I’ve just woken up in my little rabbit hutch on the bus. We’re driving along a road that is not designed with tour buses in mind as we’re pitching and rolling around like a small boat on a stormy sea. I rolled out of my bunk and went up front to find us snaking along a jagged coastal road which, if it wasn’t for the mist and rain, would probably look stunningly beautiful. However, the weather today is, in a word, shit!
We’re arriving in Bergen which we’re told is the rain capital of Norway.
Last night we were in Stavanger and played a blinder of a gig. We’re getting into our stride now on this tour. The new material we’ve been trying out is starting to click into place and Phil’s voice is back to terrifying full power after he swallowed a frog in Copenhagen. We had a big turn out last night too. The rain and drizzle is doing nothing to dampen our spirits!
As we generally travel overnight and arrive in the morning, the tour bus gives us more time in each town than we had on the last tour. We’re making a conscious effort to take advantage of this by getting out and exploring. The other day in Copenhagen, myself and Paul hired bicycles and rode off to see what we could find. We visited Freetown Christiana. In the words of Wikipedia, it is a self proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood of about 850 residents. It was created in the early 70’s and is regulated by it’s own laws. On the way there, i was imagining a peaceful hippy commune full of beautiful young girls bathing naked in a lake with flowers in their hair and children playing happily whilst their mothers weave baskets from straw. In reality, when we got there, it was like wandering around a wet Glastonbury Festival after the music had stopped and everyone is on a bad come-down. It was more Mad Max than The Summer of Love and no-one seemed to be smiling so Paul and I pedalled off to find somewhere more cheerful, i.e. a bar. I won’t be moving to Christiana in a hurry!
Copenhagen is a great city though and very bike friendly. There are about 12 bike shops on every street and i recommend anyone who goes to hire a bicycle to get around. Your feet will thank you.
Ok, back to the present day. Whilst writing this, i’ve managed to have a shower, a stretch and a bowl of cereal. The drizzle seems to be clearing outside so i’m going to get out and see what Bergen has to offer. I’ll let you know.
– Nick
