Roadtrip USA East Coast - First Day (27/28 April 2024)

A: I look at the sunset that stretches across the vastness of the London skyline and covers the horizon with yellow-orange-purple colors. We are just setting off for our last attraction, a boat tour on the Thames. Despite the winter and the cold river, it is warm these days. Even countless people are out and about in T-shirts on the streets. The day before, Hatsune Miku's second European tour started. To celebrate the 5th anniversary of Miku Expo, we traveled to the capital of the United Kingdom for a short trip. After returning from the island, after the event in Berlin, after my last concert in Amsterdam, it was clear to me that I wanted to go to more events of my beloved heroes from now on and that I would do so. So the next tour was scheduled for spring. North America. I would not have been able to go: I work in a new research institute and am on probation. Then Corona starts. The tour is scheduled for autumn. Autumn 2020. Suddenly a new opportunity presents itself. I have successfully completed my probation period. I'm ready for a new adventure. The pandemic is not over. Uncertain when and if it will ever be over. A dystopia is looming everywhere. The announced American tour is canceled. Everything is on hold. Miku Expo is only available online. For now. 4 years later, the tide has turned. At some point, public life and events returned. Now we are in the year where the 10th anniversary of Hatsune Miku's "Miku Expo" is already being celebrated. The world tour is returning and has been running for a month. The bag is packed, the sun is setting on the A9 to Berlin in the same colors as the sun I saw that day on the London Thames boat tour. It's warm outside. Berlin is in sight.

KG: While Andreas drives comfortably to Berlin in his car, my journey begins with the train ride (with the obligatory delay) from Münster to our meeting point at Berlin's Ostbahnhof. By chance we arrived at exactly the same time at 9:15 p.m. After a mini-trip through Berlin and dinner at the Karambar at Alex, Andreas gave me a quick introduction to Berlin's club culture and introduced me to his doorman acquaintances. At 2 a.m. we had arranged to meet the parking attendant at the parking lot in Mittenwalde near BER. Now we are spending the time until our flight leaves at 6 a.m. putting together our travel diary.

A: On Sunday morning, April 28th, the plane rolled down the runway at 6:36 a.m. and took us to Portugal. The airline, TAP Portugal, is a bad and overpriced airline, as we discovered. Food and drink, even water, had to be paid for on board. I was amazed when I realized at some point in the air that I had a cat as a seat neighbor. When we arrived in Lisbon, our connecting airport, the trip was made more difficult for us because the staff there said that we had not booked a return flight and therefore were not allowed to fly on. After clearing up the misunderstanding, we were one of the last passengers on board before we landed in Miami at around 3 p.m. in midsummer temperatures after a flight of just over 8 hours. From the airport, we had a 3-hour walk to our accommodation. On our way, we saw lizards, turtles, countless chickens and palm trees. Miami is very dirty, at least the places we saw. There is garbage everywhere in the ditches. After an exhausting grocery shopping trip and a disastrous dinner, we set off for our first night in the United States. Since we stayed awake the whole time, jet lag won't be a problem.