4/26/14 day 19: Öblarn, Austria

Up and out in Schwandorf at 10:45. It was a bucolic morning but we had to get on the road if we wanted to get to Öblarn w enough time to nap.

The ride was fine save the fine for driving on the autobahn without the right sticker. Apparently, u need a sticker to drive on the highway in Austria. We stopped for coffee on the highway and a van pulled up and issued us a 120 euro fine. Now I'm wondering if I should have played dumb American but Jeff made a good point, they might have charged us more. It's hard to hate Austria when it's so stinking beautiful; it was like a scene out of the Hobbit. Snow capped mountains, little villages nestled in the hills... At one point we were driving through more

Mountains than over. It was glorious. I was pissed, but not for long. It's too fucking beautiful to be mad.

We arrived in Öblarn at about 3. Luckily the venue is right next to the hotel so we checked in and had a beer and relaxed. I had just driven another 3.5 hrs. Ich war fertig. The hotel is an old Gasthaus, the rooms are a little bit of a time warp (think Austria in the 70s) but are spacious and the clean. Very Austrian...

(Prost in Austria)

(peter in repose)

I took a nap after that. A serious nap. A nap where u wake up and don't know where u are. The guys were kind enough to let me sleep it out. I got up at 6, showered and then walked over to the venue.

The room was really nice; an old 12th century brewery with state of the art sound system with a crew of cats who knew how to run it. Everyone was extremely hospitable. Quick sound check and then we walked back next door to our hotel for dinner. I had Beef Stroganoff, Em and Peter had steak, Jeff had a local veggie dish. Dinner was off the chain. I would've taken a pic but I was so hungry it was gone in minutes.

We hit around 820. The room had 50+ people. Super attentive and super appreciative. I felt good about the show: things are coming together. The new tunes sound great and we had fun.

After an encore of Bid You Goodnight we signed CDs for about 30 mins. Next door everyone was congregating at the bar attached to the venue. We rolled over and received a standing applause as we entered. After that, we mixed it with the locals. 

(Fans from the show)

There were tables of folks who where at the show so we meeted and greeted and shared some laughs. At some point Peter and I grabbed our guitars and then from then on out it was a sing along. The entire bar was singing and we literally closed the bar down. It was epic. We sang John Denver, Beatles, Eagles, whatever. One lady had a birthday, so we sang to her. Then a couple started yodeling. It was awesome! An amazing night of music and fun and laughs. Once all the patrons left, we played for the staff; Harold and Nora. It was awesome.

(Jeff, peter and Em having a moment)

(Peter and Emily having a moment)

(This is schnapps made from a specific pine tar. I'm bringing a bottle home. That's all I know...)

Tmrw we have a night off so we are gonna check out the neighborhood and roll into the mountains for a look see. But first, Looking forward to a solid night sleep! No alarm. Gute Nacht!