Mark Knopfler European Tour 2013
31st July – Cap Roig
Homeward Bound. The task of writing this final tour diary entry from home is now becoming quite familiar and as always, I will take my time over it so apologies if you've logged on a [...]
30th July 2013 – San Sebastian Donostia
Running Out. San Sebastian or Donostia as it is known in Basque must be one of the most beautiful cities of this tour. Situated on the Northern coast of Spain near the border with France, [...]
29th July – Gijon
Dinosaur Toes. Our final day off on this wonder tour was spent on a very quiet Sunday in Madrid. Everything seemed to be closed, I suppose because it's the end of July and therefore holiday [...]
27th July – Malaga
Muchos Abrazos. The incredible, if not fortunate Juan José Padilla... There was a brief respite today with the weather in Madrid as it rained. I'm not sure I recall ever seeing rain here. It meant [...]
26th July – Madrid
Avid diary readers will recall a few diary entries ago (12th July) I mentioned I was working on an end of tour project? I can now reveal what exactly that was as the big day [...]
25th July – Barcelona
Poble Espanyol As well as having one of the best football teams on the planet, Barcelona also happens to be one of the most exciting cities in Europe, if not the world. I guess [...]
24th July 2013 – Carcassonne
Hand Picked Today's short flight took us back into France after a glorious day off in Barcelona, one of our favourite stops on any tour, more on that tomorrow as we play there. Our final [...]
22nd July 2013 – Saint Julien en Genevois
Heating Up Reluctantly checking out of the favourite hotel of the tour (official) we prepared ourselves for the journey ahead. A short hop down to Geneva and across the nearby French border to the [...]
21st July – Lorrach
More Heat More hot weather and today's trip was a relatively short drive to and from Zurich across the Southern German border and on to the small town of Lörrach which is famed, if [...]
20th July – Zurich
Dolder Delight The delightful Dolder Grand Hotel was every bit as pristine as we remembered from our brief visit nearly two years ago at the tail end on the first 'Bob encounter'. We now recall [...]
19th July 2013 – Lucca
Victor Bravo After what was for me an incredible day off in Malta, we headed North and back into mainland Italy for our final Italian show of the tour. The day off yesterday was [...]
17th July 2013 – Malta
Abort Takeoff With virtually no sleep in the last 36 hours, the crew arrived at the city square in Floriana. It was as you'd expect any Southern European show, hot and dusty but at [...]
16th July 2013 – Taormina
Moonlit Arena Most tours reach a point where it feels like you have arrived at a summit, Taormina in Sicily has that feel to it. Certainly the most beautiful location of the trip so [...]
14th July 2013 – Naples
Napoli Night Mike's Uilleann pipes... Any show day in Naples is eventful and today was no exception. Southern Italy is truly beautiful, but this land is also terribly burdened by economic and social problems. [...]
13th July – Rome
Bellissima Notte With the tour fast moving towards its final stages, the desire for exploration and general sightseeing activity is all but diminished and when your hotel room has a balcony and the [...]
12th July – Piazzola sul Brenta
Amiamo l'Italia Occasionally, I have to really sit and think hard about how the day started, the memory banks being what they are and all that. This was one of those days. Breakfast in [...]
11th July – Locarno
Hail Milano Back in Italy almost two months after first coming here on the same tour the weather is noticeably warmer. In fact it's hot. Hot enough for storms to bubble up the afternoon of [...]
9th July – Nimes
Beast Fighters I couldn't quite make up my mind if we were moving on into France or Italy today. Everything about the final destination, a second visit of the tour to the Four Seasons, Milan, [...]
6th July 2013 – Stuttgart
Farewell Nigel (for now) The final show in another run of five-in-a-row took us to the cradle of the motor car, Stuttgart. Home to Mercedes Benz and the beloved Porsche, Stuttgart is a densely populated [...]
5th July 2013 – Bad Mergentheim
Teutonic Knights It's 2pm and as is so often the case when touring, we have to leave, just when we're getting to know the place. Our stay in Dresden has been all too brief but [...]
4th July – Dresden
4th July It was with much anticipation we arrived in Dresden last night. Slightly earlier than planned, we luxuriated in the Kempinski, a 'proper' hotel right [...]
3rd July – Halle
Anyone for tennis? I opened the curtains this morning to a torrential downpour, you could barely see the cathedral across the river through the gloom but the clouds were moving swiftly and I thought there [...]
2nd July 2013 – Cologne
Pixel Window The recent trend for fixing padlocks to bridges or 'love padlocks' has clearly spread and looking out of the window at the Hohenzollern Railway Bridge I can see the walkway railings glittering [...]
30th June 2013 – Dijon
Farewell Ruth (for now) I can't say I'm not happy to be leaving Paris this morning. Paris is one of those places which you always look forward to visiting greatly but are always ready [...]
29th June 2013 – Clermont Ferrand
Michelin Clad Our final day trip from, and to, the city where butter poisoning is a common complaint takes us to the town of Clermont Ferrand. 210 miles South of Paris and 150 miles from [...]
28th June 2013 – Rennes
Competition Time Having no prior knowledge of this town in Brittany, most of us had no idea what to expect. Mike has played here many times however and mentioned the great cafes and bars in [...]
27th June – Caen
Nos excuses Our flight in and out of Paris today takes us to the Normandie town of Caen, the closest we'll get to the UK without actually being there. Situated 12 km inland [...]
26th June 2013 – Paris
Jours Heureux A day off in Paris should always be cherished and relished and the high point will usually be the evening meal. The choice of cafes, bistros and brasseries can be bewildering so recommendations [...]
24th June 2013 – Salzburg
Cats and Dogs One of the danger zones in Europe (cities I colour, red) in terms of finding fresh milk at midnight is Paris. Luckily, I have a habit of grabbing the spare milk from [...]
23rd June – Bratislava
Spatial Planning Another beautiful sunny day in Vienna and the temperature is about perfect, still not quite enough to get me out on the streets as the gym is calling yet again due to the [...]
22nd June 2013 – Budapest
Barge Pool Although we've noticed extremely high water levels in the past couple of weeks, recent flooding throughout central Europe seems now to be easing. The city of Budapest was recently on high alert as [...]
20th June – Vienna
Curry Night The outside temperature has been in the mid 90's for a while now and sun lotion is applied as a matter of course before venturing out but venture out you must in Vienna [...]
19th June 2013 – Regensburg
2013mkeuro_19th_June_2013_-_Regensburg Tuna Carpaccio Feeling the full effects of last night's over indulgent midnight feasting, I woke late and planned my final visit to the Villa Kennedy gym and pool. Still just enough time [...]
18th June 2013 – Frankfurt
2013mkeuro_18th_June_2013_-_Frankfurt Villa Kennedy After our wonderful jaunt in the Scandinavian countries playing to amazing audiences in occasionally inclement weather, it is great to be back in Germany again, host to so many fabulous [...]
13th June 2013 – Stavanger
2013mkeuro_13th_June_2013_-_Stavanger Improvised Swag This morning in Bergen I opened the curtains to see rain like I've not seen for a while and thought to myself, those mountains are really doing their job today. [...]
12th June 2013 – Bergen
2013mkeuro_12th_June_2013_-_Bergen Fjords and Rain Bergen, also known as the Seattle of Europe is surrounded by seven mountains and rejoices in 275 days of rain per year, caused by a weather phenomenon known as [...]
9th June 2013 – Helsinki
Seagulls Attack Even though Helsinki is probably the most North Eastern capital city in Europe, incredibly, its climate is still influenced in some way by the Gulf stream. This means that Winter temperatures don't drop [...]
7th June 2013 – Zwolle
Northern Light After a truly amazing whirlwind week at the Royal Albert Hall we all welcomed a five day break from the schedule. For the Brits it meant some valuable time at home with the [...]
25th May 2013 – Brighton
Cherry Cheesecake As this UK bank holiday weekend gets into gear, finally the weather takes a turn for the better. The sun is out and in 24 hours, the temperature has risen about ten degrees. [...]
24th May 2013 – Birmingham
Jerk Lamb The weather this year in the UK has been unusual to say the least and the Northerly airflow is now making it feel like mid winter but at least when the sun DOES [...]
23rd May 2013 – TV special
With the UK weather having made a sudden U-turn back two months to a hardcore Winter feel and reports of snow falling in Northern parts, Range Rover driver Eike and I set off early afternoon [...]
22nd May 2013 – Cardiff
Unclaimed Sock The shows are coming thick and fast now, and that impression is probably enhanced by quick visits home as the touring routine is temporarily altered. There never seems to be enough hours in [...]
21st May 2013 – Bournemouth
New Forest Bournemouth is probably the closest venue to home for me and although the lure of the Lime wood Spa hotel was strong, after being away for four weeks, I headed home to the [...]
19th May 2013 – Liverpool
Echo Echo Continuing on the culinary theme, the first and some say most important meal of the day was on my mind as soon as I woke and remembered where we were. It's true, [...]
18th May 2013 – Newcastle
No Fries We drew the curtains this morning in Glasgow to a bona-fide Glasgow deluge and by the time we had checked out of our quirky Blytheswood Square hotel and were on the road to [...]
17th May 2013 – Glasgow
Amidst a flurry of birthdays we kick off our UK section of this extraordinary tour in Scotland's fair city of Glasgow. But first a day off. If it wasn't for the simple logistical fact that [...]
15th May 2013 – Luxembourg
Steak 'n' Cake During the three nights here in Amsterdam, our fondness for the city has grown yet again and the hotel has left an impression too. Some of the design features took a little [...]
14th May 2013 – Amsterdam
Ruth Moody Not normally one to take in heavy doses of culture when on the road, this stay in Amsterdam was a little different due to the location of our esteemed hotel. Bang opposite the [...]
12th May 2013 – Antwerp
Short Runway The Antwerp Sportpalais was at one time the largest indoor arena in Europe, but that was back in 1933, the year it was completed. Clearly the venue has seen better days but it [...]
11th May 2013 – Bremen
Shatner Nicks 60 kilometers from the North sea mouth of the Weser river lies the Northern German town of Bremen, our destination for today's 'play and stay'. This morning's checkout of the Berlin Hotel de [...]
10th May 2013 – Berlin
Best Wurst It's always great to be back in Germany and the more we tour, the better it seems to get. Berlin is unique in many ways but every time we visit, it's more and [...]
8th May 2013 – Lodz
Yerba Mate The city of Åódź (amusingly pronounced "woodge") is often referred to as the Polish Manchester because the huge textile empire that thrived here owing to the favourable chemical composition of its water. At [...]
7th May 2013 – Prague
Jiggery Pokery There's no doubt that this city is one of Europe's finest and in its 1100 year history it has been a political, cultural and economic center, but there's something about the huge volume [...]
5th May 2013 – Zagreb
Brown Trousers The temple of humiliation, the room of ignominy, the chamber of pain, the basement of belittlement, whatever you prefer to call it, hotels put a sign on the door which says 'GYM'. Having [...]
4th May 2013 – Ljubljana
3 in 1 Milan - Only the second 'pack' of the tour as I successfully manage to cram my stuff into the Briggs and Riley, most of which is completely unnecessary and should have been [...]
3rd May 2013 – Milano
Poncey Hotel Strategic geographical advantage plays a huge role in why cities are where they are across the globe and Milan is a fine example of this phenomenon. Situated in what is clearly the gateway [...]
2nd May 2013 – Turin
High Speed Pasta It's lovely being back in a part of the world where coffee shares the same level of importance as a good cup of tea in England. I'm not saying for one minute [...]
30th April 2013 – Belgrade
Border Swag One of the great joys of hubbing, or basing from a city is the minimal packing. After a final 'Crème brûlée' style singeing by the pool, it was time to take on the [...]
29th April 2013 – Sofia
Bulgarian Bendy-Bus By 2pm we were on our way to the GA terminal at Istanbul airport for our day trip to Bulgaria. After a light Meze lunch/snack and during our approach into Sofia, I thought [...]
27th April 2013 – Istanbul
Lost at Sea Istanbul is the only city in the world which spreads itself across two continents. The official population here is officially just under 17 million but there must surely be many more as [...]
25th April 2013 – Bucharest
And we're off. This morning we faced a familiar scrimmage through rush-hour traffic to get to Northolt aerodrome where we were to be re-united with the beloved Embraer Legacy luxury transportation-teleportation device. Time stands still [...]
Rehearsals – April 2013 – London
There has been a certain amount of reserved excitement in the rehearsal room this week as we return to Bermondsey for a much anticipated week of preparation for our latest tour across Europe. The first [...]