Greetings from Europe!

I am sitting in the lobby of a budget hotel in Amsterdam, getting ready to head out for the day into this glorious city. We have had an incredible time so far, and many memories and stories are being formed AS WE SPEAK.

Two days ago my group set out at night in Luxembourg to see what we could find. As we wandered up the street, we heard music. Not just any music, though...New Orleans soul music. In perfect American English. We followed it and found ourselves at a music festival with hundreds of people, surrounded by American flags. We bought beer at one of the many stands and worked our way to the front of the crowd. The band must've figured out we were English and knew the songs, because they kept holding the mic' to our group as the crowd was singing along. For the big finale of "When the Saints Go Marching In," one of the incredible singers, a big black soul woman, just handed her mic' to Shana. We just went buck wild. And I thought my singing career in Shapiro was done for forever. Oh contraire, it's alive and well. I may just have to sing "Ride, Sally, Ride," rather than "You Can't Talk To Me."