2/1/15 day 12: Ludwigsburg-Hoheneck, DE

I asked peter to wake me up at 930 for breakfast because my phone was gone and I had no alarm. I didn't get a good night sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered where my phone was probably hiding though. Couldn't sleep after that. Peter wrapped on the door and I walked down and met the guys for a modest spread. I was eager to get to the car and check the cajon bag to see if my phone was there. After breakfast, I walked over to the venue and brought the car back to the hotel. Huge sigh of relief to find my phone safe but cold in the cajon bag. I put it there before playing Peter's tune Beauty. I play cajon for that tune and I always put the phone in the pocket but this time I spaced and never grabbed it. Anyway, crisis averted.

Made the short one hr drive past snow covered fields and to Benningen. It looked the area had just received a recent dose of snow; the trees all had a fresh coat of the white stuff. It was a pretty drive, past hillside vineyards and small towns. Checked into the hotel and took a short walk about. Jeff and I grabbed lunch at a little Döner joint that totally blew my mind. So good. I tried the Lahmacun, which they also call Turkish Pizza but it's like a pizza with Döner meat and then wrapped into a sandwich. Holy cow. So good. I saved half for later, it was serious.

Got back to the apt and had my daily nap which was glorious. We rendez vous'd at 4 and headed towards Ludwigsburg. What we quickly found out was that are a number of Ludwigsburgs all with different town affiliations; like Mannhein-Seckenheim. We were in Ludwigsburg-Hoheneck. Which is a tiny tiny village on the river Neckar. We had an hour to kill before load in so we cruised to what we thought was Ludwigsburg, but it could've been something else entirely. Saw this huge palace and stopped for a photo.

Peter wanted in but no dice.

Arrived at the venue Altes Schulhaus (Old School House) in Ludwigsburg-Hoheneck at 5 and was greeted by Ottmar, Margit and Philip. The space was vibey and warm; huge wooden beams, wooden floor. Margit made us Flammkuchen while we sound checked and after dinner, we hung in the little green room shack out back where Peter read aloud from the first book of Game of Thrones.

Peter was into it, I think.

Or good friend and leader of the German fan club Sabine came all the way from München and brought friends. Great to see her. The crowd was very receptive and called us back for an encore. The sound system was small but effective for that space. It was really dialed in. We barely needed monitors which is always nice.

We chatted w Sabine and friends and made our way back to the hotel in Benningen at like 1130. Another really fun night. Stoked for tmrw and Baienfurt!!