London to Hannover

It doesn’t matter how much I try, I always lose my nerve and over pack when I go on tour. The forecast is for very cold weather in Germany, yet I know from previous trips that shops, hotels, coaches, trains and concert halls are always heated to a ridiculous temperature so in spite of packing vests, T-shirts, jumpers and fleeces I usually end up wearing T shirts alone and carting a load of stuff around Germany that I don’t actually end up wearing. So, what did I do? I listened to people saying “Oh no, you should take jumpers and thermals, its REALLY cold and you know how you hate to be cold ...”

So, the suitcase was dutifully slid down several flights of stairs and heaved into the back of the car; its almost too heavy to lift, what with all those flippin’ jumpers and vests in it; though the 3 concert dresses (new JC included), 2 pairs of concert shoes, 3 pairs of boots and hairdryer probably contributed ...; flat keys were dropped off with Lou, the car was driven to home for safe keeping, and I set off for the airport with the help of a lift to East Croydon station courtesy of TH who also helped me get my case onto the train and then waved me off; all of which combined to make me feel curiously melancholy ...

I arrived in plenty of time to get checked in (my case may have been the largest, but at least it wasn’t the heaviest!) and had a lovely glass of fizz with the gang to celebrate the kick off of the tour - 2 weeks of glorious Mozart, good mates, late nights, early starts, 1,000s of miles (no idea how many, but its lots!) on planes, coaches and trains, and most importantly the first opportunity in a good 6 months to truly empty my head and be me. Boy, am I looking forward to it!

The rest of the journey was pretty pleasant. Well, as pleasant as traveling can be bearing in mind that it always feels to me like one long queue! Well, the queues are now over and we’ve arrived, so I’m off for dinner, a few sherries, dancing in the hotel bar (depending on how I’m feeling) and then bed - all ready for a spot of shopping, rehearsals and concert number 1 tomorrow.