Yeah, that all went very quiet again, but in my defence, I was away for seven days; if you follow me on Instagram then you’ll know I was in Germany. Why? I’d say I’ll give you three guesses, but one should suffice if you’ve read this blog much. Yes, the lads were back in Germany, Logan’s Close announced a few months back that they’d be playing in Hamburg at the end of October, well, obviously they wouldn’t do just one gig, reckoned the moose. And indeed, much later two more gigs were announced, hmmm, drawing board assembled. All three gigs, nope, not possible (not for a moose would like a few comforts) and to be honest I wasn’t fussed about the Hamburg gig, I’ll see them there one day, just not that one.
Travelling arrangements? Edinburgh to Prague return flight (always one of the cheapest going), then trains between places, yep, that worked (by missing out Hamburg); and this time no hostels, hostels are for summertime, not for when it’s cold and dark outside! Nice hotels not too far from the train stations, a reasonable morning walk away (for that next journey). Everything looked fairly doable, it was on, yay! Flights booked, German hotels booked, train times noted for booking later, Prague hotel for my final night could be left as well, there was plenty of choice.
An early morning flight to Prague gave me plenty of time once there to get to Chemnitz (via Dresden) in the afternoon. Two years ago I went from Dresden to Prague in the early summer, this time going the other way, the autumnal colours of the wooded hillsides were gorgeous. Once in Chemnitz it was a twenty-odd minute walk to the hotel where I collapsed on a very comfy bed for a while (I’d been up since 3am!); forty-eight hours to explore before the gig, and I did, on a very drizzly Wednesday, I took in a fine museum, a fascinating exhibition and some very tasty local cuisine! Thankfully Thursday daytime was sunny if chill, in the evening the Close were smokin’ hot, hahaha (more on that later).
I liked Chemnitz, there’s plenty of beautiful architecture to admire, a park with a lake to stroll round, a whole lot more museums to visit (I’ve found that two are quite enough to absorb in one day). Yeah, I could go back again, especially if Logan’s Close were to play a gig in Dresden too (just saying). Most folk had at the very least a smattering of English, oh yeah, apart from the lady at the front desk of the museum; okay, so I was in Germany but it seemed a bit odd that a museum of local history hadn’t employed someone multilingual.
Best laid plans! On the Friday I’d intended to get down to Ansbach by midafternoon for a decent wander round before the sun went down, ha. Trouble on the tracks! Almost three hours later than planned I arrived feeling rather dishevelled, so a just time for a short explore round before deciding to just eat in the hotel restaurant. I say just, because I was feeling lacklustre and in need of food, but boy, another plate of delight (followed by a delicious dessert), did I mention how much I enjoy German food?
Saturday, the day of Logan’s Close‘s third gig, is definitely worth a blog post of it’s own, plus it’s very late now. I mentioned that I was staying in Ansbach, but the gig was actually in a nearby village, a village with a severe lack of public transport! Did I make it there and back okay? The back is where the angels came in! After such a weirdly wonderful evening, Prague was like an afterthought, I was ready to come home after my adventures.
More tomorrow, good night and sweet dreams, meine Freunde!
