North America Guitar Tour - spin off
Going Home
July 31st - August 1st 2008
I must have overslept my wake-up call at 5am, and it was past 6:30 when I was woken up by the sound of knocking on the door. Mr. P's father was supposed to pick me up at 6:50, so I didn't have time to shower, let alone wash my face. I packed everything that was on the desk and floor into my bag and went to the lobby, where Mr. P's father had just arrived. I had heard it was 35 euros per night, so I tried to pay 70 euros plus a bottle of water, but the hotel clerk said it was only 60 euros in total. It seems the landlady had arranged it for me. The landlady hadn't arrived yet, so I asked her to please give my best regards and got in the car.
Mr. P's sister said she had already bought my ticket to Pisa Airport. I would transfer to the airport train in Pisa, and Mr. P's sister would transfer to a train at a station further ahead of Pisa and go to the beach. I said goodbye to her father at the station, stamped the date with a machine at the end of the platform, and then got on the train. It was a local line, and it was not exactly clean, with graffiti everywhere inside and out, and the carriage itself was quite old. We were sitting in a box seat and talking when we heard a loud banging sound on the window. It was her boyfriend, Mr. A, who had also came to the concert the day before. He had come to see her off before going to work. As the train started moving, he sprinted to the end of the platform. Soon after that, her cell phone rang, it was Mr. A and they talked for almost half the journey. The interior lights did not come on even when we entered the tunnel, and it was pitch black during that time, but she said she did not know whether this was normal or a malfunction.
I said goodbye to her at Pisa Station, waited about 15 minutes, then changed to a train bound for the airport, and arrived at the airport station in about 5 minutes. The station is in front of the airport, so it was easily accessible, but it was so small that it is hard to believe the world-famous tourist destination has this sized airport. It was crowded with people. As with the station, the gate wasn't displayed until the very last moment, so I waited in front of the board. The plane was delayed by about 30 minutes, but there was only an announcement to come to the gate, and some of the people in line were yelling at each other with a lot of anger.
I fell asleep immediately after boarding, and when I woke up, there was an announcement that it was about 20 minutes to Gatwick Airport in London. I hadn't eaten anything since the morning, so I was very hungry, but I decided to go to Heathrow Airport first, so I lined up to buy a ticket for the express bus. Payment was only in pounds, and several groups in front of me who didn't have pounds on them were arguing because they wouldn't sell them tickets.
I arrived at Heathrow Airport, but I only had 5 pounds on me, so I couldn't go into the restaurant. I bought a sandwich and coffee at a stand and ate it outside. There was a lot of space in the airport, but there was no place to sit. When I checked in here, I was told to bring my guitar on board, so I did as I was told. This is the most reassuring pattern for me.
こAfter nearly nine hours since I left Florence, I returned to Prague, and Mr. M was there. He had expected me to catch a flight from Florence, and was worried because there was no flight at the specified time. I was sure that I had come from Florence, but the last flight was from London. When I went to the hotel I had reserved in advance, the hotel clerk said that I had not confirmed the room because I had not reserved it. I told him that I had called and emailed him many times to confirm, but he did not respond, and after making sure that the money would not be debited from my credit card by mistake, I drove to Mr. M's house. In the end, it was a relief that he came.
The next morning, Mr. M took me to the airport, and the subsequent transfers and connections went smoothly, and I arrived at Kansai Airport almost on time. At the end, there was an accident where the head part of the guitar case was cracked so that it was peeled off, but there was no damage to the guitar itself. I went outside and first went to the Docomo shop in the airport, explained the circumstances that had only allowed me to use it for three days, plugged in the charger at the shop, and it started charging without any problems. I was relieved that there was no damage to the phone itself.
[Afterword]
Even though I verbally confirmed the hotel at Prague airport, the credit card statement sent the following month showed that the money had been deducted. When I called them on Skype, they insisted that I had stayed there, so I quickly lied and said, "I'm a travel writer, so I'll write about this too," and someone who seemed to be their boss immediately started apologizing on my behalf, and I was able to get the money back.
*The people who appear in this article are listed by their initials until their identities can be confirmed.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home