SECOND LEG

U2 came to North America, starting in Chicago, on 9/12/09. We are seeing U2 in Vegas and Los Angeles at the end of October. (We sold our tickets for Vancouver, the finale, deciding that part of the trip was too expensive for only one show.)

ENGLAND (ending)/New York

SUNDAY 8/16: Up at 4:30a. Leave hotel at 5:45a. Cab to airport. Just before walking inside I say "BYE BYE EUROPE!" Go to Costa Cafe in airport to have the advertised Gingerbread Latte (soooooooo good!), plus a handmade free-range egg sandwich. Nick has a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Nick and I are in tears, laughing about this pic I took of him where he looks like a mole (living in a hole, digging up my soul now, going down, excavation....)!

On airplane from Lon to NY, I put the headphones on to listen to an 80s station and "London Calling" by The Clash plays first!

In NY, we have a 3-hour layover and decide to tram to downtown Manhattan, expecting it will take an hour there, we'll have an hour there, and an hour to get back. Then we realize we are on the subway for nearly 90 minutes and not yet in downtown Manhattan, so we get out and wait on the other side to go back. It's 90 degrees and even hotter at the subway stop. At one point a train on the original side stopped and the driver tried telling us something. I nudged Nick that she was saying something, which I couldn't hear, but he couldn't hear me either. As others started walking away, we spot a sign that says a certain line is not running this weekend. We have to exit, take the Uptown to a Brooklyn Bridge stop, and transfer to the J and then back to the A and back to the airport tram. Everyone and their grandmother was going to Rockaway Beach. We could not believe how crowded it was! All I could think was that I do NOT get the hoopla about NY! Of course our flight was departing from the last terminal (number 8). Our flight was scheduled to depart at 3:10p. We went through security, ran, and arrived just at that time, but the plane was gone. Fortunately, we made the standby for a flight a few hours later.

SATURDAY 8/15: Up at 4:00a. In line by 6:00a. We have to get numbers in both lines (because we can't pick up our tickets at will-call until 11:00a which indicate where to enter the stadium) and separate temporarily, Nick staying in one line, me staying in the other. We're numbers 14 & 15 in the F line and numbers 42 & 43 in the B/C line. I talked to a security guy named Fez! First I asked him if he knew there is a song on U2's current album called Fez - Being Born although they don't play it live? He did not know. Found out that the B/C line is bigger because the entrance has a 9,000 capacity whereas the F line entrance has only a 6,000 capacity. At 10:00a Nick leaves for the will-call queue, will-call opening at 11:00a again. We are disappointed to find out our tickets are for the B/C line, and I move out of the F line around 11:15a, along with some other fans in the same predicament, saying goodbye to some nice fans I met. One woman is an attorney with the Global Fund and shows me this incredible photo of herself with Bono in Rwanda! Luckily, I have been passing out my U2 "business cards" left and right--it makes it easier to say goodbye.

In the new line, I hold our place while Nick checks out of Wembley Plaza and into Hotel Ibis next door, since the Plaza's rates went up too high for that Saturday night. As I wait, I notice the clouds drifting by in the sky...something I love to do as an in-the-moment check on vacation. Luckily, Nick's friend Tom is in line with me. They met at the Tokyo shows, which I could not go to due to my first semester in law school on the 2006 tour. Ironically, it was just before the Hawaii show (which was just after the Tokyo shows) when Nick and I started dating. Our friend Z is there too, and also Lana. Later, Nick and I take separate hotel room breaks to change and freshen up for the show.

U2 LON 2
(Brono #72, Nick #43 - to match his number in line :)
PHOTOS
VIDEO including Bono singing to us
Bono-only video below

Being further in line than yesterday is frustrating with people lining up too close as the stadium doors open. We start to run and realize we have to go back for pitch wristbands, which we did not need yesterday. Security is plentiful and slow but we finally run to the front row of the outer rail, for which we were aiming. But, we end up more Edge side than Bono than I wanted to be, and I start to cry. I realize I am spoiled, tired, and partly my tears are about our trip ending and this being our last summer show.

We end up standing next to these French fans half our age, a gal and two guys. Laetitia is crying at the same time I am. I ask her what is wrong and she replies, "It's my last show this year!" Nick takes a funny picture of me and her bawling together. The guy (Benjamin) next to her is someone Nick recognizes from a PHOTO he took of Bono at Dublin 3. Ben is the front row guy in glasses. When Nick tells Ben, he is so appreciative! We give Ben our cards, and Ben tells the joke, "What is the difference between God & Bono? Bono exists!" This is now my favorite joke in the world!

Why don't I trust that things are meant to be as they happen? Bono ends up kneeling and singing the intro to BD right in front of us again, just like in Germany, even though it's not the center of the row! VIDEO of Bono singing to us and blip of Vertigo (although the camera never quite lands on me, Nick, or Tom, but you can see Benjamin, Laetitia, and Zbych w/Elmo). Check out this youtube VIDEO called "Highlight Moment" of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

Laetitia and Ben and Ben's other guy friend are all crying through most of the show! We've seen fans cry before but this is just so touching! I lose it during Where The Streets Have No Name for the first time on this tour. During One, our entire row is arm and arm, swaying to and fro. During the Desmond Tutu speech, our little group tries to follow along with his words, and we end up laughing hysterically. After the ended I embraced Fran for a long period because she kept crying. I told her she reminded me of myself at her age.

Then Tom, Lana, Nick and I go for a post-show beer (thanks Tom!) at our hotel bar, which is packed with U2 fans. It's nice they allow us and other fans to stand outside the bar near the street with the beers. We say goodbye to Lana and Tom as they walk to the Underground together. Nick and I go right to sleep as we have to get up early for our flight home.

FRIDAY 8/14: Went on Internet while Nick slept in. Went to will-call window line at 10:30a with will-call expecting to open at 11:00a. Met Manuel, a U2 fan Nick met online. By 12:30p, we went to the Red Zone 1 doors. We were 1st & 2nd in that line! We had fun meeting others, particularly Tracy and Richard, with whom we did a ticket exchange. Wembley was the first venue to have a self-scanning process for the tickets. It was such a rush running to front row center again.

U2 LON 1
(Brono #71, Nick #42 - to match his age :)
VIDEO
PHOTOS

Bono was ON FIRE! I think he enjoyed the show more than the rest of the band and the audience combined! Nick said he'd never seen Bono work so hard and earlier in the tour Nick was saying Bono seemed tired. Before No Line On The Horizon, he said, "Ali Baba!" which Eleonora said refers to his spouse Ali. Chris Starr calls Ali my new best friend since Nick and I've met her three times. At one point Bono indicated he wanted a flag on stage and like half a dozen were thrown up there. Nick notices that if they play Elevation, Bono first says into the microphone, "Going up!"

THURSDAY 8/13: Breakfast and check out by 7:45a. Walk to bus station across the street and take bus to airport. The bus ride out of town is similarly scenic as the train ride into town. Bye beautiful Ljubljana!

Fly to London. Hour bus ride plus take Underground to Wembley Plaza hotel. Immediately go to stadium, which is right next door, to meet fans Nick met online for ticket exchange at the will-call window. But there are problems and no meetings occur at this time. Go to pub to eat. I have a Caesar salad and Nick has chicken yakitori, plus two Foster's beers. And for once we get a second beer, because of the happy-hour prices.

Take swim in the hotel's lovely heated pool and jacuzzi!! And take a sauna and steam bath!! Sleep like babies. Wait, Nick and I ask...don't babies wake up every few hours? Haha.

Slovenia (only non-U2 stop)

WEDNESDAY 8/12: Breakfast. 11:00a bus to Postojnska Jama, the largest cave in Europe! Have lunch and beer at a cafe there afterward. Go to bus station and see we have a half hour wait. Decide to get ice cream but when we walk in the shop a very young boy tries to pickpocket me! Very shocked, I turn around at him and ask him what he is doing. He looks guilty but I can tell he does not speak English. Nick is not aware of what's going on so I follow Nick to the ice cream freezer. I turn to the boy and sternly say, "Don't do that, ever again" whether he can understand me or not. Then I catch the eye of the man behind the counter who might be his father, who also looks guilty. I decide I am not patronizing their store. I say out loud, "I'm outta here" and I walk out in a huff.

Bus home. Go on the Internet for a few hours. Nick naps. Go out but instead of eating we decide to take a break from each other. I go back to the room, get his camera, walk back and take like 50 pictures of the river at night! I go to bed by 11:30p alone in room. Nick uses Internet in lobby until about 1:00a.

TUESDAY 8/11: Breakfast. Have to ask for the champagne to be opened, again. Decide to rest and take the 1:00p train from Zagreb, Croatia to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Have trouble finding seats but a nice older couple let us have the extra one in their cabin. Nick stands for the first hour and I stand for the second. I sooooo enjoy sticking my head out the window and watching the countryside as we train, sometimes fast, sometimes slowly, through a lush valley with a super cute house here and there. Sometimes the sun is beaming on my face and sometimes there are interesting cloud shadows on the beautiful mountains. In Nick's words in an email to our parents, ". . . passing through gorgeous open fields dotted with well-kept, freshly painted homes with bright red roofs, then continued via a deep gorge as a rainstorm pelted us with refreshing water as I chatted with a retired British school teacher from Dorset who had just come from Romania where he and his spouse helped set up a foster home for all the poor orphans there."

Drinks and dinner at a restaurant called The River on the river. Internet time. I'm to bed around midnight, Nick 1:00a.

CROATIA

PHOTOS
VIDEO

MONDAY 8/10: Intend to get up early again, but don't, again. Have breakfast. This time I have to ask for the champagne to be opened! Use the internet room in the lobby because our room internet is not working. Take nap, intending to go back to The Regent by 3:00p to try and meet U2. We are running late and just as we are leaving our hotel room we get a text from Eleonora that U2 already came out. Apparently U2 signed some autographs except Larry only shook hands and the Croatian crowd, including media, was said to be very pushy. See video of what we missed. (Note, there is a couple with a heart-shaped globe. They also have a U2/Zoo Station sign, so they must be the culprits of hanging those signs at bus stops!)

I become very annoyed that we were so close to meeting them. Twenty five years of following U2 and I only have one autograph--ironically Larry's--who is the hardest to pin down. Nick consoles me as we walk to town for lunch. We decide to treat ourselves to Restaurant Agava, which we spotted the other night (taking a photo because it was so cute) and it has outside tables on two levels. We score a table on the top level which gives a birds-eye view of the old town. I order penne pasta with smoked ham, cherry tomatoes, and cream sauce. Nick orders dalmation stuffed steak with gnocchi. And we get cold beers (not warm like it is sometimes served here). We are SO thrilled with our dishes that we feel like yelling "COME UP HERE!" to all the passers-by who are taking pictures and contemplating whether to eat there.

Back to room to change on our way to the tram.

U2 ZAG 2
(Brono #70, Nick #41)

Get beers. Try just walking in the Inner Circle, past security, and it works! But we decide to leave and get stamped to come back later because the crowd is too pushy and walking back and forth constantly. Before the show, the crowd does a "wave" over and over. The waves before U2 concerts in Europe have been incredible! We enjoy sitting on the Red Zone steps and running down to the Inner Circle only during songs where the band comes to the catwalk at the back and side of the stage.

SUNDAY 8/9: Another complimentary breakfast, this time with champagne! Have a leisure morning since it is super hot. Check the beautiful Regent Hotel for U2 but don't see any fans. Tram to venue to see our friends (Eleonora, Brad, Joe) in line. Tram back to The Regent and this time see a few guys with a video camera. Ask them if they're there to see U2 and they nod and tell us they were a news team. So we decide to stay and try to meet U2. Meet a fan named John who has made an unpublished book of U2 photos. He has made four different books with a different bandmember on the cover and has everyone's autograph except Larry's. See Brad's partner, Jaynie, as they are staying at The Regent. Have a martini with her at the 1925 bar inside The Regent while Nick stays outside in case there is a U2 sighting. No U2 by 6:00p so we give up.

Change at hotel. Tram to venue. Enjoy late-in-the-day crowd. Tram ends at sooner point than usual and the street is closed so fans can walk freely. Bars are blasting U2. Eat quickly at McD's.

U2 ZAG 1
(Brono #69, Nick #40)

U2's first time playing in Croatia! Buy beers at venue. Get let in Inner Circle by security guy who called us over! We are so relieved since we could have waited in line with our friends but skipped it because of the heat and trying to meet U2. During No Line on the Horizon, Nick sticks his tongue in my ear during the lyric "then she put her tongue in my ear, oh ohhhh" which is funny since I usually have ear plugs in. Nick and I feel a bit bored tonight at the show. But at least we got to see Joe after the show while we were all still in the circle. See second to last PIC on Joe's U2 Queue page!

Walk out via street still closed. No tram so have to walk all the way home with everyone. Our feet are killing us, as usual. Go back to The Regent. See too many fans waiting for U2. Decide to leave because we are hungry and tired. See Brad and Jaynie on our way out.

SATURDAY 8/8: HAPPY 48th BIRTHDAY, THE EDGE!

Wake up at 6:00a. Get off train by 7:00a (half hour delay) in Vienna. Cab to other train station. Realize that we could have transferred at another train station without taking a cab! Have seats in cabin with others for 6-hour ride. Toward end of ride, realize a guy (Philippino Joe from Canada) in our cabin is following U2 also. Check out his blog.

Walk to Best Western Premier Astoria two blocks from the train station in Zagreb. Appreciate showering(!) and walk to town. It is hard to find a place which offers more than drinks! Have soup, salad, pizza, and beer. Take romantic walk and kiss in beautiful 30 Celsius (about 85 degrees Fahrenheit). Get ice cream.

Use internet in room. I fall asleep around 11:00p. Nick not to be until about 3:00a.

POLAND

PHOTOS

FRIDAY 8/7: For once we go to breakfast before we shower! Bus to town, then walk to train station, and take 2-hour ride to Krakow (pronounced Kra-kuff). Discover a ticket mishap per the conducter...either we were given the wrong tickets or we're on the wrong train. Luckily, we simply paid for the train we were on and got a refund for the others.

Downtown Krakow is quintessential in what you picture a romantic day in Europe to be. There are horses on carriages (although both Nick and I have issues with that) on the main square. And there are also some weird things going on, like this one really tall man, painted black and he's wearing horns and fur and people are paying him to have their picture taken with me as he growls in their ear. It's really nice (hot/warm) weather. Dinner and beer at patio restaurant (chicken strogonoff for me, which is not what you think, and chicken and rice and peas for Nick). Walk around church and see view of city including a hot air balloon. Train and bus to hotel to get our luggage. Then cab to train station. Leave at 11:50p for an all-night trip to Croatia. We're pleased to find that we have a private cabin with a "couchette" (two bunk beds).

THURSDAY 8/6: Up at 6:00a. Have complimentary breakfast. Bus to Chorzow (pronounced Hor-juff), then train to stadium by 8:00a. Security writes numbers 141 & 142 on our hands. Lots of U2 t-shirts warn by fans. Interesting to hear all the Polish spoken. See some people greeting each other with three kisses. I so love to see the 3-kiss style that exists in Europe. It is a seemingly younger crowd than other cities.

We see Z who was in the second row behind us at A'dam 2. He is in charge of getting the audience to hold red (floor tickets) and white (seats) cards during New Year's Day ("NYD"), a song in part about Poland. He has two phones in his hand when I greet him and cannot believe the amount of calls he is receiving. Later, he runs over to us while we're sitting under a tree to escape the sun and asks if he can borrow us. He says a TV station has interviewed him and now they want to interview foreign fans! Nick and I are interviewed! POLISH NEWS VIDEO (click on second video called U2 Na Stadionie Slaskim to see us--our interview starts around 1 minute, 7 seconds; the first video is our friend Z). The Polish translator drowns out our voices. View the video just below to see the English version :)

We take lots of pix and a few videos of the spirited crowd. Fans and newspaper articles seem to love Bono in particular.

U2 CHO
(Brono #68, Nick #39)
VIDEO of line during day, our news interviews in English, and 2 songs of concert including NYD
VIDEO OF NYD that Nick lured me to Poland with, and it's posted by our new friend Z!

Problems with scanner again but Nick secures front row Adam on the outer rail. I go back out to the Blackberry station to get the free upload of U2's Mobile Album (current one) only to find out it is not available yet, so I have them sign me up online to be notified when it is. On the way back through the tunnel, as more fans are running for their lives, screaming with excitement, I find a bundle of red cards that someone had dropped. I grab it so we can use it during NYD. Meet Grazyna (Regina) and Marcin (Martin) from Warsaw in the front row. There is a full moon during the concert, and the red and white cards held up during NYD make it the most memorable NYD ever.

On the way home we hear U2's Bad blasting from an apartment window with a blue light downtown.

WEDNESDAY 8/5: Fly to Katowice (pronounced Cat-oh-veetz-ay). See smokestacks like in Ireland. Stop at train station to book red-eye train to Croatia for Friday night. Bus to Hotel Campanile. Walk to Town. Beer & dinner. Walk to mall and buy adaptor for laptop. Walk and tram back to hotel. Fall asleep right away.

Holland/GERMANY

TUESDAY 8/4: Enjoy a longer (complimentary) breakfast this morning, bumping into Cathal again. We decide to share a cab. It's really nice weather again today. Take a train to Duesseldorf and arrive at a really nice hotel room. Naps and computer time. Check a salon re a manicure for me but the manicurist is not there. I've broken four nails by now, but have to forge on. Walk through park to a boardwalk. I'm thinking that Germany is my favorite place on this trip so far (besides Ireland which will always have a special place in my heart)! Have beer and dinner. But it's so hot that we decide to go back to the room for another nap. Nick calls his parents to have them call him back and he has me talk to them too. Go back out late for Thai dinner. Take beer out to the steps by the water where people are hanging out, very drunk, singing and playing guitar. Great atmosphere!

MONDAY 8/3: Enjoy breakfast, including Nutella and salami (although not together :) included with our room for once!! During breakfast we hear a U2 contest (and Vertigo) in German on the radio in the restaurant.

About 7am, get in line at stadium, numbers 12 and 13. We hear there are many lines. See our friend Eleonora who is number 23. Nick decides to go back to the room to rest. I hold our spots in line and Eleonora joins me. She gives me back my pen that she borrowed in Amsterdam. Bono used it to sign his autograph for her on her concert ticket! Watch security set up the steel barriers for the line. All day there are annoying wasps flying around us. Nick, feeling better, returns to the line. I go back to the room to drop off our stuff and change--it has become quite hot.

U2 GEL
(Brono #67, Nick #38)
PHOTOS
VIDEO including Bono closeup
(Bono-only video below)

Nick secures front row center spots on the outer rail. It is his first time being there. We meet a young woman named Manja who is holding up a sign reading, "Larry, U Can drop your sticks right HERE." (See pix above to see it.) At the end of Magnificent, Bono kneels right in front of us to dry his face with a towel, drink some water, and compose himself for Beautiful Day ("BD"). Tears stream down my face as he is right there. I reach out of my hand and say "love you" several times. Everyone is pressed up against us and one guy keeps screaming "Bono!" with a funny scratchy voice. Then Bono begins the intro to BD. He sings, "I looooove youuuu" and I, not realizing that this is a specific intro each night, think he's repeating/singing back to what I'm saying to him! As he rises to his feet, he smiles at me before he turns around to walk to the catwalk ladder where he sits down and sings the beginning words of BD. Listen to my funny screaming too! VIDEO of Bono closeup only

After the show, Nick and I see a stand selling tall cold cans of beer. We buy two and realize it is tequila-flavored beer, which is quite good! The traffic exiting the lots is like nothing we've seen in a long time. We happily stroll through all the cars, parked but trying to drive, with our beers on back to our hotel room. Burger King (right outside our hotel) is packed. We laugh at some guys trying to walk up to the drive-thru. We go to our room a bit concerned about the noise but we fall asleep right away, smiling that we are in a bed and those outside are not....

SUNDAY 8/2: Fly back to Amsterdam to connect with a train to Gelsenkirchen. At airport we get in line right behind Courtney, a mutual acquaintance. I met her in a U2 line in London in 2001. Her nickname is Captive and she was The Edge in an all-gal U2 tribute band called Exit, in Los Angeles. Now Exit is doing their own music but still does a few U2 covers each night as I understand it.

Had an hour wait time so we cruised to downtown Amsterdam to take a few pix and visit a cafe, since our photos got accidentally deleted from 7/22 and we didn't make it to a cafe that day because we were so tired.

The train to Germany took 2.5 hours. Can I just say...I LOVE TRAIN RIDES. My first one in Europe was in 2000 in France. There is just nothing like traveling via an old mode of transportation through lush forests and seeing people's backyards, etc.

See paper flowers hanging from the ceiling at the train station! Get in a cab to hear I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Arrive at Arena Hotel. Super cute room with mini bags of mini gummy bears on the bed. Watch The Simpsons in German on TV.

Go to Burger King right outside our hotel room and order beers (with straws) to go! Walk around outside of stadium, mentally preparing for the line the next day. I keep saying to myself, "You're in Germany!"

That night Nick and I enjoy the twin beds that are put together on one mattress spring. We think this is the solution! A way for couples to enjoy sleeping separately yet together!