Finally, Internet!

Monday night we had our show at the Rheinlander theatre, which was absolutely gorgeous. The one thing we tend to keep hearing everywhere we go is, "There's a lot of history in this building." It's amazing how much has happened in this one country, even just over the past 100 years, but also the fact that there are buildings older, and landmarks older than the United States has been around-- it's amazing. We didn't find out too incredibly much about a lot of the places we've played (the Germans don't like talking about any of it too much), but we did find out that the Rheinlander was a club that Hitler used to go to on a regular basis before his rise to power. And even just knowing that gives the place a really eerie vibe, though the building itself was amazing.

The Baumholder show itself was a big deal to us, because all of the soldiers at the base were deployed to Iraq, so we were to be performing for mostly women and children. We tried to keep all the little kiddies entertained, and when we played our Beyonce cover, we actually had a dance party in front of the stage of mainly kids under 10. It was amazing. A little guy, probably 7, was doing the worm. We gave out cds to the ‘best dancers,’ and we had a great time (I almost couldn’t sing I was laughing so hard). At the end of the set the commander came up and awarded us coins and a plaque for boosting morale on the base, but again, I think we were more honored to be there than anything else.

Rheinlander Club

The next day we left for Manheim. On the way in we stopped at Hiedelberg, the most amazing touristy/Disneyworld/busy little town with a castle that dates back to the 30 years war. It was unbelievable. The only thing that I can say in a somewhat negative tone is that I’m sad we didn’t get to spend more time looking around. There are so many cute shops, and the towns here are SO CLEAN. And there are dogs, like, everywhere. I loved walking around. Also, I finally got to speak German! To the gelato-man, and it was glorious. Not only was he pleased I understood how much the gelato cost (zwei euro = 2 euro), but I said “thank you” and I know that doesn’t sound like much but it was pretty awesome.

So after our short stint of Hidelberg, we went out to the venue, ate some dinner, and played our set. It was a slightly smaller crowd, but still they were so amazing and appreciative, and many of them were to be leaving for Iraq in the coming weeks. I will add that our hotel in Manheim was AWESOME, we each had our own room and huge bathroom and internet and well, I can’t ask for much more than that. If it’s one thing I’ve learned from doing tours like this… it’s absolutely unreal to be in this place, the tour bus, the whole ‘Europe’ thing, and I love seeing as much as I can and doing as much as I can fit into one day; but it’s nothing if I can’t share it with the people I can’t imagine being without.

I’m writing this on the bus en route to Edelweiss. We stopped by this fantasy castle that Walt Disney actually modeled his Cinderella castle afterwards, and although we didn’t get to go in (it’s closed today), we did get a great view of it. Also, someone took a picture of our bus. That was something.

* * *

After not being able to find a parking spot for the bus, we just decided to keep on moving. We passed into Austria (yay!) and then went through the Alps to get to our hotel. Wow. I’m so bummed that my camera’s batteries died during the trek, because I don’t think I can accurately describe how amazing the little towns were that we drove through. How ornate the roofs were, the murals on the sides of the houses, the colors of the plants under each window. I even saw a little goat running through someone’s backyard. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen, I felt like I was in a different world. The snow-covered mountains were jaw-dropping, and although I did get a few shots the glare on our bus really doesn’t do the scenery justice at all.

We arrived at the Edelweiss lodge and resort maybe an hour or so later, and it is AMAZING. We decided that tomorrow we would go into the town and explore it, along with take a gondola up to the top of the mountain. Tonight though, we wanted to take it easy and explore everything the resort had to offer. We made a stop at the gift shop (and some of the things… seriously, so good), ate at the restaurant, and then hopped in the hot tub. Then we went down to the bar for some German beer for the boys, and some Snow Bunnies for the girls (peppermint schapps, coffee, cocoa, and whipped cream). Overall this was a great day of travel, and we’re really looking forward to spending the whole day here tomorrow. Also, check out this place we’re staying at… quite a nice little view from the windows.

* * *

And now I am on the bus headed to grafenwoehr. We didn’t have internet (that was free), so I wasn’t able to update anything while I was there. Yesterday we were hoping to have been able to climb up the mountains, but in the end we just decided to take it easy and explore the town since we hadn’t been able to really look around since we got into Germany. We got up early and walked down into the center of Garmisch, found an amazing little café and candy shoppe, and just hung out for a few hours. When we walked back to the hotel later on, we rented bikes and rode all around the Alps and through beautiful German neighborhoods. It was a really great day.

The show setting in Edelweiss was very much like playing a restaurant/bar; there were families there an dpeople of all ages. I think I should note that Edelweiss is a resort and lodge for ONLY military personnel (which means when I don’t have my military ID anymore I won’t be able to go back), but it’s cool because I met kids and people from all over the world just vacationing there. It was really awesome, and the show was a ton of fun. Overall, I think yesterday was my favorite day so far on my trip.

So yeah, like I said, today we are headed to Grafenwoehr, and Silvio had us get up early so that we could actually make a stop at a concentration camp today before we get to the hotel/venue. Today should be a really interesting day.

* * *

So, now we’re in the bus again, just stopped in I’m-not-sure-where to change a tire that we somehow SHREDDED UP. Again, due to the inconsistent internet I’ve been forced to update in word and then post this with pictures once I get my computer online.

I’m not sure if there’s much to say about going to Dachau; it was a major concentration camp during World War II, and although it was more of a work camp than an extermination camp, the number of people who passed through, suffered, and died there is tangible when you open the gate and walk in. It’s amazing how much they still have intact, and how much they preserved for the sake of the memorial.

Then we finished the drive out to grafenwoehr, and were met by a couple AFE people- they took us out to dinner for MEXICAN (yes), and I had the hugest burrito. And I ate it, all. And then went and played a show directly after. Worst best decision ever. The show was again for mostly women and children, and of those children many were dawning their pj’s because it was so close to their bedtime. It was adorable, and again a very sad feeling for all of us. One woman who is in charge of something on the base spoke with me after our show, and told me that they already have thousands (I think over 4000) soldiers deployed to Iraq for 15 months, and in the next couple week a number quite similar will be leaving for the same destination. Also, I should note that Grafenwoehr is a huge base training facility, and right before we left she warned us that we would hear a lot of gunfire and bombing tonight, but only that it was them training for Iraq. After hearing that, it was difficult to get to sleep knowing what was going on outside, and that so many people would again be leaving their families.

Today we woke up and got on the bus at 7am. It’s about a 6 hour drive to Spangdahlem, and I can’t believe that we are heading to our last show already. It’s a festival, and we were told that there’s another band going on before us, and that Billy Blanks will be there. More information will follow, I assure you.

* * *

Today's show was really great, and felt like a great show to finish the tour up with. We arrived so close to when we had to play that we didn't even get time to check out what was going on, we just pulled up to the stage, soundchecked, and went on. It was the Spangdahlem Open House, where 5-6000 people (mostly French and German) come to check out the air base. They have planes on display, and yes, even Billy Blanks was there. I didn't see him, but I know he's staying at our hotel. So there's still hope.

We were the final band at the stage, and we kept really good energy the whole show. I think this was one of the most difficult shows we've ever played, because we had so many people there, but we had no means to communicate with them. Everything we said to them, no one understood. They enjoyed the music, clapped after every song, but there was no response when we tried to incorporate them into the set. Thankfully we had a translator who helped us out and got the crowd even more riled up, and it was amazing. I was able to say so little to them ('thank you to our german crowd' and 'i speak little german, and i understand very little'...) so yeah, I was lacking a bit in the communication department. But seriously, this crowd was amazing.

Afterwards, we finally got to check out our hotel, and grabbed dinner with some people from the base. Jess knew a couple who was stationed out there, so they came out too and then we went to the bar. I'm back at the hotel now, packing up all our souvenirs to bring back. This was a truly surreal and amazing trip, and already we're doing some planning on going back.

I'm definitely looking forward to heading home tomorrow, but this was one of the most exciting things I have ever done. We're leaving at 6:3o tomorrow morning to head to the Frankfurt airport, and from there we leave somewhere around noon. See you in the states this time tomorrow!

Tourgen Busgen?!

We're in Germany!!

After our 7 hour flight to Germany (which really wasn't half bad at all, except that I hardly sleep on planes), we were met by our sound guy Ben (who had just gotten off tours with Black Violins and Sevendust), and our bus driver, Silvio. Yes, we have a bus. Yes it is ridiculous. See exhibit a:

Exhibit A

Inside of this bus, there are 8 little sleeping bunk things (which I tried out, and are quite nice), the back of the bus has a round booth with a tv and playstation, and the front has a table and another bench (the bathroom is in the middle). I'm still definitely in shock.

So from the Frankfurt airport we drove out to Baumholder, which is the cutest little town (see exhibit b), which is COMPLETELY closed on Sundays. So, we got to our hotel (exhibit c), went to the PX (the military store) to get some fixture adapters and such, the grocery store, and then the dining facility for some food. Now we have returned back to the hotel, and I thought we were going to be doing some walking around, but it appears that everyone has fallen asleep. And I'm getting there, so I guess we will just have to see what happens tonight (we are 6 hours ahead of you New Yorkers).

Exhibit B

Exhbit C

So yeah, now Kaleena and I are just hanging out in our rooms, might watch a movie, not real sure as of how the night will go. Tomorrow we have all day to explore until we head to the venue, the Rheinlander Theatre (which was apparently a hangout for Hitler before the war). I'm really excited to look around this place, so much history I'm not accustomed to being around. Here's the view from my room, goodnight!

AFE, MTV, and new shows!

Hey guys, I'm currently sitting at the airport in Syracuse, after ridding myself of my Greenland postings. We will head to Philly first, and from there fly straight to Frankfurt. I'm pumped that we're doing all commercial flights this way, a one-time baggage check kind of rules. We will be playing 5 different military bases over 6 days, and with travel we will be back in the states on the 27th. Not sure what to expect, at all, but this round we're hoping to have a lil more internet. You, and I, will just have to wait and see.

In other news, MTV's soundtrack website is now up! And we're on it! So please, feel free to visit our page, play our songs, make your own soundtrack... I'm not really sure of all the facets of that site, but it's pretty sweet, with all the music you've seen and heard on MTV :)

And, lastly, we have been added to our very first Syracuse Show on August 21 with Meg and Dia! Get pumped!


See you all in Germany!!

Greenland, part 2

So, on to Monday. We went 'Thule Tripping' with Sgt Spires (who's wife lived in Liverpool, NY), Susan (the services woman for Thule), Larry, Steve (the chef of the TOW club who made us vegan and vegetarian EVERYTHING), and a few others. We got to walk on the ice cap (we made snow angels and Kaleena built a snowman), and saw a waterfall. It was so windy and cloudy that day, probably below 30 with the windchill, and rainy. So yeah, cold day. But we saw so many amazing things that day.



Tuesday, we had our last show. But more importantly, we did this:

POLAR BEAR SWIM! Twice for everyone, Jon made it in 5 times. We're kind of awesome.

For the sake of time (as I'm in the Syracuse airport waiting for our flight to Philly that will then take us to Frankfurt), I will quickly round up the next couple of days. We were able to go into the air control tower, watch a NASA plane land, ride in a fire truck, see the mechanical generator for the base, see the satellites and radar and control rooms of every building there, and even an old missile launch from the Cold War, and so much more. I don't think I could correctly put everything I saw that week in writing, but it was by far one of the most exciting and exhilarating trips I have ever been on. The wildlife, the scenery, the weather... unbelievable.

So, thanks Greenland, for the great times.

Onward to Germany!

The Time Has Disappeared...

Hey everybody who happens to read this, I'm so incredibly sorry but we had absolutely no internet while we were in Greenland, and after we returned my week has been consumed by sleeping, unpacking, doing a news interview on the trip, watching the season premier of Project Runway, seeing friends, and heading to Rochester to see The Dark Knight at midnight. Tomorrow we're leaving for Germany, where we hope that we'll have adequate internet so that I can post every day and my posts (like this one) won't be as long, and I won't have to cram a week of awesomeness into one long essay.

I did, however, keep a log of every day in Greenland, along with a slew of pictures, so again, I'm sorry it's all so unorganized, but here, in a nutshell, was our trip to Greenland!

Wednesday, July 2^nd:

Our first flight left Syracuse at 11:30ish, and we landed in Philly for a brief layover to head to Baltimore. I’ve flown out of Syracuse before, but I never noticed the large community of plastic yard flamingoes at the end of the runway (anyone else ever notice this? Syracuse is cute). The plane that we boarded in Philly was quite possibly one of the smallest planes I’ve ever been on, and lucky for me I was in seat number one. Also, that flight was only 20 minutes. The question I have, is why do they even make flights that short?

Once we landed in Baltimore, our commercial flight streak ended and we had to check in to the military station. So from there we had to claim all 13 pieces of checked baggage along with each of our 2 carry-ons (equaling a LOT of luggage) and transport it to the other side of the airport. Lucky for us, we got ourselves someone with a large cart. Unlucky for us, we arrived in Baltimore at 2pm and the military people don’t even go to the windows for checking baggage until 8pm.

So we found ourselves a nice little corner in the ‘Observation Deck’ of the BWI airport, complete with little playgrounds of rocket ships and planes and lots of little kids. My friend from Fredonia, Paige, moved out to Annapolis for a job and thankfully she had nothing better to do that day than to come to the airport and keep us company. It was great to see her, and by the time she left it was about dinner time.

Once 8pm rolled around, we got all our stuff back together and made it to the military terminal. At the same time we got there there must have been a military plane arriving from war because there were so many people cheering, so many balloons and flags, and so many families reunited with lots of tears and smiles. It was definitely an awakening experience to say the least. It made me realize how amazing the trip ahead of me is going to be, and how amazing the people will be that are in the audience, watching us.

We got all our bags checked, but our flight didn’t even board until 1am. So, we did more sitting in a different part of the airport until we could pass through security. From there things seemed to go pretty quickly, and before we knew it we were boarding the plane.

I have never flown military before, or heard of the C-80 (I think that’s what it was), but I felt like I was back in Disney World. We entered the terminal through the usual tunnel. Then we passed through double doors. Then we were all herded into a large group room with four double-doors. The doors then opened to 4 horizontal rows of seats, which was (a surprise to me) a bus that took us to the plane, which we boarded from the back. The plane itself was really large, but it was only equipped to hold about 30 passengers; the rest of it held cargo for the base. They played three movies that night, I can’t even remember what they all were. I hardly slept but I was a groggy mess.

from the plane as we were getting into Greenland.

Thursday, July 3^rd:

After a grueling day at the airport and a 2am departing flight to Greenland, we arrived at Thule at around 9am local time (an hour ahead of what I’m used to). Our pilot was a saint, because flying over glaciers the whole way, and then seeing nothing but clouds gave me real depth-perception problems. I thought we were still way up in the air when we dove down into a cloud and it ended up being the base. I guess visibility for today is only a half a mile, and let me tell you it’s pretty darn foggy. And cold, like 35 degrees.

our hotel! and fog...

Friday, July 4^th:

Show day! We got up and met up with Klaus (our sound guy) at 11am at the outdoor stage. When we got there, we found we were… really playing outside. We weren’t really sure if we would be in a tent, or in an extension of the community center; but no. We were playing on an outdoor stage. And man was it cold. We helped some people set up the stage/monitors/speakers/etc and then took an hour break to grab some lunch.

When we returned we hung out and sound checked around 3pm (the show was to start at 4:30), and whenever we could we got ourselves inside with our instruments to try and keep them (and us) warm.

Around showtime, we headed back to the stage where there was a Danish barbeque going on. There had been a softball tournament up until the barbeque, and a golf tournament on top of Mount Dundas (apparently it is the northernmost golf tournament in the world). When everyone had gotten to the site, Cornel Cox announced the winners of the golf tournament and the softball game, and we were set to play.

We decided on doing a shorter set due to the temperature outside, so we were thinking (2) 8-song sets with a break of about 15-20 minutes. We finished the first, and then took our break. While trying to make it inside I ended up talking to a few people, one of whom actually went to college at Alfred State (and he didn’t look too much older than us). By the time I realized it was about time to go back on, I hadn’t even gotten inside. Then Cornel Cox handed me hand warmers before I got back on stage. I have never been around so many wonderfully kind people in a show setting like this. We were and are so thrilled to be here, and it seems as though the feeling is incredibly mutual.

Susan, the director for all of the activities, told us before we went back on that our second set should only be about 4 more songs, because the people were too cold to stay out. So, we did just that. And by the time we got back to our hotel, we had been outside for almost 8 hours.

We showered, got warm again, and then headed to the TOW club to hang out with the people for a little while. We talked to Susan, Larry, and Mike, and tried some Danish liquor (…a mixture of vodka and cough syrup…), and then some of the guys at our show let us try another signature Thule Drink, ‘Green Goo.’ Needless to say, I only tried it, and then made it back to the hotel early because I was exhausted.

Overall though, what a great show.

Saturday July 5:

We woke up this morning to meet up with Larry and Mike for brunch, and then from then we kind of went ‘joy riding’ around Thule. Thankfully the fog cleared and we were able to see Mount Dundas, and… wow. We rode out to the coast and saw the iceburgs and pieces of ice floating around the ocean, and drove anywhere and everywhere we could. I am so amazed by what was covered in a fog for the past few days, and in awe that I’m actually seeing it with my own eyes.

Mount Dundas!

Iceburgs!

So we were gone for about two hours or so, and then when we got back we basically crashed. We headed to the tow club around 7:30, got some dinner, and then started our show around 10:30. We had a few technical difficulties, but thankfully the show went out without much of a hitch. The crowd was amazing, and we ended up playing for around 3 hours. We finally made it to bed around 3am, but still I have never been so impressed by a crowd. Their support and the fact that they all stayed the whole entire time (and the fact that we met almost every one of them afterwards) is still just so amazing.

Sunday July 6^th:

We made it to brunch again around 11ish (it’s our day off today), and then decided to climb Mt. Dundas. We were told that the last leg of it would be kind of difficult (involving a rope), but we’ve all climbed mountains before, and so we were all just pretty stoked on it. It took about 20 minutes by car to get to Dundas, and the scenery along the way was nothing short of amazing. It seriously looked like we were driving through the set of Lord of the Rings, with mountains, hills, and water as far as the eye could see. We also drove past Dundas Village, a small hunters camp where Innuits come in the wintertime. It was unbelievable.

When we got to Dundas, it immediately looked about 50 times more intimidating. I’m pretty sure it was about a 60 degree angle the entire way up. And it was nothing but loose rock along the ‘trail.’ We took about 45 minutes to get to the top, where the very top was about an 80 degree angle of sheer rock with nothing but a rope to get us to the landing. And to make matters worse, there were two Danish men that were determined to climb and descend the mountain ten times in one visit, and they just waltzed past me, struggling on the rocks, at least three times. Worst.

But, eventually we made it up there, and the view from the top was AMAZING. The climb down, on the other hand... awful. awful awful awful. I haven't been that scared...ever haha. When we finally returned back to the hotel, it was movie-night and a whole lot of nothing.

tomorrow, tomorrow...

So, tomorrow. Greenland.

I managed to get my hands on a little map so that you (and I, thankfully) can see where we'll be spending the next 10 days or so. So here you have it:

We did some research early on, and Nuuk is 2 hours ahead of us... and as you can tell, we will be absolutely nowhere near it.

The Thule Air Base website says that it's only an hour ahead, so hopefully that won't mess with us too much. On the other hand, we'll be in 24 hours of sunlight because of the summer solstice...

Anyways, we got our final itinerary fed ex'd to us this morning, complete with 'mission number' and so on (the guy who brought it to our door was all like "I think it's from the Pentagon..." so good.) And basically it said that we will for sure have shows on the 4th and 5th of July (Fri and Sat), and possibly a show on Tuesday the 8th. We also got an email from one of the men on the base, telling us that when we don't have shows they'll be showing us around, including a 'Thule Tripping' day on Monday.

Yes.

Tomorrow will be a full day of traveling, and we leave Syracuse at 11:30 to go to Philly, where we will then catch a plane to Baltimore that arrives at 2pm. Then we switch from commercial to military flights, and our plane for Greenland departs at 2am. So... we'll have some time to hang. I'm bringing some books to read. We'll be video-blogging. Kaleena got her computer and camera all hooked up, so in addition to this you'll be able to see a little bit of what's going on from the top of the world. We tried it out today:





For all of our upcoming vids, check out www.youtube.com/thescarletending.

We'll be updating that, and I'll be updating this, as much as possible.

See you in Greenland!