Bits and Pieces - Berlin to Warsaw

It's been a few days without internet so I have some catching up to do, But before I start, just a quick note about  people. Last night in Warsaw I was fed the most incredible supper of baked fish stuffed with almonds, garlic and herbs, 

before playing a gig to an amazing group of people, who then fed me excellent Polish vodka. We talked long into the night, until the point where they got up to leave to stay elsewhere because they had given up their bed for me to stay in! 


In Berlin previously, I stayed in the amazing apartment of a girl who I have never met, who wasn't even there but simply gave me her keys. Before that in Hamburg, I was treated not exactly like a princess (I don't think princesses are allowed to laugh so much or get so drunk) but certainly hosted with charm, grace and excellent food (and drink). In Rotterdam, Renia - another total stranger, gave up her time, her space and was warm and welcoming beyond belief. I am blown away by the way people are inviting me into their lives. If your faith in human nature and society ever falters, simply wander off and throw yourself upon the kindness of strangers. Even the slightly strange lady who worked at the campsite in Wrzsenia ( I camped one night so far) was jolly lovely. Hurrah to you all. 


So, Berlin. Seems like a long while ago now...I love Berlin and as ever, had an amazing time there. Intersoup is a great place, very Berlin; cosy, kitsch and cooler than I'll ever be. Here would be a picture of their soup, but I ate it too quickly -  I hope you can tell it was ace. 



 The gig was  funny, brilliant and surreal - a hot Saturday night  in a basement playing to a handful of people who were a very interactive audience. Ray the Australian told me some interesting forays into the world of Berlin bureaucracy (sorry Germans, you know I love you and I hate to reinforce stereotypes but his 
tale will make it into a song as it made me laugh a lot.) He also sang me some of his own, spontaneous, fake Italian opera, fabulous. 






The highlight of the night though, was this comment from beautiful Danish actress Katrin, who was on holiday with her boyfriend - I think it might be the biggest compliment ever:
 I make pregnant women feel drunk.
 I have achieved. 


I then moved on to Wrzesnia.
I stuck a cyberpin into Googlemaps halfway between Berlin and Warsaw, and this is where I found. 

Through the joy of the internet and satellite navigation I found  a hidden campsite (there are signs on all the main roads to it, which then stop as you reach the final, vital directions). Super cheap and with a small open air communal area, the woman at the desk, after first looking a mite suspicious, then agreed that it would be a lovely idea if I played some songs in the evening. Alas, this was not to be. Having wandered to the town centre, I experienced the biggest thunder and lightning storm I have ever been in. No photos, as I was hidden for a while under big beer umbrellas in the town square, and then engaged in the process of dodging from shelter to shelter on the way back to my tent (after my fingers went blue). Hatches were battoned, shelter was taken.


 Post storm the next day, I continued my wanderings. There is a huge photographic project taking place in Wrzesnia.

 Outside in the square, pictures taken by Franciszek Wlosik show the town in the early 1900's. I love the 'tache of the man in the front row (reminds me of Hamburg) and the disapproving look of the woman in black. 


In the local museum, I met Ewa, the curator. Inside the museum gallery, photographers have been invited to exhibit pictures that show aspects of the town. Ewa is standing next to her favorite picture - a photograph of the house of a man who had decided to sell televisions. They are lined up outside his house like dominos. As Ewa said, she finds it not the most beautiful, but the most interesting scene from this picturesque town with some darker moments in it's history....



Historical fact of the day? Wrzesnia is the place of the children's revolution. Ewa told me this and I love the story. In 1901, under Prussian rule, children were supposed to be taught in German, including religious instruction. The children of the school in Wrzesnia got together and refused to take classes in German, even when they were physically beaten by the authorities. The strike then spread to other neighbourhoods and lasted until 1904. In 1908 a film was made of the strike by French film makers - who referred to the children as 'The Polish Martyrs' (though none of them died from the beatings). 


Ewa's own story of Wzresnia is much more beautiful. Her love for the town is so evident, in her speech and in the care with which she showed me around. She moved away once and felt like she had to come back, to 'her' town. As the museum curator, she has a responsibility to the preservation of the town's history and she does this with pride.  Her own son is now growing up in this place that she loves - although he is not a revolutionary (so far!) 




Onward, onward through traffic jams aplenty (Small rant coming, skip if you like). TRAFFIC. I may never drive again, the guilt is too immense. Through three countries in Europe I keep seeing almost empty cars, roadworks widening autobahns and autostradas to fit in more empty cars, traffic in every direction and people just ignoring what it means. I don't know how else I could have taken a piano, PA, ukulele, tent, camping equipment, clothes, food etc around Europe but if sitting in all this traffic makes me think, then surely some of the people in cars around me must be considering their transport methods too? Buy a bike, take a train, get a pair of skates. I love the tiny jeep, and I did research that it was better than flying, but this is a one off. Back to public transport in blighty. Sorry. But I do feel better now... and so to......

WARSAW! 

Warsaw, you have earned your capital letters and bold font, mainly due to my unbloominbelievably brilliant hosts, Kathi and Wojtek, seen above with friends Lars and Julia. I have already mentioned the brilliant food, fun and music that we shared. What I don't quite know how to start with is the stories I heard from them. Maybe I will take this photo as a starting point to tell you about them individually...

But not tonight as I have no more internet time or energy. Instead - deal with the unbearable anticipation with a picture of a Polish bear. (I'm really sorry about the pun. Honestly.)

Rotterdam!

It seems fitting that my little journey started in Rotterdam, as it is a city of journeys. From Dutch settlers who left from here to go to America (the picture is of the New York Hotel, which was where they left from), to the colonisation of countries including Surinam (more of in a bit), to students from  all over the world (the Erasmus programme is from Rotterdam). I was only in the city for a couple of days but I seemed to see lots of arrivals and departures in that time and it made me think a bit about the nature of travel and the different reasons why it is so addictive to some, so imperative as a life choice for others. 


Anyway, I turned up and guess what - Rotterdam has a rush hour too - who knew? This meant that I missed the skate tour, so instead, my lovely host Renia fed me and showed me around the city. As we joined the apres-skate (lots of sound systems in the city centre and people effortlessly wheeling round on their skates drinking beer and eating ice-cream) it turns out that me missing the tour was a VERY good thing. Rather than a quaint tourist notion of donning a pair of skates and being led through the city, it is several thousand Rotterdammers (and people from other regions) skating (pretty fast) for 16km around the city. I probably would have died. Or broken something. 


Instead over my couple of days, I learned a lot about Rotterdam and Surinam from Renia, a Rotterdammer who came from Surinam as a child. I'm not going to go into the massive political situation there - you can google it - or wait for the song I write about it maybe... One thing I can write about Surinam is that their food Rocks; they use the hottest chillies in the world and they put boiled eggs in everything, which for me is a very good thing. 





Because it was bombed so much, Rotterdam is full of new buildings, and people really seem to mourn their lost architecture - so they make up for it with huge amounts of public art. Sculpture and murals are everywhere. The fire boundary from the war is marked by lights all around the city and the Brazilian graffiti (from a project last year) is amazing.



There is also a decidedly quirky project that turns the entire Noordereiland into a ship, with it's own mast, lights and flag, so that one day it may sail off on it's own. I am now sailing off (in my jeep) to Hamburg. 

Beestings & Sings

Performance on Saturday was great fun, despite a double incidence of stinging to me and to my roadie. Does

it really need to hurt that much (or am I just a wee bit nesh)? Played outside until sunset, despite the scary insects, to a lovely crowd of people.

Am now excited to the point of bursting about going away - two weeks! I have a new passport with an obligatorily awful photo, my ferry place is booked and the small red jeep (I will put a picture of it up soon) is booked into some hideously expensive garage for a service. Men in overalls are probably staring at it right and now and shaking their heads in a knowing fashion.... Hurrah!

Arnold Circus Sharing Picnic

This is Arnold Circus, a bandstand and public space where I live. Sunday 18th was the celebration of it's centenary, with a day of music, stories, food and sharing (sharing of cake especially, brilliant). This amazing place is going to be one of the locations for my stories of Europe and travel to be told and sung on my return to the UK. This is a little snapshot of why I wanted to bring stories here...

Storytelling is at the heart of this area and on www.spitalfieldslife.com you can read

new stories every day about the life of Arnold Circus and it's inhabitants. This very nice man (whose name I'm very sorry but can't remember) was giving out some of the stories at the picnic. War stories, immigration, changing and growing communities and even visits from a certain Mr W. Shakespeare are documented on the site.

Graphic designer Alexandre Bettler (www.aalex.info) lives locally and the poems of Arnold Circus from his stand will be up on his site soon.

Being a bandstand, there was music all day at the circus, including by Eastend locals Brassroots. They were all amazing but their Tuba player was practically inhuman, lips of steel, I think. If my computer starts behaving again, I'll upload a video soon...

Finally, this is a message from an Arnold Circus resident about the future of life here and elsewhere, which I loved. I can't wait to add my stories and songs to this place.

First show for my tour: Pallette Bistro

Did my first performance singing for my supper at the Lightbox in Surrey.

Fabulously fun evening, with guest star SST. Many thanks to all at the Pallette Bistro, mainly for their brilliant dancing! Food eaten was butter fish and amazing mushroom stroganoff, with a very lovely panna cotta to finish. Go there! I'll be back at the Lightbox, telling people about my journey plans, on 17th July. Pics courtesy of the multi-talented SST.

Sing for Your Supper, The Photoshoot

I thought the idea of my travels needed some kind of illustration, so I drafted in the talents of the wonderful Michele Rossi and he took these amazing photos. Many thanks to Leila of Leila's shop in Arnold Circus, for letting us invade and play with the food.

We also had some fun in the butcher's shop on Broadway Market...

I'm going to take photos of all the suppers that I sing for, as well as lots of footage of my travels, so these photos will be the first of many.

Hello!

Welcome to Sing for your Supper. For thousands of years, travelling musicians sang for their supper; gathering stories of the places they went to and the people they met. This summer, I'm going to be travelling across Europe in my tiny red jeep with piano in tow; travelling as a modern troubadour, singing for my supper, exchanging my songs for the hospitality and tales of strangers. This is the route I'm going to take (so far!)

I'm going to be staying with all sorts of wonderful people, talking to them and writing songs about them. In France I'm even going to perform for the mayor of Palluau (very excited). I'm going to be playing in weird and wonderful places, including a Polish artist's sofa (www.konsofa.com), a German castle and an Umbrian Bee farm. I'll update this regularly with plans for my travels, and feel free to make comments or suggestions of places I should visit or stories I should hear and tell!