Carrying on from the last instalment, and we’re still in Poland.
After a couple of days off, we had to reload the trucks from the venue before we could set off to our next show.
Unfortunately, this was delayed slightly because someone had left their car under one of the doors we were going to use to get the equipment
out of the building. With the use of a forklift, we eventually managed to pull the car out of the way, but it cost us 30minutes.
We then reloaded the trucks, using the original door with the scissor-lift and the new door with the forklift.
Now we’re on the way to Plock, just to the West of Warsaw. Again, its been snowing, but not enough to cause us any problems, and we arrive
on time. The venue is another sports arena, with decent access for the vehicles, although we do have to move them after loading-in as fire
regulations won’t allow us to park on the service road. However, we do return for the load-out while the show is still on.
After the show in Plock we’re off to Gdansk, up in the North of Poland. There’s a good stretch of motorway, and as we have already got our Road Tax,
its just a case of showing the counterfoil at the peage, and again we make good time on the journey and even manage a couple of hours nap on
arrival.
Another sports arena, with plenty of space for the tour vehicles, although for some reason the busses have to park outside the compound.
The load-in door has a height barrier attached, which for some reason seems to be a good foot lower than the actual door, the result being that
even with all the air dumped, I still couldn’t get the truck right inside the building.
From Gdansk (a town you can smell before you see it), its a short drive to our next show at Bydgoszczm, back down the same stretch of motorway. This is another sports arena, situated beside the river. Although there’s no proper goods door, the trucks are quickly off-loaded, and all the
equipment is taken through pedestrian doors into the main hall.
Next stop on the tour is Warsaw, where we’ll have a couple of days off. We manage to get there before the city driving ban starts at 07.00, so
we drive alongside the river, straight to the venue. The Torwar is a regular venue on the touring circuit, and i’ve been here many times before.
The busses arrive a few hours later, and we make plans to meet up with the drivers for a meal later on in the evening. Unfortunately, one of
the busses has a problem with its toilet facility, namely that someone has put something non-bio-degradeable into it, and that means Brian
the driver has to unenviable task of trying to unblock it. You couldn’t pay me enouigh to be a bus driver!
Incidently, whilst on the subject of busses, as well as the tour band and crew, who travel on three busses, we also have a Polish stage-crew
travelling with us to do all the loading/unloading and help build up the equipment. They’ve been a good, hard-working bunch of fellas, and we’re
all hoping that they can be retained for the next leg in Czech Republic.
