BENEATH THE REMAINS SHALL ARISE AGAIN!! PART 6

The last show is always a flurry of activity. The concert, precise packing and arranging where to put the souvenirs, dirty laundry and the tree trunk I carried for 30 years, all takes time. Tree trunk is the mound of paperwork that grows rings as the tours pass through my fingers. In the digital age, you would think this would get smaller but it stays consistent and very heavy! To get my carry on in the plane with me, I need to remove half the papers, cram them in my large purse and put them back after the person checking us in for our flight has weighed my carry on. I cant lose that work by putting it under the plane!

We took the bullet train to St Petersburg. In some circumstances we take the overnight train, but today it was the bullet. New, comfortable and fast, it zooms through Russia like a knife through cake, passing the villages and birch forests like a blur. Time for some cafe latte and a steamy bowl of borscht and you are there. St Petersburg was built on a swamp. You would never know it now because the massive buildings, palaces and churches sit so stately.

The show was overstuffed, with a wild crowd ricocheting at the stage's feet. I knew it would be a tornado, having done shows in St Petersburg since 1992. It's always a mob scene. In the early days, the dressing room was full of KGB officers in their well worn blazers, but not any more! Sipping their coffee always with a sideways gaze lol!

We flew into Belarus for the final gig on the tour. Even Belarus has modernized before my eyes..well, at least Minsk has! Our first trip there is another blog..but let's wrap this tour! It is now a modern city like all the others!

The last show on our Russian trek did not disappoint using the least! The fans were crawling over each other, launching and crowd surfing! The balcony seats were packed and standing most of the show. The energy was like a shotgun blast to the face, never stopping and intensifying! And then it was done.... Thank you to all the fans who helped create the storm! The show is nothing without you!

At the airport in the morning, something strange happened... It couldn't just be calm now could it! Some strange man walked to the trash can next to our table in the cafeteria and placed a brand new, full backpack in the garbage! He was sketchy AF!! I told the dude working in the cafeteria and I tried to tell the information booth woman, but she said it was probably just stolen! What! Wouldn't someone at least check? After what seemed like crucial minutes, the police came and removed the backpack, going through it on the ground and taking photos of the luggage tag on it! Luckily we boarded the plane and got out of there!!

I bid farewell to Belarus, to Russia and headed to the love of my life...home! Next stop will be South America and I will continue my blogs and show my Students our continuing adventures! Beneath the Remains will Arise again!!

Class dismissed....