Our final morning in Italy and our final show in Germany heralded our first and only 'four countries in one day' day. Not something you can boast often, today's travel itinerary was daunting on paper but in reality was just another show day. Waking in Milan, I made use of a spare hour and asked the hotel to direct me to a deli so I could get a few bits as I always do in Italy. The concierge gave me directions to the renowned Cracco Peck. Dan walked with me in the searing midday heat and I soon realized that the concierge had marked the hotel location in completely the wrong place. I asked a waiter who was on the street having a fag, he was most helpful and I re-established my bearings. When Dan and I arrived, our jaws dropped simultaneously. What a deli. We bought some  Olio extravergine di oliva and some Parmigiano and set off back to the hotel at pace. When we arrived, breathless, we were both soaked to the core but all our bags had already left so we had to check out and leave the hotel hoping that the air conditioning in the car would sort it all out. By the time we got to Linate and aboard the plane, we were respectable. Daniella, our delightful hostess was up and serving the food as soon the captain cleared her to do so, at about 10,000 ft.



Within seconds she was serving up today's lunchtime treat, risotto with champagne and strawberries, apparently all the rage in Italy this summer are risotto dishes with fresh fruits or berries. Beautifully subtle if not a little filling. An hour later we were coming in to Nurnburg where Gunther was waiting with his trusty driving team, Bob and Eike.  Here Mannfred, Tim Hook and Gunther share a joke.



We loaded up and set off on the 1 hour and 125 minute drive to Wurzburg, on the Northern tip of Bavaria. One fateful day in this town's history is worthy of mention,. on March 16th, 1945, nearly the entire city was destroyed in a hellish 17 minutes by some 225 British Lancaster bombers during a WWII air raid. The city centre which dated from medieval times was completely destroyed and around 5,000 were killed. Over the next 20 years, the much cherished buildings of historical importance were painstakingly and accurately rebuilt, mostly by women who became known as 'rubble women' because the men were either killed or taken as prisoners of war. By comparison, warzburg suffered more in terms of damage than Dresden which was all but wiped out by the firebombing of the previous month. As I stood and took this picture, I felt humbled by the whole story and even more grateful to be alive in 2010.



The Festung Marienburg is sited in the grounds of the Fortress Marienburg, which is on a hill overlooking the entire town. Built in the 17th century, the now baroque castle served as a home for the Prince-Bishops (sort of German archbishops) for nearly five centuries. A peculiarity of today's outdoor stage structure was the trees which encroached on both sides of the stage. Unfortunately, because of the rain this afternoon, it made it a little difficult for the crew boys to keep all the gear dry and there were a few wet moments. Lots of tarpaulin and close attention and no damage was done.







I talk a lot about our drivers on this tour, mainly because we have such a good relationship with all of them, and we spend quite a lot of time in the cars and today, the founder of the company and one of our drivers from previous tours, Mannfred Frank was at the show. Mannfred also bought along with him, Hilda from Mercedes benz who's birthday it is any day now and asked for a pic. Mark kindly obliged.



Mike and Richard get into some pre-show practice



We literally couldn't have wished for a better audience this evening, after spending most of the pre-show sheltering under umbrellas in the rain, they were lucky once more as the clouds parted about half an hour before show time. The band were in fine form once again and the on stage atmosphere was just fantastic. As I said, the crowd were just amazing, so appreciative and amazingly attentive considering there were 10,000 of them. When we left the stage for the final time to head for the cars, the roar was spine tingling and I felt sorry we weren't heading back for another encore but we were in the cars and a perfectly executed runner meant we were back on the road for Nurnburg in no time. At the GA terminal there was a comical delay with security, ie. they weren't there and then we had to board one of those busses designed for 747 passengers to drive is literally 30 yards to the steps of the plane. Job creation environmental irresponsibility at work. On board again and of course Daniella spoiled us with breaded veal chops. Most of us weren't hungry as Pete had put sandwiches in the cars but the food was so delicious, we ate anyway. Besides, we need all the energy we can muster for tomorrow's day off and tennis appointment...at the Monte Carlo Club!