Trip Highlights

Catherine Blake's post about her favourite non-musical memories about the trip has inspired me to do something similar.

But before I begin, for those of you who expressed concerns about the state of my luggage after it didn't make the flight to Toronto, I have good news! My suitcase was delivered to my house on Thursday. I'm disappointed that it didn't bring me any souvenirs from the Paris airport to apologize for extending its stay without telling me.

Here are some of my highlights:

Shaking my tail feather at the Hofbrauhaus in Berlin (and later that evening at a place called AM to PM. Nightlife in Berlin on a Wednesday is, well, flat) and also in the town square in Lübeck with the Cheery Band. Good times!

Pre-performance in Travemünde, where I had way too much fun chilaxing on one of the wooden lounge chairs near the stage and having Lisa spin me around a couple of times. I think my expression in this picture with Dale says it all.

The food, glorious food. My favourites were the currywurst at the Kartoffelhaus in Berlin, the colourful dessert at the Ratzkeller in Lübeck, and the Danish hash at London Pub in Copenhagen.

Scoring Viking souvenirs, which include the "Bad Viking" shirt (see picture posted by Mark E.) and the miniature wooden Viking figurine. My late maternal grandmother collected such figurines, among other Viking/Norwegian trinkets, so this little guy is a reminder of her. Uff Da!

The Roaming Gnome. Ruta brought a Travelocity gnome on the trip and I was pleased to get one picture of it with Debra.

That feeling of community. What I really like about the band trips is that they allow me to get to know my fellow NHBers better, to interact with players and band aides I hadn't met or known all that well on prior occasions. The whole trip was a barrel of laughs, and it was nice to see people watching out for each other (thanks again to Tam for coming to the rescue when my stand went kaputz during the first Copenhagen performance of Dixieland Jamboree). I enjoyed the evenings when a lot of us would cluster for dinner and drinks in the hotels in Berlin and Copenhagen. One favourite moment was on the boat to the farewell dinner, where Jill and I were waving at strangers on land, hoping to get them to wave back (it worked most of the time!)

I had a blast travelling with you...er...older folks. (I thought about using the word "mature," but after reflecting on the tacky souvenir competition, "mature" doesn't quite cut it.)

Katherine Fletcher