Concert Day: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC (April 9, 2010)

I am writing this post while in the car. No, not while driving—I was told I have talents I should explore, and something tells me that writing a blog while driving is not one of them—Jeroen agreed to take the wheel into his hands so I can tell you about that awesome concert we had just witnessed.

If you had read the previous post, you might have got the impression that I was a little… how to say it… edgy. It’s been a really rough day, folks, driving for hours in traffic with an empty stomach. But at the end, we made it. We parked our ride—a brand‐new silver Ford Mustang (V6, fortunately) convertible—at the nearby CBC building and entered the venue about 30 minutes before the opening act. markknopfler.com ticket handouts went very smooth. Front row, dead center: the two monitor speakers, at Knopfler’s feet, were split literally in front of me.

First, I should describe the opening act. Pieta Brown is her name, a gorgeous, sweet girl, born & raised in Iowa. She has just had a new album released in the USA last week, and is promoting her album as the opening act for Mark Knopfler’s North American tour. On stage, she is accompanied by Bo Ramsey.

(Hold on a second… we’re crossing the border)

OK before I go on, here’s some nice tidbit about what just happened to us at the border. 12:00am, the border crossing is virtually empty. We’re approaching the booth; Jeroen is driving, I’m with a laptop on my lap.

BOL (Border officer lady): “How many travellers?”

Jeroen: “Two”.

Well, Jeroen is a scientific programmer. He is known for his accuracy with numbers, and “two” seemed just about the right thing to say.

BOL: “Where are you going to?”

Jeroen: “We are following Mark Knopfler’s concert tour, until May 10th”.

BOL seems perplexed. “Where is your next stop tonight?”

Jeroen: “Seattle”.

BOL: “And after that?”

Jeroen: “Portland, Northern California and…”

BOL (cuts him): “And where do you live?”

Jeroen: “I’m from The Netherlands”.

BOL: “And you came all the way from The Netherlands for this?”

Jeroen: “Yes, I’m a big fan”.

BOL (still trying to compute what the hell is going on in here): “Well, what do you do for a living?”

Jeroen: “I am a scientific programmer”.

BOL (addressing me): “What about you? are you done with the tour at the same day he is?”

Myself: “Yes, on May 10 I will be back to Toronto”. For some reason I felt it inadequate to mention that it’s only for a short week, then flying to see 50+ more shows in Europe.

BOL: “OK guys, have fun”.

Put yourself in her shoes. It’s 12:00am midnight. She gets two passports, one Dutch and one Canadian with a “Trusted Traveller” designation on it. She asks the simplest question—“where are you going”—and she’s met with a story about two guys following a tour for a month. I think that, if someone is crazy enough to come up with such a story as a cover‐up, he should be granted entry to the USA (or any other country for the matter) on the grounds of extreme creativity.

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OK, back to the concert. I now have the laptop on my lap, hooked to the Internet via a Bluetooth connection to my BlackBerry, taking advantage of the unlimited data plan. I feel like I’m that computer geek in “Mission Impossible”, deploying a lab inside a car and communicating with the outside world.

Bo Ramsey, who’s accompanying Pieta Brown, is quite the veteran guitarist. Also born & raised in Iowa, the man had his fair share in song writing, production and collaboration with other artists. He’s keeping it slow with the guitar while performing with Pieta, for the simple reason that this is exactly what Pieta’s songs need: quiet, non‐intrusive, soft Stratocaster bits.

Both Pieta and Bo show a fair bit of passion while playing and singing (Ramsey also does background vocals). It’s a great opening act, folks; check it out. I am sure to get my hands on Pieta’s latest album once the tour hits Toronto.

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, located right besides the CBC building in downtown Vancouver, is nothing like Seattle’s Moore Theatre: it is big, wide, seats ~3,000, fantastic facilities and the interior is gorgeous.

Seattle’s Moore Theatre’s sound left much to be desired, and so I was anxiously waiting for the main event. And it came; and man, oh man, what a main event it was.

First of all, the entire band looked fresh, alert and ready for action. Mark, who appeared to have been a bit shocked of it all yesterday, was a different person today: he looked relaxed and happy, and when he’s like that—he improvises more (which leads to a better receiving crowd).

Then, the sound. Oh, the sound. What a tremendous improvement. Border Reiver sounded like it should—with a lot of “party factor” in it. So much substance you could feel the roof flying. No weird echoes, no “dead spots”—the sound was simply and utterly great.

Richard’s hand looked a bit better today. For those of you who have been living under a rock recently, a little catch‐up—Richard had scalded his right hand during the rehearsal period in London. Pretty bad business (read about it in his blog; see the right‐hand side‐bar for a link). For a while he doubted his ability to play, but… well, how to say this… seeing Richard perform today, if that is how he plays with a badly scalded right hand, I would suggest to the band to always have a container of boiling water in Richard’s vicinity, and hope that he scalds it again and again. Phenomenal playing, nothing less.

But I guess that’s what it means being a pro. Seriously, go to Richard’s website (http://www.richard-bennett.com), see the “Discography” page. My browser window was actually hung for a few seconds trying to render the gigantic HTML table containing all of the initiatives that Richard took part in. The man’s been playing for 50 years. Yes, that’s right: 50 years.

50 years is a long time. And the reason you haven’t heard much about him (besides his association with Knopfler) is that this is exactly how he wants it. Richard shies away from the spotlight like I shy away from 134m tall bungee jumps (see my good buddy Jonathan doing it in New Zealand). No matter how well you think that you play guitar, most chances are that Richard plays better than you; but he’s not into competition with anybody—he simply loves to play.

Bennett just had his third solo CD, “Valley of the Sun”, released through CD‐Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/richardbennett3). I urge you to get a copy, and while you’re at it, grab a copy of “Themes from a Rainy Decade” (2004) and “Code Red, Cloud Nine” (2008).

Back to the concert: everybody seemed sharp and bursting with energy. The “new guys”, Mike McGoldrick and Tim O’Brien, shone today—Tim playing millions of instruments and Mike handling the flutes like they’re meant to be handled. Guy and Matt complementing each other on the keyboards (and a few other instruments), Glenn Worf sending those bass notes straight into our spines… really, with such a happy bunch, Mark really has no reason to work too hard.

The sound was perfect, but what definitely made this show for me is the surprising setlist change. I mentioned yesterday that there were a couple of songs I couldn’t have imagined to be on the setlist; today, though, I had the honour to listen to one of my favourite songs played live, for the first time in 40 concerts. I realized the band’s up for something when they didn’t start playing their instruments during Mark’s presentation of the band. I then saw Mike McGoldrick sitting down with the Uilleann Pipes and figured that something really fishy is going on; and what a great surprise that was, to listen to that lovely tune from Golden Heart… Oh, such a lovely tune. Mental note to self: listen to Don Henley’s version of that song.

The band is having some neat televised feature this tour. Small cameras are attached to some of Mark’s guitars (as well as to Guy’s and Matt’s pianos) so you can see a fishbowl‐like reflection of the band members playing the instruments, on the screen behind the band. Nicely done, and adds a lot to the show.

Mark seemed to improvise quite a bit today. The Brothers in Arms solo had some interesting twists in it, not to mention a longer‐than‐usual arrangement of Our Shangri‐La (so it seemed) and a brilliant Telegraph Road solo.

I can only hope that the upcoming shows will be anywhere near as good as tonight’s.

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We’re approaching Seattle. I’m going to drop Jeroen off at his hotel, and head back to Hadar’s place in Kirkland for the night. Will leave to Portland tomorrow early afternoon.

Later,
Isaac

In Vancouver

Hey all.

I guess I’d never run out of bizarre places to blog from. This text is being written on my BlackBerry, and will hopefully format & show correctly in the blog.

Quite a stressful day so far. Picked Jeroen up from downtown Seattle at 1:30pm, then drove to Seattle airport to pick up our convertible car that should serve us for the USA / Canada tour. We then drove two cars, northbound back to Canada.

Little did I consider that, since it’s gorgeous Friday afternoon outside, traffic is going to be hell. Terrible traffic basically ruled out my original plan to grab something to eat on my way: we had to continue driving north due to the unknown delay factor of the border crossing.

We only crossed the border at around 6:00pm, one hour and a half before the concert. We then had to proceed to Vancouver, to return the car that had served us so far… Guess what, traffic again.

So between 10:00am (when I woke up) to 6:40pm (when we located a Blenz Coffee on Cambie Street on our way to the venue), I ate two pieces of toast with some turkey breast on them. Even worse, I haven’t had my morning coffee (I was stupid enough to ask Hadar for tea instead). If some of you thought that I’m a jackass already, wait until you see me hungry and tired… Ask all my ex‐girlfriends.

Now we’re seated at the venue; Pieta Brown gave an awesome performance and the guys will come up in about 5 minutes.

Phewwwww. What a day so far. Hopefully seeing a good concert from the front row, dead centre, would help.

Later,
Isaac

Concert Day: Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA (April 8, 2010)

Didn’t get too much sleep last night, for whatever reason. It may just be that it takes me a few days (as always) to adjust to “vacation mode”; it could also be the excitement stemming from the fact that, there, the tour is just about to start. 4 hours of sleep, and I swear to whatever‐it‐is‐that‐runs‐the‐show that I slept like a brick. Correction: slept better than most bricks.

After a preliminary drive around town with Hadar (Seattle has some amazing neighbourhoods; Magnolia reminds me a lot of West Vancouver), I drove to downtown Seattle to reconnect with Jeroen who had spent the night at the Moore Hotel, adjacent to the Moore Theatre. We had a few hours to kill before the concert starts, so we paid a short visit to the Space Needle (or, how Hadar’s mother once called it, “the Spicy Noodle”). We then killed another hour or so in a local coffee place called “Forza Coffee”; huge mistake—I want my hour‐or‐so back (you can keep the money), paid a short visit to the Pike Place Market and went back to the hotel.

Last tour, at the Woodinville, WA concert, I was approached by a guy named Raghu who introduced himself as a reader of my blog. A few weeks ago we reconnected and decided to get together once I am in Seattle for the tour, and so we did. Shortly after there were the four of us—Raghu, his friend Naveed, Jeroen and myself—in a Mexican restaurant named “Pesos” in Queen Anne Avenue North, chewing on some decent Mexican food, sharing stories and laughs and having an altogether good time.

Heading back to the Moore Theatre, there came the time to pick‐up the tickets. Tickets purchased through markknopfler.com were not mailed to attendees—instead, arrangements were made so the tickets are picked up at the venue itself (that is in order to prevent ticket‐scalping). I am sure that the tour’s management would be pleased to know that, at least for the Seattle show, things went smooth. Very well done.

The Moore Theatre, located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street, dates back to 1907. According to Wikipedia, the venue seats 1,419; I haven’t seen any empty seats, and the entire setting appeared to be rather cozy and intimate. I was seated in Pit Centre, Row BB, Seat 3—I would say within a hand’s reach of the stage.

A lesson I learned (the hard way) from last tour was to always carry ear‐plugs when seated at the front seats. Realizing I had completely forgot about those, I hurried outside to buy some—causing me to miss the first 20 minutes of Pieta Brown’s show. Quite a shame; she was still playing when I returned, she has a sweet voice that blends beautifully with her guitar. Bo Ramsey accompanied her with an electric, and the 10 minutes I spent watching her perform have passed‐by really quickly. Very good opening act.

A few minutes of intermission and there is Mr. Crockford again, carrying fire & hell prophecies to whoever is caught taking videos of the show. Paul’s recording‐policy announcement traditionally takes place around five minutes before the concert starts; the countdown has begun.

And before long, there were eight musicians (six familiar, two new) on the stage. As if July 31, 2008 was just yesterday and we didn’t really have a couple of years of break between the tours. Let me tell you something—it was exciting to see the gang back on the stage. That’s where they belong; they looked fresh and ready to rock. If at all, the person who most appeared to be a bit shocked of it all was Mark himself—perhaps startled of the warm welcome he received from the crowd?

The band didn’t waste time and went straight ahead to the show’s opener. Of the people I asked prior to the show, all of them wished for the same song to start the show with. Quite amazing when talking about an individual with such an extensive repertoire as Mark Knopfler.

Mark apparently sensed that (or maybe he had read my blog entry describing the experience of listening to Get Lucky for the first time), and decided to spice things up a bit by throwing in some brilliant Fender Stratocaster riffs into the mix, giving the opening song quite an interesting spin. Very well received.

Today was also the first time that I witnessed “Sailing to Philadelphia” being performed as a duet, with Tim O’Brien singing James Taylor’s part. Pretty good voice, and I’m happy to hear STP performed as a duet. That wasn’t the only surprise in the show, though. A few setlist picks came as a complete surprise to me—to the point that I couldn’t help but mumble “no way… no way”.

(Continuing April 9, 9:45am)

Oh God. I guess I almost fell asleep on the keyboard… anyway, where was I.

Altogether four tracks made it from Get Lucky into the setlist, including the two singles that were released last September. Two solo albums—Golden Heart and Kill to Get Crimson—were completely left out; I guess something like that was bound to happen, with an ever‐growing repertoire and a fixed 2‐hours limit on concert time. It is extremely unlikely for Mark to ever come up with a setlist that will satisfy everybody. In my completely subjective case, I would happily “trade” any Dire Straits song (except for Brothers in Arms, as it lies within its own category of heavenly musical creations) with any Get Lucky song, for the mere fact that, in my mind, Get Lucky is Mark Knopfler’s best album, including all Dire Straits material.

Still, no show can go by without a few Dire Straits hits, beautifully made—although I did notice a slight increase in the tempo (barely noticeable). It seemed as if Romeo is hurrying somewhere…

There was only one thing that held the show back, in my opinion, which was the sound at the venue. Locals have told me that the Moore Theatre isn’t designed to give the perfect heavenly acoustic experience, to say the least; the crew, as brilliant as it is (and, granted, having seen them 39 times setting things up and working through the concert, they are brilliant), still has to work within the venue’s limitations and it appeared as if this particular venue gave everyone a hard time.

I would attribute the venue’s sound to the fact that the opening song lacked some… well, how could I put it in words… “boom”. It may have been the venue’s fault, or maybe just a slight volume maladjustment, but whatever it is that makes Border Reiver such a great song (is it that rhythm guitar playing those substantial Cm chords? perhaps) needs to be amplified to give a better WOW experience.

Then again, that is just my impression and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out if the venue’s architectural characteristics had something to do with it. Guess we will see it evolving over time.

Show ended at around 10:30pm—slightly over two hours. We were literally kicked out of the venue by some angry people claiming that the “union” “forces them” to clear the venue immediately due to curfew. Well, what can you do.

Back to Jeroen’s room to pick up my backpack, then walked Linda to her hotel, which was right next to where my car parked. I first met Linda during the concert in Abravanel Hall, in Salt‐Lake City, UT in the summer of 2008; was great to catch up. We bid each other farewell and I went back to Kirkland.

10:12am now, time to have some breakfast. In a few hours, we will cross the border to Canada, for the Vancouver show tonight.

Later,
Isaac

PS. I receive quite a few supportive emails from readers. Much appreciated, guys & gals. Stay tuned for further updates.

A Note Regarding Setlists

Hi. Well, one of the most common questions I am asked after each show is what was the setlist like. Naturally, as Mark possesses a huge musical repertoire, information regarding the setlists is very much sought after.

During the last tour, I did not post a setlist in any of the postings (the setlist was included along with the last post in the blog), as I didn’t want to ruin it for people who haven’t seen the show yet. Still, it’s impossible to write about an MK show without disclosing anything about the setlist.

Therefore: setlists will not be posted here. If you would really like to know what the setlist was for a particular concert, send me a private email and I will respond.

Hope you understand,
Isaac

Getting Ready (Part II)

Well, I felt somewhat bad for not being able to post pictures from the second Vancouver & surroundings trip. A few hours before the Seattle show, I’m sitting at the lobby of the Moore Hotel with Jeroen. Grabbed the pictures from his camera. So there we go:

Bridal Veil falls, just a few kilometres east of Chilliwack:

The Blue Moose Cafe in Hope, BC. They serve great coffee and it’s an altogether pleasant place to hang out. A locals’ favourite:

On the way back, we stopped at Deep Cove, a small neighbourhood in North Vancouver:

I also took a picture with what I consider “my dream house”. Whenever I happen to be in Deep Cove, I go and take a look at that house:

The concert at the Moore Theatre is scheduled to begin 4 hours from now. Can’t wait.

Later,
Isaac

Getting Ready

Sitting in Hadar’s apartment in Kirkland, WA, writing the last blog post before the tour madness starts. The apartment boasts a perfect view of Lake Washington, which looks lovely at day time and much less exciting on 2:46am. Kirkland is an altogether lovely little town; greenery welcomes you everywhere you go, shops and stores designed to give you the feeling that you are sifting through the pages of some childhood fantasy book. Think of Banff, AB—in particular, Banff Avenue—very similar “feel”. Heck, even Starbucks looks sexy here (their coffee, alas, is a whole different story).

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The morning after the last blog post, I decided to devote the day to show Jeroen around Vancouver and its surroundings. Whoever knows the first thing about me, knows that I would never miss a chance to rave about this beautiful city. And so after a quick breakfast, we decided to take highway 99—known as “Sea to Sky highway”—north of Vancouver towards Whistler, and stop in a few places along the way. For example, Cypress Hill—

(Sorry for ruining the view), Horseshoe Bay—

(If you’re in the area, go to Blenz Coffee just across the street, get a cup of coffee / tea and consume it while gazing at the bay. That should add a few months to your life expectancy), Whistler—

—as well as numerous view‐points off the highway, those who make you wonder whether you’re just imagining these beautiful views:

At the end, on our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Prospect Point—about 100m drive into Stanley Park:

The next day had a similar format—driving to neat places surrounding Vancouver, taking a few shots, only this time we went east towards Chilliwack and Hope (pictures not available yet… sorry. But if you’re in the area, be sure you check‐out the Bridal Veil Falls).

No matter what new places I go to and experience, it appears that there are two cities that cannot be beat. Vancouver is one of them (the other is Jerusalem)—the mix of nature and urbanism here is simply a winner, and the abundance of things to do and sights to see in the area makes it a heavenly place to live (assuming you can afford it; wages here are generally lower than, say, Toronto—while the cost of living is higher).

We ended the two days of exploration with a superb dinner in a restaurant called “Stepho’s”, on Davie Street. For a while now, I have been nagged by more than a handful of foodie friends of mine, to go and give this place a try. It’s a Greek‐Mediterranean restaurant, and apparently very successful—its walls are literally swamped with all sorts of certificates, awards and whatnot. And the food? well, if I told you that you could get pretty full by ordering their lamb roast for $9.25 (read: nine dollars and twenty five cents), you would most likely argue that it’s either the food is crappy or my stomach’s capacity leaves much to be desired. I dare you, then. I had the same doubts when I looked at their simple, almost boring menu, so I also ordered an appetizer (generous portion of hummus served as a dip; $4.25). I couldn’t finish my entire meal, and man was it good!

Give it a shot next time you’re in Vancouver.

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We decided to spend April 7 onwards in Seattle, and so after a quick breakfast we made our way south. Due to the NEXUS rules, we had to take the regular passenger crossing lanes, which stole about two hours from our time—but still we made it safe and sound to Seattle. Pouring down rain the entire way. Dropped Jeroen off at the Moore Hotel—adjacent to the Moore Theatre, where the Seattle concert is to take place tomorrow—and drove to Kirkland to stay in Hadar’s place.

Tomorrow… tomorrow, April 8, the Get Lucky tour begins. Seems like it was yesterday when the album was released. I still am not fully grasping the fact that, in slightly over 13 hours, I will be seated at the second row of the Moore Theatre and watch the best musical group I could think of—performing live. It will be the first of 87 shows which I am going to attend. In particular, I am curious about the setlist, and about which songs of Get Lucky are going to be performed (I can only wish that Border Reiver, Before Gas & TV, So Far from the Clyde and Piper to the End are in the list). All questions and wonderings will be answered tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

Good night,
Isaac

In Vancouver

Everything appears to be happening very quickly.

Thursday afternoon I was having a drink with a few friends in “The Flying Dog” in Waterloo, Ontario — to celebrate (or mourn; depending on your point of view) my last day at work. Friday was a holiday here in Canada (“Good Friday”), so I used it to make sure everything’s in place for the North American leg of the Get Lucky tour, as well as for playing my guitars & piano, as I am going to miss them a lot.

And then Saturday early morning, 6:30am, the sound of the alarm clock signified the beginning of yet another adventure. I sprang out of bed full of energy, which lasted for just about 15 seconds when I washed my face and realized I hadn’t got much sleep. A quick (but perfect; as always) espresso and yogurt, and we (my long time friend Jonathan and myself) were in the car en route to the Toronto Airport.

While driving, I was trying to figure out whether I forgot anything. Just seemed strange to me that I was able to pack everything I need for a month inside one half of a 70 litres backpack. A few clothes, some personal accessories (toothbrush, shaving machine etc), Netbook, some adapters… that’s pretty much it. And as I am going to have a car during the North American leg, I splurged and decided to take my Baby Taylor guitar, in case I’ll have an SSTD attack (Severe Strumming Time Deficiency).

Turns out I came prepared really well. Online check‐in to Air Canada’s flight gave me the possibility to pre‐select the best seat in the house — I had enough leg‐room to play Rugby in it (but I didn’t; I’m not much into sports), and with an eye‐cover and a pair of Bose QuietComfort 15’s in my ears, the flight went by very quickly.

Vancouver Airport → Baggage Claim → and then straight to Budget, to pick‐up my car. They have this program called “FastBreak” in which you provide them with all bunch of information ahead of time, and when you arrive, you go to a designated kiosk, flash your ID and then literally go straight to your car — no line‐up. Apparently, though, someone there screwed up my order and “FastBreak” turned into “Fast? Give me a Break”.

Got my GPS installed and went straight to my good friend Kyle’s place. I rented a room at his house when I was working in Vancouver during 2006 and we kept in touch ever since — a great guy. Always good to see him. An hour or so later I was on my way to have lunch with my friend Joyti, whom I’ve known since 2004 and remained good friends with. We met in White Spot — what a surprise, as if I could kick‐start any Vancouver stay without White Spot’s fabulous Triple‐O’ burger — chatted for an hour or to, and then parted ways.

Right after, I started driving towards Seattle to meet with Hadar. We first met in high‐school (18 years ago. Why am I feeling old, all of a sudden?), and only recently reconnected. She lives in Kirkland, Washington — a stone‐throw from Seattle (well, really, you ought to have huge biceps for that kind of stone‐throw, but you know what I mean; work with me here).

Approaching the Peace Arch border crossing, signs informed me of a 1 hour delay at the crossing. Good thing that this border crossing has a dedicated NEXUS lane. Best $50 I ever spent in my life (the card is good for 5 years), and there I was cruising in a dedicated lane, bypassing hundreds of frustrated people. I crossed the border within one minute.

I am not a huge fan of procrastination, so I also used this trip to the USA to resolve one of the most problematic issues I could think of — getting a no‐contract, BlackBerry‐enabled SIM card from a USA cell‐phone provider. Two weeks of roaming in Europe last summer ended up costing me $800 (!), and a month in the USA using my Canadian SIM card would probably hurt a lot. Fortunately, it turns out that T‐Mobile sells BlackBerry‐enabled SIM cards on a no‐contract plan. $75 a month bought me unlimited nation‐wide voice & data.

Weather sucked en route to Kirkland but I made it safely to Kirkland. A dinner out, back home and I fell asleep, extremely tired.

Next day, after approximately 12 hours (!) of sleep, I made my way back to Canada, to pick Jeroen up from the Vancouver airport. Signs approaching the US/Canada border informed me of a 1 hour delay at the border. Once again the NEXUS card saved me an hour wait. Got to the airport just in time to pick Jeroen up. His first time in Canada and it’s my honour to show him around, as he showed me around Amsterdam and Delft when I was there.

Quick run to the hotel — Best Western Sands By The Sea — right in Denman & Davie. I can literally throw something through the window and hit the ocean. Went for dinner in White Spot (do you see a pattern here?); a hamburger later and we went back to the hotel.

Next day (today), I showed Jeroen around some of the best places in Vancouver and area. Lots of pictures available at my Facebook profile — you’re welcome to check it out (see link to my website at the right‐hand side; there, you should find a link to my Facebook profile). Drove to Whistler and back, taking lots of pictures along the way.

Monday 7:25pm now, back at the hotel preparing for a stroll outside — weather appears to have improved.

The Get Lucky tour kicks‐off this coming Thursday in Seattle. From there on, you should expect regular daily blog updates; until then… I think I’ll spend most of the time outside. Take a look at the photos… I’m sure you’d do the same.

Vancouver is the most beautiful city in the world. If you never made it here before, put it on your list.

Later,
Isaac