A day in Cleveland

A day in Cleveland is actually a day too long!!

Woke up to rain being blown sideways outside and the forecast said it was going to be like this all day. With the hotel room we booked we got free tickets to the Rock n Roll hall of fame. I’d been about 8 or 9 years ago and to be honest i wasn't impressed at all. There was nothing else to do on a day like this so we booked the hotel shuttle to take us there for 1pm.

I borrowed an umbrella from the hotel reception and went down to the Starbucks on the next block hoping to find some of their Yoghurt parfait. They didn't sell it though so i settled for a hot chocolate for breakfast. Walked back to the hotel and the 3 of us chilled out in the room till going downstairs to get the shuttle

Outside  the hotel waiting for the shuttle:          Rock n Roll Hall of fame:

     

I took Laurens camera with me today to try get used to using it before tonight's show, its still just a regular digital camera but has a 12x optical zoom on and a few more manual features. I also like the 16:9 format for the pictures.

The others hadn't had breakfast so the first stop was the cafe on the 3rd level,i wasn't planning on having anything till i spotted of all things yoghurt parfait!! Jens, Thomas and Maria got what the cafe called a burger, however , looking at them there was probably more taste and nutrition from the cardboard box they came in! (Maria was later ill in the afternoon due to what could only be this food)

We wandered up to the Floyd exhibit which I've seen before and has been there a good few years now. What i hadn't remembered from the last time i went was there was no video or photos allowed AT ALL. it wasn't long before our posing and the noise of shutters clicking attracted some jobs worth porter who freaked out and told us not to take pictures. We managed to click a couple of before the big guns were called in and started to follow us around! There was seriously more and tighter security to stop you taking pics than there was at the venue each night for the shows!!

     

     

We had a quick look round but the security were all over us like flies!! they made us feel like criminals! we just left and got a taxi back to the hotel, didn't even look around at all the other stuff, we were all really disappointed and would have been more so had we paid the £25 entrance fee! I'm not surprised they had to give tickets away! Lars said in the taxi back all he was thinking about was “why the hell are we doing this and feeling like this here when i have laundry to do back at the hotel”,lol

Took these pictures for Mike on the way out as i know he’s a big fan.

 

There's a few more pics in the album at the end of this post of the stuff in the lobby of the hall of fame.You can click on any of the above images as well to view larger pictures.

Got back to the hotel, Lars did his laundry, i sat and wrote my blog and Jens just chilled out in the room.There was a pre show meet up tonight and Joe and Eric were coming down as were Michael, Suzanne  and Jeff, all of whom had been in Chicago the week prior. A few friends i hadn't seen since i was in Cleveland for the last tour a few years ago were also going to make it there, my friend Dawn and Tony were driving down from Rochester NY and a couple of friends from the band Wish You Were Here.

Around 5pm we walked up to Panini’s where the meet up was, it was the same place we all met up on the last tour and i remembered how god their stuffed sandwiches were so hadn't eaten much at all during the day as i was saving myself for this.

This was a roast beef with everything on and they then pile a load of fries on the top and then make it into a sandwich.

The picture doesn't do it justice but this was a regular one, Lars had the larger one which was only a couple of $ more and he left half of it! and Lars likes his food! It was just as good as i remembered.

It was good to see my friends Dawn and Tony who were already there when i arrived(thanks for the sandwich Tony!). I hadn't seen them both for a long time and it was great to catch up and half a talk before the place got busy and you couldn't hear yourself think! Michael and Suzanne arrived along with Michaels son Eric who was going to the show for the first time. Mt friend Rob from Cleveland said he was going to make the meet up but not the show, i looked al over for him but I'm guessing he didn't make it, shame as i wanted to see him.

Tony, myself and Dawn                               Suzanne, myself and Eric.

  

Around 7pm we all made our way to the venue which was a 2 minute walk just round the corner. Jake who was in Chicago was also meeting us at the show, Michael and Suzanne hung outside to find him while i went inside to see the pre show entertainment and chat some more with Dawn & Tony who had gone ahead before us.

Hanging out before the show:

   

Hanging out after the show (see separate post soon for review of show

Jake after the wall fell                                Dawn and I

 

We all headed back to the bar we;de met at before the show and it was great to hear everyone's reactions who hadn't seen the show before and how much they enjoyed it.

 

Couple of great group shots before we all started to head back to our hotels.

Full album with all the pictures above and more here:

View Full Album