The summary

I don't know if I will manage to play in Bratislava (cause of permits) or when it will be, but since I am going home right now, I feel like the trip is at its end. It was wonderful four weeks and since I like to evaluate, do statistics and summaries, here is one summary :-)

The final itinerary eventually looked a bit different then planned:

4-6 June: Prague

6-7 June: Potsdam 

8 June: Copenhagen

9-14 June: Oslo

15-17 June: Bergen

17-22 June: Prague

22-24 June: Stockholm

24-25 June: Turku

25-26 June: Helsinki

26 June - 2 July: Prague

As I mentioned in previous post, I did not play every day (e.g in Prague), while other days I played all the time (Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen), but my estimate is that I averaged about 2h of playing per day. The best place for playing for me remains Karl Johan's gate in Oslo, especially the spot by the parliament in the late June evening, when things are more quiet but sun is still up and people enjoy it on an evening walk. The worst, hmm, there is not a worst place, but in Helsinki I had trouble to find a reasonably quiet, yet busy place.

Money-wise, I saw/heard from other buskers, that by playing famous covers (e.g. Beatles or current hits) and including some showmanship, you can make 200 euros a day. I don't do neither, plus I often preferred to play e.g. my own songs (not famous yet:P), to see if people like them. I also played just around the mentioned 2h per day, and essentially practised many songs that I did not play before, especially at the beginning. All the same, I managed to cover most of my expenses and I believe I could end up on the plus side, had I had this experience and practice already. As an advice for those who plan something similar, however:

- don't overdo it, or do it for money. When the joy from playing runs out, you won't earn anything. People around feel it. I had a few times, e.g. when I was tired, or I hurt my finger under the nail on the left hand, making it bit of a suffering to play (especially bending notes). In those times, the joy from playing disappeared and the "income" greatly diminished too

- find a quiet, preferably open spot, where people pass by and can stop by and you can be heard, but don't disturb too much yourself. Busy traffic, running fountain or construction works are usually ruining your performance

- make a setlist. It helped me greatly, to fluently move on to another song, instead of searching my iPad for the next suitable backing track. I could also avoid changing the settings on my speaker too much by grouping songs requiring similar settings together. But most of all, it creates the mentioned flow which is good if you have audience, and it helps to maintain your positive energy.

- most of all - you need to love it :-) I often play with eyes closed, feeling the music and enjoying the playing. You'll find your style, just stick to it.

I travelled for a month. All I carried was one big backpack and a guitar. In the backpack, I had the amplifier, microphone stand, overdrive pedal, cables and, of course, everything else I needed for daily life. I was surprised how little it was, and how little how one actually needs. All the same, the backpack had around 23kg (26 at the beginning) - mostly due to the heavy amp - and the guitar (solid-body Les Paul, with predominantly mahogany and maple wood) could be another 6 or so. I am not sure how other buskers do it, but sometimes I felt like it was a bit hardcore travelling :-) . That is also why I hitch-hiked only twice and did not do any sightseeing with all the stuff on my back. I however managed without problems travelling with car-sharing, buses, train, 3 flights, hitch-hiking and even a ferry. A good question however is - what was really useful and what could I have left home?

What was useful?

1) Backpack Fjallraven Kajka. Unmatched. This 85 litre giant is the best backpack I've ever carried, or even seen. It is extremely durable, virtually waterproof and even when fully loaded, very comfortable to carry. I really don't have anything negative to say. It survived already around 10 flight journeys (including getting lost two times by the airline) and many others, and the only scar is a small puncture at the bottom (probably made with something sharp).. All the same, I recommend a travel-bag for it. After all, the backpack is not among the cheapest ;-)

Kajka has a wooden frame to reduce the weight and it made from a durable material used by Swedish army

2) Smartphone. Apart from the backpack, arguably the most useful thing in my trip was my new Sony Xperia compact (Z1). Apart from actually making phone calls or sending messages, I used it as a GPS, booked flights through it, searched for connections, used its great camera, wrote songs on it, sorted out at least hundred emails, checked weather and used the built-in alarm or torch light. This is not an advertisement for the mentioned model, but I can't but recommend this fast, affordable phone which is small enough to fit comfortably into your pocket without protruding and thus attracting too much attention. And as a final plus - great battery life! It did not disappoint a single time.

3) iPad. I could say "tablet", but I respect Apple for my old iPad 2, which still works flawlessly (albeit a bit slower now) after 3 years, and hope it will last a few years more :-) . I used it to write all the blog posts (including this one, though I might post it from home) using the Blogger application, run backing tracks while playing and sort out emails that required more typing. And although it's as old as I said, it still has a great battery life..

4) Roland cube street. This amplifier is what made much of the weight I had to carry (around 8kg). But it was all worth it! It lasts around 6 hours on six AA batteries, has two inputs (guitar + mic/guitar) and an extra aux-in, making it possible to play and sing to a backing track at the same time. Or, as we did with Roman in Oslo, to plug in two guitars (one through aux-in) and sing at the same time. Quite amazing. Oh, and you can set the effects and tone settings.
 

5) Money belt. I know, this is "safe" Europe, right? But then, I never worried about forgetting my wallet, passport or flight ticket, always had them ready, and .. Yes... Had them safe

6) Canon Powershot G16. The best mid-class compact camera I know of. Makes beautiful pictures, quality but small-sized videos, is fast, easy to use and even can make a wifi hot spot to send the pictures e.g. to the iPad!

7) Thermo and functional shirt. Not sure I translated it correctly, but those two guys (shirts are guys, did you know?) got me through the cold in Scandinavia. I mean, don't imagine anything terrible, but I came from 4 months of >30 degrees, and thus the "summer" morning e.g. in Bergen was pretty rough for me. It's good to have backup clothes anyway, and these don't weight much at all

8) Light sleeping bag. I did not sleep in a tent and always had a bed, but my light sleeping bag kept me warm couple of nights, on a short hobo-nap on the ferry or acted like a cushion filling in my backpack to prevent breaking the microphone stand e.g. during the flights.

9) Finger care. Nope, I'm not talking lady manicure here, but perhaps you have the same problem - when playing too long, my left hand fingers often get injured a bit. A small tear forms where the nail meets the meat of the finger, especially after bending strings too much. This can be then very painful but luckily, I found out how to quickly heal it. One thing is a gel called "Apotex Hema gel", which kind of acts like a glue, but in effect heals small open wounds quickly. The other thing are special bandages for fingers in the shape of a butterfly, by company viaCell. Apply the gel, cover with the bandage and leave for a night - in the morning, you should be able to play again :-)

10) The others. From the rest, I was happy to have a few small lunch boxes (to prevent the little food I carried from being smashed), very light flip-flops for indoors (or outdoors on a nice day), very light jacket against rain (although I was never caught in too much rain), small antibacterial gel (used it also to clean strings), 3 Coldrex sachets (used all 3), head-band to keep the forehead warm (though I lost it :( ), great long-lasting battery for the overdrive pedal (by Panasonic, see picture) and a pocket knife (though I used it rarely). Can't think of much else, I carried socks and stuff like that of course, but I guess it's worthless to point it out ;-)

iPad, Xperia, Money belt, Panasonic Pro Power batteries and the "finger care"

What could I have left home?

Not much, I'm happy to say. But I could do without power adapters for the overdrive pedal or the amp. After all, when you play almost every day on the street, there's not much will to play indoors anymore. I also did not write a diary in my rather thick book, as I planned to - not sure what I was thinking with all this blogging. Finally, I had two knifes - a swiss knife and an army knife. One would be enough. But at least I felt safe :P

I also promised some videos from the playing. Well, I filmed far from all the songs, but then - better something then nothing :-

• Sultans of swing, Prague
• Brothers in arms, Prague
• Golden heart, Prague - incomplete, memory card run out :-)
• Are we in trouble now, Bergen
• All along the watchtower, Oslo - with Benjamin, a guy that stopped by :-)
• Boom like that, Oslo - with Roman
• Wish you were here (instrumental), Oslo - with Roman

And accommodation? Various too. Only once I paid for a night, in a cheap dormitory in Prague, a very unplanned night. Other then that, I spent two nights in buses, one in a train and the rest with amazing people! I went on this trip to do street playing and I enjoyed it immensely, but in the end, it's always the people who make the days special. I hereby do one more big THANKS to all the wonderful people who hosted me and spent time with me. Chronologically: Tinka, Sebastian and Caro, Ondro and Roman, Morten (couchsurfing), Tinka again, Stevo and Ivka, Johanna and George (Couchsurfing), Hesse, Janci with Laurita and Noel and Tinka for the third time :-) . Big thanks also to Timo who took us from Turku to Helsinki, and the two nice ladies who took me to Bergen airport when hitch-hiking.

And thanks to everyone who had a look on this blog or wished me luck. I felt it :-)

So will I do it again? Maybe... But maybe not. Maybe another journey, or another step waits somewhere there in the future. Meanwhile, let me just say: if you think of a trip like this, don't think anymore and do it. I don't want to get cheesy, but you know - life is short.. :-)

Prague number 3

The plan. Plan was to return through Tallinn, Vilnius, Warszav and Poprad. In the end I didn't but I think it was good this way. The trip changed and transformed as I went through it. I originally planned to play much much more. I planned to make money for a donnation of a guitar. I thought I'm going into a super hot summer. It ended up all whole different way (and a termo T shirt was my best friend). But it was GREAT and an unforgetable experience. And while there were days when I was only playing till my fingers bled, there were others spent almost entirely with friends. Like with everything else, it's good to strike a balance.

Tinka was not feeling well and I returned to Prague prematurely (on 26th) to be with her. The street playing was, however, not finished, and I tried the good spots by Prasna brana, which I'm not sure were allowed, but no one kicked me out. Another nice place was on Vaclavske square, a bit up from Mustek on the right side, in the shade of a tree. There, Tinka took a few pictures and a video, which I'll upload once I get home. I found out street playing in Prague works very well, but you need a good spot - people are often in a hurry and if you don't catch their attention soon enough, they'll just rush by. Unless they're true Dire Straits fans - a rare species in Prague, and dying out in the world.

Unfortunately, it seems like busking in general will be restricted in Prague centre. I understand the reason why, but I believe there's a better solution, it just requires more effort. Perhaps auditions, permits or the like. Some permit system is in use in Bratislava - I'll find out how it works and I might do one more street play back home this weekend. So don't be surprised if you find me under Michalska brana or somewhere - I'm not a hobo, I just like playing :-)

Helsinki

As mentioned in the previous blog post, Timo took us all the way to Helsinki, or rather to the suburbs of Helsinki, where we met Hesse, an old friend from my Erasmus in France. I joined him playing football, confirming that I forgot it (haha! Bachova, wait for me!) while Johanna did som yoga. We Finished soon (that's so Finish) and went to Hesse's place, where we dropped the bags. If Števo and Ivka were living at the suburbs of Stockholm, Hesse (or his parent's place) was even further (I mean, further from Helsinki, but I think you got it. Ok Fero, enough of useless words. Ok!) and it took some time before we reached the centre. Our first goal was going for a pizza, because all three of us repeated "som hladny", and Hesse kept extending it into his favorite dialogue in Slovak ("ahoj, ako sa mas? Dakujem, dobre. Som hladny. Podme") which no longer sounds as if he was a bit slow, but took on a new, cannibal-like touch :)

But yes - we went for a pizza hunt! And thus I'll not talk more about the magnificient, tasty, fresh and blatantly utmost hot and crispy pies, and only mention that we used the bathroom, guided by the piece of wisdom Johanna took from her mother - "always use the bathroom when there is a chance". An interesting exercise for the reader is to find a analogy with another moral "cross the street only after a car had passed". I'll reveal the bijection upon request.

We continued the night in Hesses's "bachelor party" place, i.e. a place his company rents for actions like that. There I for example found out there exist quite big table football tables, or that I am not good at sumo wrestling.

We visited also a couple of pubs, but as the prices in Helsinki are not among the lowest, I skipped having a beer. Plus I don't miss it at all - drinking et al. I think a walk under the night sky, or a chat home by the dinner table are much better then going to a bar. 

The next morning, I woke up early, I mean, given the late time we went to sleep, and took off to the city centre with all my gear. I checked out/got a few recommendations the day before as to where to play and so I went for it, hungrier then usual, as the last time I did my whole setlist was still back in Bergen. I eventually tried 4 places along Alexandersgatan, with a pleasant sunshine and beautiful view on Senaatintori, or a very enjoyable place in one of the side alleys.

I did the whole setlist and then met one more time with Hesse and Johanna, to have some lunch. We first went to a pasta place, but after seeing the prices I suggested the hobo style :) - getting what we want from a supermarket and enjoy it on the sunny square by the train station. Much better :)

We sayed good bye, although I believe it's just for a while, and I headed for my final stop before flying back to Prague - a short visit to my cousin Janko and Laura, and their little boy Noel. Although a bit shy from beginning, he soon took up courage and started running around, or announced the sight of a train with the bluntness only children know ("vlaaacik!"). Perhaps we should take a lesson from them and lose barriers. And not only after drinking.

Helsinki and Finland - it was short, but lovely. I'll see you again.

Turku

The ferry to Turku took the whole day and it was a great opportunity for me to catch up - with sleep (hobo style, boom like that!), some reading, blog and emails, although the last two were quite a pain with the free ferry wifi, which was about the speed of late 90s dial up. But I had the whooole day.

It got sunnier later and I went up on the deck to see the parking manoeuvre at an island halfway to Turku. With the sky clear, it was actually warm and I considered Števo's advice, to try playing on the boat. Soon, however, the clouds came back, wind took up as we got back on the way and so I just strummed a bit on the guitar. There was not a good spot anyway.

Moving towards Turku, I got a message from Johanna, that I won't be the only couchsurfer staying with her, and if I mind to share a bed with a guy from New Zealand. No problem :P George was actually on the same boat and we spent the last hour of the sail together. He was also travelling for long time, several months already, and thus we had quite a few stories to exchange.

We met Johanna in the centre of Turku and went to drop our bags at her place, before shopping and cooking a delicious rizotto. Johanna also plays piano and sings, and George does some sort of free dancing. With me on a guitar, it was an interesting evening sharing our hobbies and passion. Plus Johanna has two cats and those took care of us not feeling bored (by doing impossible high jumps or chasing each other around), lonely (by always making themselves comfortable in our laps), or they simply looked cute. I think I start to like cats.

The next morning, it took us some time to wake up, but eventually we set off to the town and Johanna showed me a spot by the river where musicians often play. And what a good spot it was! Shame I only got to play for an hour or so, as we (Johanna joined me) planned to hitchhike that day to Helsinki. We said see you to George and walked to the hitchhiking spot that Johanna knew about, altough it was the first time to hitchhike for her. We waited about 15 minutes, which was quite a lot considering the amount of cars that passed by. But finally one stopped, and it couldn't be a better advertisement for hitchhiking :) A smiley half French, half Finnish guy named Timo took us straight to Helsinki. 

Do things hobo style? I'm not sure it should be called that way - there's simply many people who like to meet strangers and don't mind sharing apartment or a car. And why should they, really? It doesn't get better then meeting new people, making friends, getting new ideas and having fun. I'm sorry for all those cars who passed by, single driver behind the steering wheel, the rest of the car empty... As George put it - world is not such a scary place. There's scary things happening, but people, in essence, are good.

Stockholm

I arrived to Stockholm on Monday evening, a day after the longest day in the year. It was almost seven when I claimed my luggage, sorted out few things over the airport wifi and set off to the centre. I was staying with Števo and Ivka, but they were also flying back to Stockholm that day, arriving around 10 pm, thus I had a few hours to do some sightseeing.

Haha! Good joke Fero! Of course I went to play. The weather was nice and sunny plus I haven't played for some time and was keen to see how it works in my new destination. I walked around a bit, getting my bearings, and eventually found the street I was looking for - some sort of Stockholm version of Karl-Johans gate from Oslo, here named Drottinggatan. The city was a bit empty that evening, however, and my spot was also not the best one, with some works on a construction nearby. But all the same, it was fun and I enjoyed it, as well as some fans of Mark Knopfler who stopped by.

I then came to meet Števo at Spånga station, which was 3 stations away from the centre by a commuter train. It sounds as stone's throw away, but it was then when I fully appreciated the size of Stockholm - it's huge! Although Spånga is more then 15km away from the centre, it's still part of the city. There, the journey was not over yet, but Števo came to pick me up with a car, and thus began the hospitality unmatched during my trip, comparable only to the great taste of škvarky we had in Oslo!

Števo and Ivka live in a nice house in a quiet neighbourhood, and the only party they mentioned was a lawn-mowing party organized by the community and combined with a barbeque. It was truly very peaceful (the area, not sure about the party!) and after a good night of sleep, I felt recharged again and ready to play. Števo first mowed grass on his small garden and then we went together to the city, with a stop at a recycling station, which was full of automated robots compacting the different kinds of waste and I keep it open that it might have in fact been a settlement of extraterrestrial civilisation! Or perhaps Sweden is a country that simply works. Hmm.

We aimed for Gamla Stan, the historical centre, where Števo advised me on a spot by the Nobel prize museum. That one was, however, occupied, and we moved by the parliament - a beautiful spot on a small bridge and full of sunshine. Unfortunately, I managed only a single song, before being told I should move to a different place (just like in in front of the parliament in Oslo - there seems to be a pattern and perhaps I should confirm in front of the parliament in Helsinki!). We had to stroll bit down the street to Gamla Stan, as the competition seems to be high around here. First there was this guy who stands still (not sure how it's called) and who did not want a musician around. Then a minute away, I almost started to play when we noticed another guy playing on cups a few meters away. We finally found a cozy spot on a corner of a small alley, in a bit narrow part of the street. I haven't played like that yet, and it took me spome time to find a good balance of sounds. Števo was watching and helped a lot to attract people, or starting an applause after some songs. And took the pictures! 

It did not go too well, and Števo was interested how it would be if I play some more well known song. I thus tried Sultans, and that's when it took off finally. People started to stop by, and after Brothers in arms, I found around 10 people standing in the narrow street and watching, an audience I don't see often. As those were probably fans of Dire Straits, I continued with some of their songs before they dispersed and we played Tri Cunici with Števo :P Eventually it was a very nice gig, maybe the most enjoyable I played on this trip. 

We then went for a burger to Max, which I didn't know, but came to really like. The burgers are big and tasty, fries smell of potateos and it was all for a reasonable price, given we were in one of the most expensive cities in the world. 

We picked Ivka from work, did some shopping and made a great dinner - a salmon with mashed potatoes and a yoghurt salad, and some chocolate icecream after that, which "concluded us" and we went to sleep early. After all, Števo insisted on giving me a ride the next morning to the port, where I got on a biggest ferry I ever took. It's name is Grace, but it's sister just passed by.

In December, we thought Stockholm was a bit cold, not only temperature-wise. Now, I don't think that anymore - in either sense. I guess what you need is just to find the right people. Thanks to Števo and Ivka for everything. And although they're not original Stockholmers, it does not matter. After all, an original Stockholmer will come soon. Good luck with that! ;-)

The SAS and airport mess

I came to Prague airport a bit later then I'm used to. It was less then 90 minutes to the departure and I had to check in my big rucksack. First, I went to buy some food as I was starving and I wanted something for the rest of the day - after all, I was going to Stockholm where everything would be 3 times more expensive..

After that I quickly reorganized my stuff, took out the amp from the rucksack and went on to find the check-in desk. Sooo, 250-252, hmm, where can it be? Hey whats that funny queue of people? Is Justin Bieber having a concert at the airport or what? Unfortunately (fortunately?) not, and disbelieved, I joined the queue's tail. It was moving more slowly then ever, since SAS decided that the poor three desks are enough for hundreds of passangers travelling on several of their flights that were to take off in next few minutes. I used the time to somehow eat something, using feet to push my luggage and the amp and balancing guitar on a shoulder, while dipping a piece of bread in a cheese sauce. I could probably add juggling with chainsaws, but I'll save it for the next time I'm flying with SAS. When they finally called for passangers of our 13:15 flight to overtake everyone else in the queue, it was less then half an hour to the take off. 

Although I was flying to Stockholm, the flight was to Copenhagen where I had 50 minutes to change the planes. However, already in Prague, I smelled delays and problems. Will they have enough time to reload my baggage to the second plane in Copenhagen? And will they not mess it up? At the time of writing this, I don't know yet.

When I finally checked in amongst the last passangers, I was told to run on the Fast track as the boarding has already started! So I did, run like hell. But the fact that the plane was due to take off in 10 minutes meant nothing to the security, where I was stopped for special control right upon entering the fast track. A sleepy guy slowly went over my guitar and amp, asking about its number of watts as if we were two street playing friends meeting over cup of coffee on a sunny afternoon. Finally free, I run for the normal Fast track security, which seemed to me actually slower then the normal one, but maybe that was just my feeling. Anyway, to make it more interesting, I beeped and holding with one hand my loose trousers (which would otherwise fall down as the belt was in the security check box), I was told to remove my shoes which were re-sent for the rontgen check.

Allright! Check them better twice! You never know what's in there (actually, few days ago, I found there about 10 super sharp pins. Heaven knows how they got there). I finally put them on and resumed my sprint to gate C7, where I was tooooo.... early.

What? Yes. The flight was delayed 15 minutes, meaning I could have taken it easy, if someone told me, of course.. ;) but I was not too happy about it either, as that could mean trouble getting the connecting flight in Copenhagen.

We eventually delayed a bit more then 15 minutes, but finally the engines started and we moved... like 20 meters. Then we stopped, waited 10 more minutes before the pilot shut down the engines again and told us there's a technical problem. But no worries, the problem was fixed - in a time that was just enough for me to miss the connecting flight in Copenhagen!

In the middle of this craze I was lucky to get another flight from Copenhagen to Stockholm, that was just half 50 minutes later then the original one. On the other hand, this meant exercised my sprinting abilities also in Copenhagen's (quite huge) airport - to the transfer desk and to a gate, to make it in time. 

I did, and so far all is ok on the flight. We will see about the luggage. I hope to play today, so I kindly ask SAS: please, don't mess it up any more.

Ps: yeah! The luggage came! Let me simply somment it as: wow.

The second Prague

There's not much to say really. I didn't come to Prague to street-play massively. It's nice to have a break. The weather probably thought the same and it often rained here and there. Bergeners would say it does not rain, but I knew better. All in all, I managed just one, about one hour long street gig by Prasna brana, a nice spot where I have seen musicians before. And it was great, enjoyable not only for me, but obviously also for the many people who stopped by, listened a bit or danced around. The only downside was that right after I finished, another street player came and told me two things: it's not officially allowed to play where I did, and it might soon be banned in the whole of the city. Hope it does not go through, as it would be very sad. True, the street music can be annoying, if e.g. someone abuses it and plays the same song over and over again for half a day at the same spot. But then there are people who do it for the love of performing for others. And to get them out of the streets, that would be a shame.

As I said, there's not much to say - about street play. But these five days were much more then that, and I will keep them in mind forever. All thanks to God, and the most beautiful heart I've found. Indeed, a golden heart.