Tschüß Hamburg, I will not miss your gray and rainy skies.

You know how if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all? This sums up how I feel about February. It is just not a good month. All traces off holiday goodwill and cheer are long gone, people are cranky, cabin fever peaks and the weather is downright nasty.

All that said, lets do a quick recap so we can move on...

...jetlag overcome, I played in an Israeli music festival here in hamburg where we did a concert with Achinoam Nini, and I had the surreal pleasure of  watching my German colleagues tapping their feet to Yeminite rhythms and Israeli pop music.

Then there was a whole lot of Wagner, with a massive orchestra and the fabulous Deborah Voigt. The rehearsals and concerts were all filmed for a DVD...

Then Hamburg froze  (along with the rest of Europe).The harbor was beautiful and looked like the arctic circle with huge ice flows rushing down the river. All the canals froze over and throughout the city people skated , played hockey and strolled down the river.

Thankfully there's only one week to go, and then we head east to the Holy land for much awaited sunshine, hummus and loved ones...



* All photo's by me, with the help of my trusty iphone (with the exception of Mr. Wagner of course)

And then just like that, the tour was over and I got to visit some of my favorite people in the world...these pictures are from a walk we took across the windy dunes by Lake Michigan. After a few short days and all too soon it was time for me to leave. As I settled into my seat for the flight home, the woman next to me crossed herself and said a Hail Mary. Inspite of my nieghbor's anxiety the flight was rather uneventful, and before I knew it I was finally Home.

Rhapsody in red

A few last shots from backstage ....