so i have not been very good at writing a diary for a while, and i was going to do one from this latest tour but i never got round to it for one reason or another, so i thought i would share some pictures of what went on.
the itinery was: we loaded out of london and went to herning in denmark for rehearsals, from there we went to helsinki tallin riga vilnius. we then got out the trucks in berlin (we were double manning from vilnius) to have a 45 hour break in prague while the trucks went to hamburg berlin then down to prague. once we were back in the trucks it was to leipzig munich mannheim milan zurich toulouse barcelona. we then drove the trucks to lyon where we got out again to have the next 45 hour break while relief drivers took the trucks to amneville then up to paris where we met up with them once again. onwards to amsterdam oberhausen antwerp before we set off for dublin and the first of some multi shows where we could relax! it was dublin cardiff glasgow manchester and finally next week down to london and that will be that!
so the start in scandinavia i have never experienced cold like that before, i have been up there in the snow before but not cold like i felt in february! the coldest i recorded was minus 27! and to work in is something else, within minutes despite thick socks and gloves i couldnt feel my feet or hands, and when breathing in im sure i could feel my nose hairs freezing!! since getting off the ferry in finland i did not switch the engine off until i got back onto the ferry for riga, 2 of the subbies trucks diesel jellied up and daf had to be called out, my (and others) adblue froze and they were not using any, although mine was the only one to come up with a warning on the dash, which when we got down further south still refused to go off so i had a trip to daf in germany. i really enjoyed it though and would go through it again!! whilst driving through poland i was chatting to my double driver about having never seen a moose, we decided they didnt come down this far, i then hit the hay for a kip and within 5 minutes he saw a moose at the side of the road!!! typical!!
out 45 hour break in prague was great, i have always been straight in and out of prague with no time to have a look round. however i had been told of a oscilliary at a town called kutna hora, and after seeing some pictures of the plcae decided it was well worth a trip, a couple of the other guys were also up for it, so we got a train ticket out (its about 80km from prague) which cost a few quid return and set off to check it out. what an amazing experience, if your heading to prague for a weekend or something its well worth a trip out there. the place is decorated with the bones of victims of the plaue from the 1300s by a half blind monk, so it might not be everyones cup of tea!!!
by the time we got out of switzerland heading for toulouse, the trucks were minging, so as there was time most of us went into the truckwash by the central routier at nimes and got a cracking wash done on the truck. off we set to toulouse, we came out of toulouse and it was windy as hell, and as soon as we got over the spanish border it started raining, and it didnt stop until we got well back into france heading for lyon, bloody typical!!!
so the rest was fairly uneventful stuff, i got the truck washed again in dublin while we were parked at the topaz for a couple of days
so, some pics…
heading for sweden, love it!!
boat frozen in the water
ice skating at jonkopping, some people were going very far out, must be brave or mad i felt!!
after sitting about for a day or 2 in denmark!
is it just me who found this company name funny? 
on arrival for the ferry from stockholm through a bit of a blizzard, playing guess who!!
moose!!
in the harbour. i have never been across when it has been freezing up so i was really looking forward to this crossing!
wow!!
then the sun came out, changed the view on it completly, it was stunning!!
theres always one!!
the coldest i have ever been in
the autohof in berlin where we stayed, by the old racetrack
look away now if you dont like bones! few from kutna hora
leipzig
swiss scenery
can anyone identify this? seen in the river behind the trucks at the gig, its not an otter, and if its a rat its the size of a dog!! coypu maybe?
having a well earned pint at the guinness storehouse tour
and finally, i was actually driving the black one this time, but how soon will i be back behind the wheel of a merc??!!
i hope its been interesting, i can maybe add a few more pics later if people want ill have a look see what i have
