Hothouse Who

Berlin was baking today, and the sauna sensations followed us to the Arena near Treptow Park for the Who show. We missed connecting with some other fans because the heat forced us back to the hotel for a change of clothes and we were too late to meet up with them- sorry Stefan, Mike and Dino, I wish things hadn't taken so long to cross the city twice.

The Arena was like an oven, but filled with wonderfully enthusiastic fans who didn't seem to care that they were cooking. Onstage, Casbah Club rocked really well to start us off, and I tip my hat to Simon for keeping the suit jacket on- I'd have stripped in that heat, personally. Their set was really good.

The Who came on for a blistering two-hour set, and they played 2 songs off the new Wire & Glass, which I absolutely need to find here before going home, as it is not available in America, which means also not in Canada. They also played the Mike Post Theme, and the three songs were really well received, and many were singing along to them. There were a few surprises in the setlist (Relay, for one) though I really wanted to hear I'm One or anything off Quadrophenia, which is my favourite LP. There were technical glitches here and there, and some sound problems, and Roger pleaded (to no avail, I'm afraid) with the front-row smokers to give his voice a break by not lighting up, but the band was energised despite the steam bath, the audience responded warmly, and Pete in particular was in a jovial and light mood, joking with everyone and just having a great love-in. Fantastic night!

Austin's camera captured about 200 pictures, one of which I uploaded here to show you how fantastic Roger and Pete both looked and how lucky I was to sneak my way to the second row. It was a smallest venue I have ever seen the Who at, and there seemed to be great intimacy in the room and an eventual ignoring of the hot conditions around.



We were also very lucky in that Rachel and Mikey did a little walkabout into the arena after their webcast of In the Attic. I spotted them a few feet away, did a double take to make sure it was really them, mustered up some boldness and introduced myself to them and they were both just lovely. Rachel is as beautiful in person as she appears on the show, and the pair of them looked fit and relaxed. Mikey is absolutely sweet, and Rachel was just brilliant as well, and they both kindly posed for a picture with me. It's on my camera, and I don't have my gadget to download it, but I will ask them for permission when I get home and then post it on the blog at a later date if they give it.

Fantastic Who night- my ears are still ringing, my feet are still burning from standing on the hot pavement for hours, but it was memorable and absolutely fabulous to have been there. Everyone needs to catch them if they can!

Love to all of you who have been saying hello over the last few days. I've been able to stop by some of your blogs, and I hope you're all having some summer fun!

The Who in Berlin!

We made it into Berlin yesterday, and my sister and I are practising our very rusty German. Most of the time we are making ourselves understood, although the raised eyebrows at our very rudimdentary grammar is quite amusing.
We did very little last night except find an amazing restaurant in Savigny Platz, which seems to be a theatre district area, and then walk from Zoo Station to the Brandenburg Gate, which took us through the debris that was once the Fan Mile for the FIFA World Cup, a long stretch of avenue where fans watched the games for free on large television screens.
It is a blistering 31 C in Berlin, has been since yesterday, and the sun is really quite bright. I think it's going to be a hot night for the Who in all ways possible. I will post a review later on for all of you following our boys, and look forward to meeting some of the Who fans at a pre-concert pub dinner.

I hope everyone is doing well, and thanks for your good wishes.

Last Night In London

Today was a fantastic day in London- the rain held off until I came out at High Street Kensington tube station after the blogger dinner, and it was warm all day.

We started off with a walk towards the Earls' Court to see if a longer walk was worth avoiding a change of tube trains to go to Heathrow tomorrow with all the luggage. The result was a resounding yes. Along the way, a funny thing happened: we met a nice lady walking her beautiful golden retriever, and made small talk with her as we walked, until her dog pressed her to a faster pace than our leisurely stroll. She excused herself, and I kept wondering why she looked vaguely familiar to me. At the Earls' Court Road, I suggested to Austin that while we were in the neighbourhood, could we go down to Logan Place, where Freddie Mercury lived, just to see the house again, and we took a quick turn to do so. Up ahead of us, the same lady and her retriever turned into the Mercury house as we were coming up to the first gated door, and it hit me that we had been chatting with his longtime girlfriend Mary Austin, who inherited the house and his estate after he passed away. No wonder she had looked vaguely familiar.
We took a stroll through my beloved Brompton Cemetery and took some pictures of the Victorian stone statues and the overly-friendly squirrels. I love the peacefulness of the walk across the gravestones- I know that sounds strange, but it's quite a beautiful walk.



We headed towards the Embankment area and went to visit the Temple Church, built in the 1100s for the Knights Templar and made famous by DaVinci Code. We had quite the history lesson from the curator. We then took another leisurely stroll to the Wesminster Abbey, which I hadn't visited in a long time, and for the first time I became very aware of the tourist throngs. It was enjoyable still, though. Took the tube back to the hotel and had a late lunch and an even later swim, and then went off for the blogger dinner at As Greek As It Gets.
Marietta can certainly choose a good restaurant, and we had a fabulous time together. Marc and Jill were sweet and funny, as were James and Jonathan, and I just adore Marietta for making all these arrangements to meet up with me and make this London stop so fantastic.

I've got to go pack now, as we fly out to Berlin tomorrow. Wednesday night, I am meeting some of the German Who fans at a pub pre-show and then getting my Who fix!!!! I hope everyone's doing well out there!

Londonium, part two

For those of you wondering what I'm doing posting two days in a row, it's got to do with Austin having his laptop and paying for two hours of wireless login per session- I decided that the blog was a good place to record my comings and goings before another glass of Strongbows makes me forget everything I've done.
Today we started off and the V & A Museum as planned, but due to a wicked barometer headache, I only managed the fashion exhibit, which included the 60s clothes, before begging for a change of scenery. The skies were spitting rain, so we dashed into the Museum of Natural History across the road and took a tour of the mammals and dinosaurs, which featured a hilarious robotic T-Rex making children scream all around me. Not much help for the headache there, but a lot of cranky and cross parents shouting at their children.
I took a break in the afternoon to use the hotel swimming pool and stretch the jetlagged body, as I tend to suffer from what I refer to as Economy Class Neck Syndrome. Then we dashed off to Kensal Green. I have a certain fondness for foreign cemeteries to begin with, but I have some scenes in my novel sequel which involve KG and I needed to do a bit of research at the site to make things more realistic. Not as pretty as Brompton's, and I recognised the crematorium from Freddie Mercury's cremation service there, but I managed to get the pictures and visual information I needed. As well, it was a lovely walk around the grounds under sunny, warmer skies.
We met up with blogger Marietta at the Tea Clipper pub in Knightsbridge for some World Cup action after that. She is a lovely, fun person, and I'll be seeing her again tomorrow night for blogger dinner, or blinner for short. Despite the outcome, it was a fantastic, competitive game with excitement at both ends, and after Zidane's disgraceful conduct, my heart sank a bit and I just had a feeling France was done for. The Italian fans spilled out on the Brompton road afterwards in cars and motorbikes, waving flags and honking up a storm. It was great to watch their pride and happiness, though it must have been mayhem back home in Toronto, which boasts the largest Italian population of any city outside the old country. I also had to laugh- a friend of mine in Toronto text-messaged me. One word: crap. I didn't recognise the number, and asked who it was. We've been out of touch for months, and it made him laugh to find out he was sending a message to London. Hard life, he replied. Yeah, isn't it?

Beautiful London town

We made it into London without any problems- beautifully calm flight across the pond, even managed to sleep, and are now in Kensington, one of my favourite neighbourhoods in one of my favourite cities. We had dinner in a nice French cafe, and then walked off the brie by crossing Kensington gardens all the way past Buckingham Palace and then around towards Victoria. Had a pint at the Bag O' Nails pub and watched the remainder of the Germany-Portugal 3rd place match while the sore feet took a break, and then tubed home.

I love this city, always have since my first time here in 1972- it is so green, so full of beautiful parks and I am surrounded by the details of Georgian architecture that I adore. People have always said that Londoners are cold and uncaring, funny how I've never seen that side of them. the same is said about New Yorkers and Parisians, and those are two of my other favourite cities and people as well.

Tomorrow, we're going to find the Victoria & Albert museum and then, if the weather is nice, grab a picnic lunch and afternoon read in one of the great parks before venturing to the pub to watch the WC finals. I am looking forward to hanging out with the lovely Marietta tomorrow night.

Thanks for your kind wishes, all, and I hope you're all having nice weekends as well.