Log> Evernight over Europe pt. 6

That's all, folks. The Evernight Tour is coming to its bloodied conclusion after tonight's gig in Lubeck. The casualties this far are one house, one tree, one glass landscaping creation (that looked just like one was supposed to park a bus on it), a cymbal, numerous guitar strings - and finally, the bus.

We were stopped by friendly German police who told us they would like to take our bus to their vehicle inspection facilities after it had spewed oil and small metal parts on them as they were driving behind us. In the vehicle check, they gave a list of faults and hazards over a page long, and took our plates away. Many of the faults were severe enough to have the bus taken off the road, but the funny thing is that the bus had been inspected in Finland two months ago or so. The bottom had rusted through in parts, the breaks didn't hold pressure and the support beams in the chassis were badly damaged - so I'm guessing it had been a bit of an underhand inspection. I have their contact info, in case you need to get a through-rotten death-trap on four wheels through vehicle inspection in Finland. Unless someone sues them first.

We rented a new bus with a local driver, who again speaks no English, but speaks German very very loud, so we're getting along. He shouts at me until I get it. We still need to get the entire backline (instruments, amps etc.) on board the ferry and to Finland, which may prove tricky since we have no vehicle and the current bus will just dump us in Rostock harbour, and we can't carry all the stuff at once. We are considering buying a van and selling it in Finland. That's how desperate we are. Cross your fingers.

But this is likely to be the last post for a while, and other than a reflective summary or summaries later, likely the last post from the tour. I'll have other things on my mind on completely different continents. 20 days until the start of an Advanced Diving Course in Madagascar's Nosy Be!