...Chapter 3

Posted by Karina

It seems like so long ago now. Can't believe it was only two weeks ago we got home! Anyway, the drive to Switzerland took about 4hrs and we arrived to a warm (and noisy) reception from my Dad and his dog Barry! Dad had cooked us a great tea with salad and tofu and loads of other goodies. It wiz great. It was a very emotional part of the trip for me from start to finish cos I've not been over to Switzerland in 9 years! I was so excited about seeing my brothers and sister! After tea, everyone started arriving home and it was crazy! The kids are all beautiful gigantic grown ups! They're awesome! It was also great to see Franzi, my Dad's wife. She's great fun and helped us get settled into our wee house. That night we sat around a wee bonfire and sang songs (my Dad's a musician too!). It was really chilled, just what we needed after the madness of Stuttgart. I wondered if the kids thought I was a bit starnge cos I couldn't stop staring at them! They're gorgeous and related to me! Nuts!

The next day we went into town and bought copious amount of cheese, chocolate and beer and Dad bought food and booze for a party we'd planned for the evening. We eventually headed back up the hill and set up the gear in Dad's living room for what turned out to be a feckin' stonker of a party! We had BBQ's on the go outside with LOADS of food. All the neighbours came down to party and it was totally awesome! We smoked and drank the night away and it was great to get the chance to hang out with my Swiss family! The nights entertainment ended with my Dad joining O.S on stage and us both singing together...it was a beautiful moment dudes! Then we took the acoustic outside for a sing song before we reluctantly headed for bed in preperation for the long drive the next day. We had so much fun and it felt really amazing to get to spend time with my Dad, Franzi and the kids. It was a very special time for me...gnarly.

It was a bit of an emotional goodbye the next day as we packed up our gear and cheese : ) We had a coffee with Dad and then set out on the road to Amsterdam...

On arrival in Amsterdam, we got lost and couldn't find the campsite. We drove around for ages and eventually found it tucked away in a random spot. We were a bit knackered when we arrived and promptly got on with pitching the tents so we could go and get pissed. Tent building was made more difficult with the circle of stoners around us watching us do it! : ) Once the tents were up, we headed for the pub and had several beers and a good feed. We followed that up by sampling some of Amsterdams finest then had a great nights sleep. The next day was spent walking around a gloriously sunny city centre and taking in the sites. It was a really great day out, after which, we made our way to the ferry port.

We ate some Swiss cheese as we waited to board and then drank, ate and on-board entertained ourselves to sleep...

I had the best time of my life while we were away...It really couldn't have been any better.

Thank you so much to eveyone who made us feel so welcome and comfortable along the way.

Happy, happy days!

Speak soon,

Kazzalina xxxx

...Chapter 2

Posted by Karina

I think we pretty much got to the end of our trip to Kappeln in the last post. You can see some pictures that the local paper took at www.foto-panozzo.de then select Strandfest Weidefeld and after the fireworks, there are some pics of us doing our thing...much fun!

So it was with the most positive of feelings we set out on the road to Stuttgart. The drive was long but fairly painless and we arrived (on Tony's birthday!) at around 11pm on the Monday night. After a fantastic welcome from Thilo's family, we were led through to a spread of goodies, beer and birthday cake for Tone which was feckin' ace. We ate ourselves stupid that night and pretty much every meal time at Thilo's folks. They provided a very generous BBQ one night too. Everyone ate till it hurt! A big thanks to you both and to Simone and Sacha (Thilo's sister and her boyfriend) for looking after us so well! We managed to fit in a practice while we were there thanks to Thilo's good friend Lars. He very kindly let us use his practice room which was a bedroom in a converted army barracks! SWEET MAN! Really cool. You rent the room month by month, wish we had something like that over here. The evening's entertainment was provided by another of Thilo's wonderful friends called Jens. He kept the lads occupied till the early hours of the morning at his pad . They had a really great time and always arrived back laughing hysterically... can't think why... We were also lucky enough to hook up with the dynamic duo (Matze and Ade who came to see us in Kappeln) while we were in Stuttgart and things rapidly went down hill till we ended up singing Billy Jean at a karaoke at an Irish pub in the centre of town...ouch! Again, with hangovers in tow, we set off for Switzerland, over the moon with our trip so far and I was doubly excited about our next stop cos I was going to see my Dad!

Stay tuned for the next instalment of 'The Thrilling Adventure's of O.S in Europe', coming to a computer near you in a couple of days!

Love you's,

K xxx

The last wee while, chapter 1

Posted by Karina

Where do I start? I bet you've been wondering where we disappeared to eh? Well, the truth is we disappeared to a lot of different places! I've got so much to tell you it's tough to know where to begin (to avoid a massive blogation I may do this yin in stages)...

For those of you who don't know, we've been away to Europe on a wee adventure. It began on the shores of Newcastle. We had one to two beers aboard the ferry to Amsterdam (except for our hardcore rhythm section who managed to sink one to two hundred!) and took in the delights of the ferry entertainment, all thoroughly excited about the coming days. On arrival in Holland, Tony promptly bought some porn and we hit the road for our first eight-hour drive of the trip to sunny Kappeln (in Germany). We arrived to a stunning holiday apartment with a fridge stocked with beer and a hot meal cooked for our arrival! Our hosts were incredibly hospitable, we we're looked after by the wonderful 'Sommer Haus'. You should check these guys out, great players and unbelievably nice human beings! We were also lucky enough to be blessed with the company of Sheila and Ronnie, the most rock folk ever who flew from Scotland to see us play (and have a wee holiday!). You crazy cats! It was so lovely having them there. Thank you guys! The good company didn't end there, we also had the full-on crazy times, party crew on call, in the form of Ade and Matze, friends of Thilo's from Stuttgart. These guys party hard! They were spectacular fun and it was a pleasure hanging out with them.
To be honest, everyone we met there were really wonderful people, proper great.

Anyway, after much sea swimming, sun bathing and sound checking in bikinis. O.S took the stage for their headline slot and the Strandfest beach festival on Saturday night. IT WAS FECKING AWESOME! Truly one of the best night's EVER and I know the whole band would agree with me on that one. Sommer Haus had just played a blinding set before us and the crowd were truly primed for some O.S action.

As the evening drew to a close and Daniel (our wonderful soundman) twiddled his knobs from the lifeguard hut above us, we sucked up the German beer and fantastic atmosphere and lord we did ROCK! So much fun, it almost hurt! The party went on till well into the wee small hours and we made some great friends that night.

The Sunday saw a relaxed early evening appearance from us, which meant playing in the blazing sunshine. Something we're truly unaccustomed to in Scotland. It was really lovely. Later in the night, Sommer Haus rounded off with a belter of a set while awesome fireworks went off overhead! Beautiful man! We were moved! Especially when Sommer Haus presented us with a framed, signed picture from the night before... It would've brought a tear to a glass eye! As our time in Kappeln came to a close, we were truly gutted and reluctant to move on. We had such a good time there (definitely want to go back next year!). Fortunately, there were more good times to come...

I don't want to flood you with too much info in the one go fellows, so I'll leave it here and the next instalment will be all about high times in Ludwigsburg (I've definitely spelt that wrong! Sorry!) and Stuttgart.

Love you all,

Peace homies,

Kaz xxxxxxxx

P.S I’ll put up a link to our photos and photos other folk have taken so you can have a look through at your leisure.