The Whiskey Daredevils just returned from a road trip in Europe. Frontman Greg Miller fills us in on what happened.
Day 13: Barcelona, Spain — off day
At 6:30 a.m. the jackhammer starts. Then a machine that sounds like a pounding anvil pile driver from a Roadrunner cartoon kicks in. Just when it seemed impossible that the noise could get any louder, it sounds like a giant is swinging a metal garbage can on a rope filled with used auto parts. Or maybe the Jetson’s robot maid is being run over by a four wheel drive Monster Truck. “Good morning!” at the Your Choice Hotel.
Ken opens the window to the deafening noise, and then we see we are located directly across the high walls and razor wire of a maximum security prison. Meanwhile, the construction crew continues to bang as much shit around as possible. We have to get out of here immediately. As Ken and I discuss the plan in our double room, I hear Leo clearly chime in “We’re up if you guys want to roll.” The interesting thing is that Leo is in another hotel room far down the hall, and it sounds like he is sitting right next to me. The walls must be made out of tissue paper.
As a treat, I had reserved two rooms for us in a 4 star hotel for tonight. I figured we deserved a good night’s stay after two weeks out on the road, and it would be a perfect way to unwind by spending a day in Barcelona. The hotel is located right across town, so we should be able to check in quickly and get down to some serious relaxation. This part of the story might seem impossible, but I’ll tell it to you like it happened. It should have taken 20 minutes to get to our new hotel. That’s not the way it played out through. We spend the next three hours getting checked out of Your Choice Hotel and getting across town to the 987 Hotel. Even now I’m not sure what went wrong. Poor directions, lack of sleep, one way streets, a giant tour van, and a suddenly indecisive Christoph work together to make everyone frustrated by the time we finally find the chic 987 Hotel.
The rooms had been booked through a Cleveland connection that hooked us up with a Barcelona connection. I had sent emails back and forth with “Carlos”, a man I had never met or spoken with to get two rooms locked in at a ridiculously low rate. Carlos had assured me weeks ago that not only did we have the rooms, but that one of them was a suite. This would be outstanding.
Leo and I head back to my room to meet up with Ken and freshen up before going out. I enter The Best Shower in the World and bask in the glory. If we are going out, we have to have our wits about us. This may be shocking to read, but Spain is different than Cleveland. The night starts around midnight with dinner and clubs stay open until well past sun up. I have walked home in sunglasses from Big Nights Out in Spain in the past, and it’s a lifestyle that suits me well. However, we have a decent drive tomorrow and a pretty big show, so we decide to just go out for “a while”.
We start drinking and eating all over town. We plow through 5 bottles of Rioja and eat a lot of tentacles and jamon. Before we know it, it’s about 4 am and we have been all over the map. It’s been a great night, and Barcelona is definitely one of my favorite cities on the planet.
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2009.