Zurich, Switzerland

Awake and out on the street by 11. Rather than take the shopping route again, I walked to and across the Adige River that runs through Verona. I fell in at a couple of cafes for their miraculous espresso. I don't pretend to speak Italian, but espresso means 'press' and has become synonymous with the style of coffee which is squisito....exquisite. There was a small park with a few benches in the sun where I stopped and sat for awhile looking across the river at the orange, creme and pink stucco apartments with their red tiled roofs. A beautifully blue and sunny day, one that makes you happy to be alive and exactly where you are at the moment. I kept thinking how impossibly lucky my life has been and continues to be; no accounting for it other than luck.

Here's something cool, in searching for the name of the above mentioned river, I stumbled onto www.virtourist.com. It has great guided tours and photos of cities of the world and, along with Guy Fletcher's tour diary (www.guyfletcher.co.uk) is a good companion to these 'notes' for getting a feel of the cities we are in. Very educational.

We flew out of Verona, where we've been basing for this leg, a short 45 minute flight to Zurich. Tonight's venue was the Hallenstradion where we have played before, It has been remodeled and I remember there being a wooden, banked indoor bicycle track running round the the interior. That is no longer the case and Guy says the roof has been raised. Very echoey, but once the audience was in and we began playing it sounded fantastic. I have to assume it was a sold out crowd as I couldn't see any empty seats looking out from the stage. If so, we played to 8,050 wonderful fans that began reserved and gradually became more enthusiastic as the show progressed. By the encores the entire place was on it's feet and roaring. The best description I can think of for these shows is loose and playful. We're all having a helluva good time.

From the stage into the Mercs, to the airport and boarding the Legacy for Verona. A couple of healing g&t's on the flight and back in the hotel by midnight. A night-cap with the boys then one last cup of tea with Danny and Guy. Splendid.

So long,

Richard