FINLAND-->GERMANY-->DIE SCHWEIZ

The last two and a half weeks or so are a blur. Been sick, been on set, been upstate, been hustlin' or as close as I'll ever get. I can't complain about being busy doing things I may actually get paid for, but it has meant that I usually fall asleep, sitting up, in bed, with the lights on, well before I can devote any attention to this particular space. And I still have photos I want to post from August! So let's do the time warp for a moment...

After spending less than 24 hours in beautiful Oslo, we were off to Finland for a festival the next day. Having slept maybe six hours out of 48 at that point, my memories of Helsinki are hazy. But I can recall beautiful old buildings, a harbor, enormous cruise ships like pale amphibious skyscrapers in the distance, and a basket of ripe, red strawberries sparkling in the sun. Then later I passed out at a picnic table with my sunglasses on and my face smooshed into Alex's knee.

Another early morning saw us flying on to Hamburg, which was nothing but mud. The drive to Switzerland the next day was long and green, and Lucerne greeted us with the most amazing venue with a full apartment just upstairs and a caboose depot next door. Our last stop before Copenhagen was Basel, where the chilly Rhine is dotted with bathers riding the strong current downstream, laughing, waving, tossing beach balls and somehow not being run over by passenger ferries. I pet the prettiest little Swiss lady cat in the warm sunshine and we made sandwiches on the bank while someone blasted C+C Music Factory from a boombox in the distance. The Swiss you guys, they have it figured out.