot. I returned 15 minutes before showtime and headed to the stage after I got dressed. The crowd was a bit light and by this I do not mean skin tone! The band was great and the show went well for the most part! We were struggling with the bass amp for 3/4 of the evening! I enjoyed yet another great show from Metal Church too! Not the largest crowd of the tour but I sold a large number of CD’s! We were not leaving ‘til the morning, so I sat on the bus and used my phantom computer signal to catch up on mail and chat with Elissa. I stayed on for a few hours and went to sleep. The weather was pretty cool so the bus was dealable with the exception of the choir of snores! I was not feeling that amazing and I had lost a filling in a tooth! Fun eh Next stop Judas Priest land and Paul D’ianno!

Identical days it seemed… truckstop… driving through the English countryside. When we arrived in Dudley it took about 40 minutes to find the frickin’ venue! This town did not seem as Indian! This was the hometown of Judas Priest. Very close to Birmingham. We parked and entered the building. There was some confusion with the local promoter… I ran away as usual, I hate drama! We headed to catering for some more deli sandwiches… but this time we also ordered fries! I was happy and had a feeling this would be a good day. The venue was next to the Dudley Zoo and castle. I hoped to try to get to the zoo at some point in the day. There was not much going on so I decided to venture out with Jeff. I left him and returned for my camera. I was the only one who wanted to spend the money on the zoo. I do not have a problem with zoo cover charges because I know it goes to help the animals. Since there are times where I like animals a lot more than humans this is a good thing! Lets just say that the animals don’t really have a choice at the way their lives are… people do! I wandered to the zoo and was told I had missed the last paid admission, I pouted and pleaded my case and was let in anyway! This zoo was huge! I was so excited. There was a castle at the top of the hill… it was all part of the zoo complex. The zoo had everything… lions. Tigers, bears, oh my’s! giraffe’s, monkeys, snakes, lizards, sea lions, llamas… everything but elephants! I took a ton of photos and made it through the whole zoo in an hour! Upon exiting I headed to town to check and see if I could find a dentist. First check was not a success… a two week wait! NOT! Next check wanted me to come at 8AM… impossible! But I pouted and pleaded my case and I managed to get in for a temporary filling! I was so happy. On my way back I decided to spend some of my remaining coins on a trip to the tanning salon. It is impossible to change foreign coins back to US dollars so I always try to spend as much as humanly possible before leaving a country. I returned and grabbed a shower, then I ate a small amount of food and awaited soundcheck. The stage was weird, I was off to the side because we needed to set up in front of D’Anno’s drum set. Time flew by and doors were open. Before long we were onstage. Steve was the bassist du jour again! Good show, some die hard Sava-heads in the crowd. PMO was a favorite as usual, I was only able to do 35 minutes this night. I did not play even a single Savatage song! Metal Church was next and they rocked as usual. They only had 60 minutes. There was a 30 minute set change and D’Anno was onstage. I was not sure what to think,. His band was really good, he was a bit different than I remember when I last saw him with Maiden at 13 yrs old! I will leave it at that! Also in attendance this evening was Blaze Bailey! It was a Maiden singer fest of sorts! I said hi to Blaze, he did not make it through Paul’s show. I was surprised to be greeted by another Metal icon… Metal Mike Chlasciak! He was on tour with Sebastian Bach, they were playing this venue the next night! Also in the building was Bobby Jarzombek….drummer for Halford, Iced Earth, Earthmaker….he was on tour with Sebastian too. I was not feeling well at all. Everyone was drinking and having fun, I went to bed! I would see Mike and Bas on Saturday at BYH anyway! I was happy to be heading out of the UK, the shows were fun but I really needed a day off!

OK… The plan was to drive to Luxembourg and let the driver sleep… get a day room for us to shower in and spend about 12 hours in the city spending money and wasting time. Along the way we stopped at some truckstop in Belgium. I was going to eat breakfast but orange juice was like 5 bucks a cup… what the fuck is up? So, I just hit the store for some water and a cheese sandwich. As for our itinerary for the day… this would be an ok plan if the bus was not one zillion degrees. I was really sick this day… feverish, sore throat, upset stomach… when we arrived at the hotel I was happy to hear that we HAD to get rooms for everyone and the bus company was going to pay for it! I took my time getting my stuff together, we were leaving the bus the next day so I was kinda getting ready for the mass exodus. I had heard everyone was rather festive, stories of a two fisted Ira in the hotel lobby with a bottle of tequila. I just wanted to rest! I was the last one to go to my room. Jeff and I were rooming together. He had already gotten the local AOL # and was on-line. I just wanted to get some rest. Everyone gave me different medication and I sat in the sun on my bed sheet from the bus. The hotel had an Italian restaurant that was not open ‘til 6. We all ventured to eat at this time, it was actually amazing. We had heard that it was the equivalent to the Luxembourg 4th of July today. The city center was apparently one big party. My stomach was one big fat full stomach! I wanted to go walking. Paul and Jeff joined me, the city center was a 40 minute walk away. It was quite amazing when we arrived. Luxembourg is a very small country about the size of Connecticut. I think everyone in the country was there. The bars were packed… there even was a Chi Chi’s! We walked and shopped, we spotted the fireworks display for the night but it was not going to happen ‘til Midnight. I was feeling worse by the minute. At 10PM I decided I had to go back to the hotel. Jeff joined me, Paul remained to watch fireworks and take photos. I think Paul had taken more photos on this trip than I have in my life! We were only staying at the hotel until 2AM, then we were driving onto Balingen. When we arrived I took another shower and gathered my things. By midnight I could hear the fireworks begin. I went to the street to watch them and the full moon in the distance. Ira, Jay and Iona quickly grabbed a cab with the remainder of the tequila and headed to town. I wish I had the energy to join them. Besides I had to sing tomorrow and it was an important show! By 1:30 I headed to the bus and to sleep. I wish I had more energy to enjoy this celebration and this beautiful little country… maybe next time! Last show tomorrow, I am going to give it my best shot!!!

OK, who’s bright idea was it to head to this venue and sit? We arrived at about 10AM and of course there was noone there. Actually there was noone there at noon… at 1… Ronnie our tour manager/tech lived nearby, I think he wanted to head home early… that would be fine if we were not left here without food, a rest room, water… etc! Ronnie and Steve from M/C and I headed for a walk. We found another weird German Wal Mart type place. There we stocked up on some food, used the facilities and talked about the near future. I really want to do more shows with this band! We had a blast together! We headed back to the venue and it was finally open. The day hit its normal routine, except we were preparing to leave the bus and to go home. There were number exchanges, photos, merch exchanges… typical end of tour things. I could barely swallow and felt like ass! I changed my strings for the last time and figured out what was going to stay in Europe for my future shows. I did not want to get killed on extra baggage again! Kurdt Vanderhoof was developing my sickness. The bus did actually have A/C this day because it worked when it was running. Since the venue was remote we could leave it on! I was excited to see that the backline for the show included a Peavey JST head! This is the new head I got for the WARPED CD and my US shows! Killer! There was one band on before myself, then Metal Church as a surprise guest and then Nasty Savage. I grabbed a shower, ordered dinner and awaited my last show! I was a bit nervous about my health and it was so hot out and in the venue! When we hit the stage my voice felt great! The crowd was amazing. There were so many people there that knew all of my lyrics! There were a lot of PMO shirts in the front row! The Dutch had arrived in full force! I decided to swap PMO and Abandoned this night. DUH!!! I should have done this from show #1! It was so much easier to sing Abandoned without blowing out my voice in PMO. PMO is mostly yelling! By the time we hit Sirens and Power the crowd was electric. I had so much fun! The tour was about to end but we went out on a really high note! Metal Church had another great show. I spent a lot of time signing autographs and greeting the fans from all over Europe. I went to the bus and ate my dinner, kinda teary eyed. I was happy, relieved, sad cuz it was over, but fulfilled. It is a difficult thing launching your own band. Especially when you don’t rely on your past. Nasty Savage played next and they were pretty…..NASTY! I missed the TV part of the show because I still felt awful Frode was in town from Norway. I also saw Horst who runs the BYH festival. He was very happy to see me and thanked me for the performance. He also let me in on a secret. Noone knew but like 5 people. He was to ask his girlfriend to marry him onstage on Saturday. Then he was to marry her backstage in a private ceremony where Dee Snider and Sebastian Bach would be best men. I was invited to sit with the family. He did not want me to leave the festival. I said I would if I had a room Saturday night for my band and he agreed. I was to be here for 3 nights! I was excited because there was a lot of good music to come! We gathered all of our stuff from the bus, said our goodbyes to Metal Church and got a shuttle to the hotel. I counted out some merch and did some business online before sleep. There was wireless internet at the hotel. Not free… but it worked! I really needed sleep!!! What a great tour, the past three weeks were the longest year of my life! Gnite!

I woke up Saturday at about noon. The festival had already started. I saw some of the Camelot guys the night before, I guess I was not going to make it to see them! I headed to the hotel restaurant and had some tea with a few friends and awaited a shuttle to the festival. When we arrived I headed to Doro’s dressing room to drop off my stuff. When I entered the backstage area the first thing I saw was Felix Lethmate from EMP Merchandising in the pool they had assembled for backstage! I had not seen Felix in a few years, he is always a pleasant site. We have had many an adventure together. I was almost dragged in the pool, I figured I would get in there later. Bad idea as you will read! I stashed my stuff and got ready for our signing session. The next thing I saw was the Destruction Butcher and his crew of naked Zombie chicks. That is enough to get anyone going! I watched a bit of their set, purely for the music of course! It was soon 2PM and time to sign. When we arrived at the fan tent I could not believe the line to see us. It was wrapped around a few times and out the door! We signed for 30 minutes straight and still were not 1/2 way through the line. I wanted to get to everyone, I would try a wacky idea later! I had a few posters put up and fliers spread about the backstage area. I had about 10,000 Butcher/WARPED fliers, I decided to hit the crowd with Paul. He took some and went one way, I went another. I stopped and signed tons, all the way through the festival. I must have signed at least 500. It was great to see everyone, but again frustrating! I wanted to play so badly. I met up with Jan Oidium, the PMO shirt artist It was great to meet him! We discussed future plans and signed shirts for each other. Before long it was almost time for Doro. I was to play “All We Are”, the old Warlock song, with her. I stood on the side of the stage and watched. It was great to see Nick at work again, he is such a star! I am so lucky to have him in my band! Doro was amazing as usual, even more impressive this time around because she had just gotten a stomach operation less than 2 months ago! I went up and did my song with her. The crowd was so receptive, it felt great. My cable was a bit too short for me to get on the front stage riser with Doro, but I hung out and jammed with the band. Afterwards I headed to the dressing room area for dinner. It was then that Motorhead arrived again! Saxon too! It is so cool to be able to call these guys friends! I watched a bit of UDO and awaited my 7PM press activities. These lasted through ‘til 8:30. I was bummed because I missed most of Saxon’s set! Afterwards I headed to the backstage area and found a place to sit on the Lord Of The Rings Statue by the pool. Lots of photos were taken of this so I imagine you will see one somewhere! Biff from Saxon dove into the pool with his shoes and clothes on… pretty soon it was Motorhead time again! I had been visiting Felix in the VIP tent, he had a Vodka pass for the festival. He got to drink vodka for free the whole weekend! Motorhead slammed as usual. I was abducted by Phil Campbell and we entertained some of Motorhead’s guests in his dressing room when it started… what? The worst storm I had ever seen in Europe! It was a massive thunder storm with 50 to 70 MPH winds. I ran to the catering tent to see who was still there. Everyone was scared to leave. I was soon excited when I saw it begin to hail I quickly grabbed some of the hail from the deck area for my vodka! Finally I had ice in Europe! I then ran back to Phil’s place. It was smart to be there, the room was solid, not a tent and he had plenty of alcohol and 10 pizzas! It was then that I did something really stupid. Since I was already wet I decided to go swimming. Yup, me in my cammo pants… it was a bit freezing when I got out. It actually rained for over an hour. We were stuck waiting until it was done. I finally made it to the hotel at about 2AM. I had to switch rooms when I left this morning, what I did not realize is that my high speed would only work in the bathroom! There and in the hallway….so I checked my mail sitting in the hall and talked to Elissa for a bit. Then I headed down to see who was still awake. I saw Felix on the couch in the lobby area. He was talking to Jeff and some business partners. We chatted for a while and Felix sent a taxi driver to McDonald’s! I got my usual Happy Meal and we finished our late night snack and retired. I was not going to wake up early even though Ira was to play with Vicious Rumors at about 11AM. Actually I wondered what time the bands would start after the storm… We would find out soon! I really hope I do not get pneumonia from the pool!

OK… I did not get pneumonia… I got pink eye! Yuk! My left eye was a mess. I woke up with a nasty eye infection. This kinda sucked because I still had a lot of interviews to do! I made it to breakfast at noon! I headed to the festival soon afterwards with my sunglasses on. I saw the guys from Sebastian’s band on the way out. What I found out was the festival had not started up again. They were still doing repairs from the storm. I was glad that I did not miss Ira and the guys. The bad thing was all of the bands were getting shorter sets this day. Actually as time went on this was not too bad because you did not get bored! I got to see Vicious Rumors and take some photos from the pit. Ira is really cool! I then did an interview and photo shoot with Metal Hammer and Andreas Schowe about my tattoos. All the time with my shades on! The eye was really not doing well. At 3PM after Nevermore Horst popped the question onstage. She accepted… they headed to the backstage area to the wedding tent. It was a very nice ceremony although it rained very hard during it. We were luckily indoors! I was happy to see the Nevermore guys, I am glad that Worrell is doing much better. They were kind enough to let me take an empty bunk on their bus and nap for a bit to rest my eye! After the nap I was soon greeted by Wendy Dio. She is always so friendly to me. We talked for a bit and awaited the next few bands. Sebastian and his band had a good show, it was fun to watch Bobby and Metal Mike. Axel Rudy Pell was also fun to watch, Mike Terrana was playing and he is a madman! Motley Crue were supposed to be the special guests… instead it was Hanoi Rocks and Mike Tramp’s White Lion… I wish we could have played, I think this crowd would have enjoyed Chris Caffery’s Faces a bit more! The fans were VERY ready for Dio. So was I! I said hello to Ronnie and awaited his show. The band was great. Ronnie sounded amazing as usual. They are always so friendly to me. I still hope to do a CD with Mr. Dio one day! My eye was getting very bad by now, I was only going to watch a few songs of Twisted Sister and get back to the hotel! I said hi to Eddie Ojeda, he is signing a deal with Black Lotus, I hooked them up with him. I am happy for them both! There was a great anticipation for Twisted. I had not seen them since I was 16! I was happy to see all of the band together. They hit the stage and the place was electric. Dee is a frickin’ amazing frontman. They were playing the whole Stay Hungry CD in order for the first time ever. I made it through 5 songs and headed back to the hotel with Jeff and Paul. I needed to rest my eye… Paul said he had some drops for me. I removed my contacts and headed to get them. I should have looked at them closer… when I returned to my room and placed them in my eye I was in for a big surprise. They were peroxide drops for removing ear wax! OUCH… my poor eye. It was burning so badly. I immediately washed it out in the sink. I could not believe it. I said my goodnights and retired a beaten man! I feared what I may see or not see in the AM. I did keep waking up throughout the night and had to put a wet rag on my eye to even open it! I never should have jumped in that pool!

I woke up and looked in the mirror… it did not look good. My eye was so red. Actually it felt like the infection was gone, then again I am sure the peroxide would kill anything! I went to eat breakfast. It was there that Paul came in and sat with me. He truly was sorry… I suppose it was all in good intent, I hope! I asked the desk clerk if there was a pharmacy open. They gave me a map and I walked to try to find relief for my bleeding eye! I wandered to the place on the map and it was closed. I wandered to the Red Cross and it was closed. I wandered to the hospital and there was no one there who could treat me… I wandered back to the hotel and went to sleep again. We were not leaving until 4PM. Ronnie, our crew guy, was to drive us to our hotel in Frankfurt. When he arrived I showed him my eye. Our trip was diverted quickly to a run to the hospital. We went to the next town. The doctors there could not treat me but said I had to get to an eye doctor immediately. GREAT! We drove another hour to a medical community and actually found a doctor. Remember not to get sick in Germany on a Sunday! I signed in and awaited my appointment. I pretty much had diagnosed my eye perfectly. The infection was gone, it was sore, swollen and bleeding from a combination of the infection and the drops. I received a prescription and we were on our way again. Of course I could not get it filled, I would hope to do this at the airport in the AM. Along the way we were all starving so we stopped a few times for snacks and at McDonald’s for one more Happy Meal. We finally arrived in Frankfurt at about 10PM. I decided we should get a hotel near the airport. I have had it with travel! Once we checked in we all sat in the bar for one last Euro beer and looked back at the past 3 weeks or so! It was Ronnie, Jeff, Paul and I. Ronnie had 2 cappuccinos! We all had a beer. It was over for now. Nick was somewhere with Doro, I am not sure where Ira is! He is kinda like the dog you have that keeps running away from home, You are not sure where he is but you know he will be back! We walked to the elevator, it was kinda ironic because the hotel restaurant was called Faces! We all got ready for a short Summer’s nap… it was about midnight and we had to wake up at 6AM. We got up… headed for the airport shuttle. We checked in, changed money, and headed for the gate. I forgot I had to try to find a pharmacy! I left Paul and Jeff, headed back into the terminal, filled my prescription, hit McDonald’s for an egg McMuffin and fries, then headed back the gate. My bag was searched after the second metal detector. Seems they found some broken nail clippers. Noone else did on the other 2 flights! Duh! We got on the plane and headed back to the US… the flight was boring, crappy food, I ordered the internet and tried to sleep a little. We landed in NY at about noon… got our bags and headed back to Astoria. Of course we were greeted by a ton of traffic… WELCOME HOME!!! Home is where the smell is! I love NY! Until next time… Peace!