4/29/15 day 11: Nitra, SK

Alarm at 9:15 was unpleasant. Rolled down to the small but wonderfully non-Italian breakfast buffet. Don't get me wrong, I loved eating chocolate croissants every morning but at some point they lose their allure. I do miss the crazy good espresso. Done right. And just downright killer. Oh well, regular coffee and yogurt with granola was a welcome change.

We met Olga's friend Eva who is a resident of Pezinok and has connections to the local winery scene and made our way to a local and successful winery for a tasting. I love wine tastings before noon! We tasted four or five really tasty wines (got a cab sauv for home), snacked on cheese and bread and schwarzwälder schinken while Eva and Olga translated for the owner of the winery. Really interesting cat. It got pretty deep too and he shared some interesting stories about soviet era wine making and such. A little bit history lesson, a little bit wine. It was righteous.

Made the short drive to Nitra, a small college town in about an hour. Olga had picked out a spot for lunch. Again, we dined in style, Slovak style. Dig.

1) cabbage soup 2) potato pancake with pork and onions and gravy 3) and a customary digestive the name I will remember by the end of the tour, promise.

So full. So completely full after lunch it took almost all I had to make the walk up two floors to my hotel room which over looks a big square in town.

Went full power down; eye mask, noise machine, which was all necessary because there was some shenanigans in the square. Some bands, parade, etc. it needed to be drowned out if any sleeping was going to take place. Slept a good solid hour and made it down to the lobby by 5:50. Made our way to the club, a nice little spot in a newish building with a great stage and sound system, sound checked and chilled. 

We did a TV interview; not sure what station. I'm not sure, but I think Olga arranged it. Never asked for some reason. We did the interview upstairs with a very sweet Slovak with really good English. We talked about the tunes, and the process and the band. Hope it airs soon. I'll share a link when I see it. It was legit tho. Here we are post interview:

And yes, I'm letting the locks fly. Just au natural. It's angular, yes, but less work then slicking it back.

Gig went well. We had a small crowd of about 30 folks but we were happy with reaction and engagement. They dug it. We had a solid performance and we had probably the best sound on the tour so far. Just juicey and warm and nice.

Wrapped up about 10:45 and made it back to the hotel. The others went out for food, but I can't eat another thing. I just chilled on my patio in the super crisp air and watched as the festival on the square was all packed up and had some more of the wine from earlier today. My younger self would probably be disappointed with me but my actual self is totally cool with getting to bed before 1am. It hasn't happened since we got to Europe. 

Another fun night for the books. I mean any day that stars with a wine tasting is going to be cool. I did have that moment tonight (actually during Peter's tune "Beauty that surrounds") where I was like "I get paid to travel and play music in new and awesome countries" and I shared a small smile with myself. A nice little reminder that I am doing what I love and that's a beautiful thing. I am lucky and grateful and enjoy every minute of it; even if I want to be an old fart and go to bed before everyone else. Night.