We crossed the border from Switzerland to Italy and stopped at the first Auto Grille (Italian truck stop) we came to. For those of you who have never been to a European truck stop... It's unlike the truck stops in America. The bathrooms are usually immaculate and a fresh and large variety of food is not unusual.. This Auto Grille was no exception! We stopped for a slice of pizza a cappuccino and a pee!! Ahhh Italy, where even at a truck stop you get pizza hot out of the oven and fresh pressed espresso..

A fine selection of balsamic....

Also a fine selection of pasta!

We had a 5+ hr drive yesterday to Milano. It was a little long but sooooooo beautiful!! We traveled through Switzerland and breathed in all the beauty. Lakes, mountains, sun, snow, fog, mist, hail and the bright colors of spring grasses!!! Here are some photos, I took better ones which I will upload later but these are from my phone. :) ciao ciao!! Next stop milano!

We drove 5 hrs from Hannover to Stuttgart today for our show tonight. Stuttgart is a beautiful little city and I was looking forward to meeting a mutual friend and great photographer, Peter Heck. He's been a friend of my friends/rock family the Augers for years so I was happy to finally meet him. We arrived to the club to more warm friendly staff and snacks! Yum!
We soundchecked and learned another two Kepi songs for our group jam! It's really fun to play all together like that. Im so glad i was invited by Jens, our amazing German promoter/driver/awesome person to be part of this tour. There's already talk of doing it again in the Fall!! How fun!!
For those of you who are in the area here are the next shows.

April 11 Milan, Italy (Magnolia Club)
April 12 Bologna, Italy (Nuovo Lazzaretto)
April 13 Wiener Neustadt, Austria (Triebwerk)
April 14 Vienna, Austria (Arena)

So come out for a classy show and enjoy a glass of wine! :)

We arrived in Hannover to a great club with a very friendly staff.. We had our first full soundcheck where we all learned a couple of Missincat's songs for our super-jam! She learned a few of everyone else's songs so we could have a big super jam at the end for the show in Hannover. I even learned the Glochenshpiel (spelling??) part on one of Cat's songs. Sooooo fun!
We left to check into our hotel and when we came back to the club, they had it set up with little tables and chairs with lots of candles... Soooo classy! The show was great, and the audience was soooo attentive and appreciative. It makes such a difference when you are a traveling musician and the staff at the club and audience appreciate how far you've traveled and do what they can to make you comfortable. Thanks Hannover!

Here's Cat writing her setlist after showing me my part on the Glockenspiel (sp?).
:) sooo happy!

XO
Shanti

We had a great morning in Berlin, walked along the remaining wall and did a little shopping and eating in the city center.

We ate some yummy food at a little farmers market and had some fresh apple juice.. Mmmmmmm then we went for a radio interview. We played a couple of songs on air and headed to the show.

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We met Cat of Missin Cat and worked out our first "super jam" of devil town. So fun to play with new people and Cat jumped right in! So fun. The show was a lot of fun and we all made a concrete filled club feel nice, warm and cozy. So excited to play the rest of the shows, thank you Berlin!!!
Next stop Hannover!

I forgot to post this a few days ago, but I was driving down the road and spotted this beautiful and very big owl!! He or she was so cool looking and wasn't very afraid of me. I stopped the car, stepped out and started slowly creeping towards it while taking photos. You can't really tell in the photos or video, but I was maybe 5ft. From it. So cool, could have just watched it all day.. We hung out for a good 10-15 min. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acWlsAN2aHA
Here's the link to my little video too!
- XO Shanti

We arrived safely in Berlin this morning, and were warmly greeted by our promoter Jens and taken to breakfast!! Mmmm. Had a delicious fresh breakfast and checked into the hotel for some much needed rest after our 15 hr trip. :)

Breakfast in Berlin.
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After breakfast we checked into our hotel and crashed out for a good 5 hrs! But I took a couple of photos on the walk back home.
I'm excited for the shows coming up, first show tomorrow night in Berlin! The faza-land.. No really.. Where my dad was born.
Were going to visit a few more fun places tomorrow.. I'll take pics. Stay tuned!!

Remember a while back, before I left on the How The West Was Fun tour? Remember the water bottles I said I was going to try? Well.... the results are in! Personal Filter Water Bottle
Everyone loved them and used them, and we all noticed a significant difference in water quality. It also saved us money because we didn't have to buy bottled water. These water bottles significantly improved the taste and quality of tap water and they were affordable! The only downside is that they don't filter out the biologics, like giardia & other cysts and spores for traveling to countries without tap water standards.
So.. I'm looking at this bottle next.. it does everything, but because of that it's a little more expensive... about 3x the cost. Oh well, my health is worth it. :)

Sorry about the long period of time between updates!
While on the road for the How The West Was Fun tour, I updated via my phone. And after loosing 2 long updates to my phone freezing, it was hard to get back on and update more. But.... I think i'm past that now and I have to update you on all the new and wonderful things!!!
In about a week I'll be playing a few shows with Greg, Kepi and Vic Ruggiero in the Northwest. Please check the tourdates for more info. :)
April 1 Seattle, WA
April 2 Olympia, WA
April 3 Portland, OR
THEN.....
I'm going to europe!! I'll be part of the Caballeros Akustika tour here are the dates!Caballeros Akustika
Apr 8 2010 Rosi’s / Berlin, Germany
Apr 9 2010 Warenannahme / Hannover, Niedersachsen
Apr 10 2010 Zwölfzehn / Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Apr 11 2010 Magnolia Club / Milan, Milano
Apr 12 2010 Nuovo Lazzaretto / Bologna, Bologna
Apr 13 2010 Triebwerk / Wiener Neustadt, Niederösterreich
Apr 14 2010 Arena / Vienna, Wien

I'm sooooooooooooooooooo Excited!!

After the great show in riverside we packed up and headed to a friends where I got to lay down some vocals and hand claps on a new Kepi song! I'll keep you posted on the release of that.
Next stop... Pomona!
On our way to the Glass House Record Shop for the show, we stopped for a picinic in the park.

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We rehearsed some super-jam songs and got a little sun. It was nice to take a break from driving. The show went great and was a lot of fun. Kev Seconds even webcasted the show, which I think you can still watch if you like at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/up-yours-kevin-seconds
It's been great web streaming the shows, it let's you enjoy the show if you're too far away to come out!