Dylan and Suba just returned from a 6-country tour of Europe, giving choral workshops. Nothing better than a Swiss choir singing "Rock Me Amadeus" a cappella!

First, the vital statistics:

16 days
6 countries (7 if you include changing trains in Belgium!)
10 workshops
200 or so wonderful European choristers
28 different kinds of cheese (and Suba the Vegetarian tried them all!)
15 trains. The civilized way to travel.
37 pints of beer consumed
26 features on Dylan's new Swiss Army knife
25 hours: Dylan and Suba's travel day home. We went straight from Pearson Airport to a gig in Richmond Hill. Don't ask why… we're not sure.

We started with 5 days in beautiful, tidy, obedient Swtizerland where we gave four workshops and did all sorts of Swiss things: took a day trip to Lucerne, ate chocolate, climbed an Alp (okay… it was an oversized hill near Zurich), and opened a numbered bank account. After that we had a couple of days off, so we decided on a 36-hour kamikaze trip to Milan (a little known fact: "kamikaze" is actually Italian for "long train ride"). It was worth it: beautiful city, scenery and cathedrals, unbelievable pasta, and the best espresso I've ever had (and anyone who knows me knows how serious I am about my espresso).

We made up for our leisurely start with a whirlwind trip to Germany: 2 cities and 3 workshops all in 2 days. Then off to Vienna for a workshop, and to Bratislava where Dylan spent 2 days in the studio mixing while Suba did some composing and enjoyed Slovakian television. Then a plane to Holland for our final two workshops in beautiful Maastricht. Then, the long, long trip home.

As always, we were impressed with the choirs we worked with, and were delighted with the warmth and hospitality of our European friends both old and new. Many thanks to our organizers and hosts Jon, Rene, Thomas and Jasmin; Thorsten and Ghislaine; Uli and Helga; Anne and Marco; Mario, Feri and Sona; and Luc and Tanja. Here's looking forward to next year!