Greece: part 1

I've always wanted to go to Greece. As an art history major in college, I studied the stories of the Greek myths which are referenced over and over again in works of art throughout the ages. When I lived in Florence my junior year, I planned to take a trip across the Mediterranean but just couldn't fit it in. So when my sister mentioned that she was going to Athens for work and then had a few extra days to sight see, I jumped at the opportunity to meet her. Once you're already in Europe, going to just about any other EU country seems so easy and cheap. Well, yes, it was relatively cheap to get to Greece, but it was anything but easy. In fact, this blog post could be called "transportation disasters abroad" (part 1).
I left Josh in Amsterdam on Wednesday afternoon- he had a show there that night and then had to make his way to Germany to start the month long Songs & Whispers Circuit Tour (check out his latest blog posts here). The only (inexpensive) way for me to get to Athens was to take 2 flights on Turkish Airlines, with a 3 hour layover in Istanbul. I've also always wanted to go to Istanbul, so even the prospect of spending a few hours in their airport was intriguing. Turns out, though, a 3 hour layover wasn't enough time for me to catch my flight to Athens!
One thing I will say is that Turkish Airlines has excellent food on every flight- and these days, getting any kind of food on a flight is amazing. They also have comfortable, new-ish airplanes with tv's on every seat. luxury. 
As we were "beginning our descent" in to Istanbul Ataturk Airport, the pilot came on the speaker and said that the airport runway was very busy and we would have to fly around for a while before landing. fine. It didn't seem too alarming until about 30 mins later, after flying in circles I guess, the pilot came on again. I couldn't understand what he was saying very well, because after speaking in Turkish, he reiterated what he had just said in very quick, sloppy, mumbling English.
"Excuse me", I said to the nearest flight attendant "What did the pilot just say?". . . She told me we were landing in Sabiha- a different city! Yeah, that's what I thought he said. "Um", I tried not to sound freaked out "how can I get to Istanbul to catch my connecting flight? Is there like a bus or something?"
"No, you can not catch a bus" she said snarkily "They are very far apart- Sabiha is in Asia and Istanbul is in Europe!"
Wait a minute! My eyes widened as I took in this news- totally forgetting what little I knew about Turkish geography. "So you're saying I'm going to be stuck in Asia with nowhere to go?!!!"
"Uh", she sighed "I can't deal with this!" and walked off.
Putting aside my shock and frustration at how this flight attendant was treating me, I looked around the plane and noticed that no one was panicking except for one man sitting behind me, who was arguing passionately in Turkish with another flight attendant. Ok, now I'm panicking a little. 

We landed in Sabiha, which I finally was told (by another passenger) is actually the other Istanbul airport- just on the other side of the channel that divides Europe and Asia Minor. duh. After refueling, the pilot told us we would be heading back to Istanbul Ataturk shortly. Why didn't the f'ing flight attendant tell me that in the first place?! But we didn't head back shortly, we instead sat on the runway there for about an hour. Then we flew to Ataturk and sat on that runway for about an hour. So we finally got to the terminal about 5 minutes before my flight to Athens left. Needless to say, no one held the flight for me and the dozen or so other passengers who were supposed to be on it. Instead, we all ran around the airport like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to figure out where to go to get on another flight. The airport personnel were useless and downright rude. Finally, I found a huge line at the (somewhat hidden) Turkish Airlines ticket counter. This must be the place.  
To make a long story somewhat shorter, I found myself on a bus to a hotel, about 30 minutes across town from the airport, several hours later. I slept soundly for all of 4 hours before I had to wake up, get back on the bus, and catch a 6:30 am flight to Athens. At least now I can say I've dipped my toe in the Asian continent!

36 Hours in Iceland.

Well, it's the start of another European tour- our fifth time across the Atlantic in 5 years! This time, Josh has a fantastic new album ("Holding On") to tour behind. . . but we'll talk about that later.

So we'll be hitting a lot of the same spots on this tour- the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands. . . but we began the trip with a new country (finally)- ICELAND! The tiny island nation in the North Atlantic has seen a huge surge in tourism lately, thanks to the efforts (and cheap prices) of Icelandair Airlines. Josh and I, like many North Americans, found a super inexpensive flight to London on Icelandair, via Reykjavik. And since we always love to visit new countries, we thought we'd take advantage of their free "stopover" program and spend a night in the capital city. A few interesting facts about Iceland- the population of the entire country is only about 320,000! That's around the size of metro Madison, WI! crazy. And even though 2/3 of the citizens live in the main city of Reykjavik, if you do the math, that makes for a pretty manageable sized city. So, we were able to walk around most of central Reykjavik in a couple of days.

Reykjavik

After landing at the airport in Keflavik, we had to take a bus for about 45 minutes to get to central Reykjavik. This was the only bit of countryside that we saw, but it was beautiful! The landscape is rugged and open- no trees, just low shrubs covering volcanic rock. It reminded me of Connemara, Ireland. In the distance (but not so far away) in almost every direction were snow-covered mountains. Actually, they're volcanoes. Many had flat tops, caused by eruptions in the recent past. The entire island is teeming with volcanic activity, including 30 active volcanoes! The plus side of this is that even though the temperatures are very cold, the ground stays quite warm. The most popular past time in Iceland is to bathe in the geothermal pools. There are dozens in Reykjavik and many more "natural" pools outside the city. And the entire country runs on geothermal energy, along with a bit of wind and solar power. My guess is they have the lowest carbon emissions in the world.

geothermal pool in Reykjavik

On our second day in Iceland, we woke up to snow. Quite a lot of snow, actually. Numerous people had told us that the weather there is particularly unpredictable, and this confirmed that. The previous day the weather report estimated temps in the upper 30s, but the entire time we were there I don't think it got above 25. Despite the fact that we hadn't really packed warm enough clothes (90% of our suitcases are full of CDs!), we walked about 1.5 miles from our hotel to the local geothermal pool. If you're familiar with Iceland, you've probably seen pics of the Blue Lagoon- a VERY popular tourist destination about an hour from Reykjavik. Some day I would like to visit this famous natural geothermal pool, but for this trip (since our time was limited and we didn't have a car) we opted for the "locals" version. The pool we went to was much like any public swimming pool, complete with dressing rooms, a tiny gym, and a steam room. Besides a full-size olympic pool, there are several "hot tubs" at varying temperatures. I would guess that the hottest tub is about 105 degrees fahrenheit. Surrounded by snow, steam rising all around us. . . it felt great! Even at a place like this, though, out in the "suburbs" of Reykjavik, it's hard to feel like a local because tourists are everywhere! Soaking in one of the larger tubs, Josh and I found ourselves wedged between two other American couples. And walking the streets of the central city, we heard English spoken way more than Icelandic. In fact, when we first arrived early Monday morning, we wandered around before the shops were open and it felt like a deserted city, save the dozens of tourists (mainly American & British) that we passed. Oh well. I still would LOVE to go back to Iceland, preferably when the weather is warmer, and see more of the countryside. 

  vintage posters from pinterest

Now we're in England and the tour is underway.  . . more updates soon!

XO,

Jess

City Feature: Lynchburg, VA

So, of course one of the best things about being on tour with Josh is passing through (and sometimes spending time in) lots of new places. We do end up going back to certain towns and cities every year, but every once in a while we take a gamble and book a show in a new town. The other day, while walking around Lynchburg, Virginia, I had the idea to write a short blog post now and then highlighting a place that maybe isn't the most popular tourist destination. In the past month we've spent time in Seattle, Atlanta, Asheville and (this weekend) Washington, DC- all great towns that we've gotten to know well, but most people are familiar with the highlights in these places, even if they've never been there. . . But there are so many unique communities in the US with cool things happening that you would never know about if you don't go there!
Admittedly, the only thing that I knew about the smallish Virginia mountain town of Lynchburg is that it's home to uber-conservative, right wing Christian college, Liberty University. As one of the largest draws to the city as well as a huge local employer, the atmosphere of LU definitely has an impact on the town, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a more open-minded facet of Lynchburg in the short time we were there.
Abe Loper is probably the best person we could have stayed with in Lynchburg. As a local businessman/ entrepreneur, teacher, advocate of "buy local" and owner of The White Hart Cafe where Josh played (and a couple other coffee shops), he was an enthusiastic "tour guide" and generous host. He told us about the history of Lynchburg, which historically was a tobacco town (like most of Virginia) and then a shoe manufacturing hub in the 20th century. Now a days there is a large percentage of the city that live below the poverty line, and this is apparent when you walk by all the empty old buildings downtown. However, like in many cities across the US, there is a growing movement of people who are moving back downtown, starting businesses, fixing up the historical buildings, and advocating a community-focused culture. Abe bought the White Hart a little over a year ago, after it had been empty for several months when the previous owners went bankrupt. It is a very charming coffee shop/ restaurant/ music venue in a large turn-of-the-century building complete with 15 foot high ceilings, a built in wooden bar, fireplaces, etc. It feels like the hub of a burgeoning downtown scene.

The White Hart

walking up to the Lynchburg Museum

this gorgeous old mansion downtown stands empty. . . Josh and I would LOVE to renovate it!

Food trucks on Main Street

Bye-bye, 2013

Well, here it is. My first post of 2014. . . a strange idea, indeed. 2013 was an overwhelmingly eventful year for me and it went by in such a blur, I honestly can't believe it wasn't a dream. Josh and I drove across 38 states this year, plus 10 countries in Europe. We met countless new people and reconnected with old friends we hadn't seen in years or decades and spent quality time with both our families. I've spent more time in my home state of Georgia this year than any time since high school. These are the perks of not having a "home" or "job".
This year was my first time without a traditional home. . . something so many people can't imagine. I'll admit, it's been really hard at times. But I try to think of home in more abstract terms now.  And we've been so amazed by all of the people, many total strangers, who have opened their homes to us. I think we spent a total of maybe 10 nights in a hotel all year and another 5 or so camping, but otherwise we have been provided for by so many generous folks. I know we have a negative balance in the good karma piggy bank, so when we do have a house again I plan to have lots of visitors- musicians, travelers, friends-of-friends. . .

I know this is the time of year that we're supposed to be making resolutions and plans, but I am deciding not to do that this year. In fact, I remember some of my so-called resolutions from last year, most of which I have not followed through on, and one was to "live in the moment." A cliche, I know, but something I'm getting better at. However, even totally zen people like me (ha!) have to plan ahead a little bit. And that's the really hard part about where we are now. . . I feel like we've been on this crazy ferris wheel for 15 months and we're not sure if it's a good time to get off. And where do we get off? I've always said that one of the advantages and curses of our generation is the abundance of choices. Josh and I have cut ties, whittled down our belongings to a very small pile and seen what's out there. Now we have to decide whether to keep touring, go back to our old lives in Madison, or maybe start over somewhere different. It's an overwhelming decision, and I don't feel like I'm ready to make it yet. So for now I'm just going to reminisce about 2013. . . here are some of the highlights:

Gettin' back to my roots.  Like I said before, we got to spend more time than usual with our families this year, including aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, siblings, second cousins. . . everyone. And we stopped at interesting landmarks whenever we could.

the tiny log cabin in North Carolina where my paternal Grandma was born

Josh outside the farm in Massachussetts where my maternal Grandma grew up

Mountains!  Driving and hiking through the Rockies, the Cascades, the Alps, Appalachians. . . I just can't get enough of these huge geological marvels!

the Highlands, Scotland

            

Mt. Rainier, Washington

Yellowstone National Park

Food, Glorious Food our mantra for the last few months was "the diet starts tomorrow". We had so many amazing meals this year (and I got in the habit of taking photos of most of them. . . honestly, I should start another blog)!

an afternoon "snack" in Austria

crazy good Vietnamese food in NYC

amazing gluten-free vegan pizza from Silly's in Portland, ME. . .and our homemade version

And, oh yeah, the music Technically the whole reason for this year of travel was for the music. I had the honor of seeing Josh perform around 185 times this year in a wide variety of venues. . . no, I never get tired of hearing the same songs! (that's only a tiny bit sarcastic) Also, we got to see some incredible performances from other folks.

Josh performing with two of our favorites, Jeffrey Foucault and Peter Mulvey

one of many impromptu post-show jam sessions, in England

Josh performing in Billings, MT this Summer

Well, here's to 2014- I don't know what it holds in store but I'm looking forward to finding out!

XO,
Jess

France and the Netherlands

It's really hard to believe that six days from now we'll be back in the States. . . what a long, strange trip it's been. About a month ago we flew into Amsterdam and immediately drove down to France. I'm sure it would have been a lovely drive if we hadn't taken the highway the whole way, getting stuck in terrible traffic for 2 hours in Belgium. France was great, though. . .We spent the bulk of the week in the Northeastern city of Nancy and then driving south to Burgundy.
One of the highlights of the week was the show that Josh played in the small town of Chagny in Burgundy. The Theatre Copaius was built in the 1850's by a local man who was dating an opera singer. In an over-the-top display of affection, he built this gorgeous 200 person theatre adjacent to his house. Not surprisingly, the poor man ended up bankrupt and had to sell the theatre (and I'm guessing the lady dumped him at this point). Now it is used for all kinds of city events, including the much-anticipated Josh Harty concert! The afternoon before the gig Josh went around to a couple of the local grade schools and spoke to the children (through a French interpreter) about American music, culture, etc. Some of the questions and comments were pretty hilarious (such as "Do you know Rhianna?" seriously?!)
The night of the show the theatre was packed. . . Josh played for 2 hours completely un-plugged, no amplifier or microphone. . . and at the end they called him back for 4 encores!

signing autographs for the French teenagers

before the show at Theatre Copaius

So back in the Netherlands. . . If you read my blog post from last year you know how much I respect the Dutch. They have a very lovely, well-run country, despite the fact that the first things most people think of when they think of Holland is weed and prostitutes.  I was happy that we got to spend a full two weeks there this year, including a considerable amount of time in Amsterdam. If you venture outside of the very center of Amsterdam, where most of the tourist-friendly coffee shops, pubs, gift shops, overpriced restaurants and brothels are, you will find a really unique, amazing city. We also went to several new cities this year including Nijmegen, Heusden, Rotterdam and Groningen. 

Nijmegen

Christmas time in Amsterdam

Most people, including the Dutch, don't venture as far north as the 3 provinces of Friesland, Drenthe and Groningen. I was actually shocked at how many Dutch people in the South we spoke to who had never been up there. . .it's only about a 2 hour drive from Amsterdam to the main northern University city of Groningen! And it's a very lovely city. . .We stayed with a Couchsurfer named Willy who lives in a 500 year old building, actually built into a part of the original Roman wall that surrounded the city. For a few days, including the trip to Groningen, we were met by my sister Sam and her bf Dan who flew in from Atlanta for a quick holiday. 

Sam, Dan & Josh in Groningen

The first night with Sam & Dan was a night off for Josh and one of our favorite musicians, Jason Isbell,  happened to be playing in the central NL city of Hengelo. The 200-seat show had sold out weeks before but Sam bought tickets through some overpriced third party website. . . we were really looking forward to it. But during lunch the day of the show we realized that the tickets were supposed to be shipped to Sam's apt in Atlanta and they never arrived! And when I talked to a woman with the company we purchased the tickets through, she said "It looks like the seller backed out, sorry!" We were temporarily distraught but pulled ourselves together and got on the good ol' social media sites, pleading with anyone who would listen to help us out. Amazingly, we heard back from both the venue and Jason himself. We're still not sure who exactly left the free tickets for us at the box office, but we were so grateful (the day after Thanksgiving!) and the show was fantastic!

Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires

Now we just have 3 final shows in southern England. . . I think Josh is really looking forward to taking a break!