A Visitor On Europe’s Roads

Category: Travels

  • Schiffbruecke Flensburg

    Schiffbruecke Flensburg

    After the concert in Moorhausen, we stayed in a hotel in nearby Oldenburg. From there it was “only” a four hour drive up to Flensburg which gave us time to stop for lunch. Today was an early show at the Museumwerft Schiffbruecke – both a museum and a working boat yard with a cafe which…

  • Moorhausen Konserdiele

    Moorhausen Konserdiele

    From Remplin to Moorhausen was a four hour drive, thankfully going around Hamburg. The village of Moorhausen lies north of Oldenburg and very close to the North Sea. It sits in the Wesermarsch which is west of the river Weser, between the city of Bremen and the mouth of the river. The Konserdiele is in…

  • Remplin Castle Chapel

    Remplin Castle Chapel

    Today was a very long (6 hour) drive, mainly on autobahns. These are mostly two lane motorways with usually quite long distances between exits which means cars drive very fast. On long stretches these is no speed limit so I might be driving at 140km/hr (87 mph) and a car will zoom by me as…

  • Even For A Shadow Tour 2024

    Even For A Shadow Tour 2024

    For Ray Cooper, this is his 41st solo tour and it follows the release of his 5th album. The album and the tour have the same title. The first gig for Ray was a house concert in Copenhagen. He drove down from his home in Sweden and over the Oresund bridge. It was a long…

  • Dorsten Baumhaus

    Dorsten Baumhaus

    The Cornelia Funke Baumhaus in Dorsten is a community centre with a tree in the middle (Baumhaus means tree house). Ray had played here before and the venue was full. With good speakers, excellent lights and a very appreciate audience, it was a perfect venue to finish this tour.

  • Schollbrockhaus in Herne

    Schollbrockhaus in Herne

    It was only a short drive to Herne. The Schollbrokhaus is an art gallery in the grounds of Strünkede Castle in Herne which dates back to the 12th century. We had some lovely pictures above the merch table. As you can see from the photograph, the timbers made for a very unusual place to play.…

  • Essen Grend

    Essen Grend

    The directions from Google maps said 3hr 42 mins but in practice we had a very long (five hours) drive up from Homburg to Essen. There are a lot of roadworks in this area which slows the traffic down (reminds me of England). The drive was north up the Rhine valley from Saarland into the…

  • Schlossberghöhlen

    Schlossberghöhlen

    The Schlossberghöhlen in Homburg is an amazing venue. A sandstone cave, originally laid down some 250 million years ago, it was first mined 500 years ago. It was then used as air raid shelters during the 1940’s. Conversion began in the early 1950’s into a nuclear bunker for the president of Saarland when, for only…

  • Returning in September

    Returning in September

    Posted 20 September 2023 This is a short trip for me, joining Ray for just 4 shows during his September tour. We will be in the west of Germany this time with the first show being inside a sandstone cave in Homburg followed the next day with a long drive travelling north for 3 shows…

  • That was the tour that was

    That was the tour that was

    I am home now after 19 days of travelling. It was a very good tour, finishing with over 150 people at the outdoor concert in Altlandsberg on Saturday and 40 people at a private concert in a barn on Sunday. I travelled home on Monday (yesterday) while it took Ray two days to get home.…