VADOULOU

          

We have had a great day today. We started off at the Ryman Bldg in downtown Nashville. This is the original home of the Grand Ole Opry & is now a concert venue. It is generally known as the home of country music & is obviously held very dear by performers the world over. Apparently the acoustics are 2nd to none. It was originally built as a tabernacle but morphed into a music venue back in the 40s to one very determined lady, who was obviously way ahead of her time.

From there we went on to the Country Music Hall of Fame & spent the rest of the day being surrounded by music, information, videos & artefacts from the early beginnings to the present time. Again there was so much to see, watch & listen to. We also had tickets for a tour of Studio B—the RCA studio where so many stars recorded their music. Elvis, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton to name but a few. This was a bus ride away & therefore limited to a group of about 20 & we had a very entertaining & informative guide. A studio is a studio but the music we heard & the stories the guide told us were magic. We sat at the piano where Elvis recorded & of course have the photo to prove it. 

We went back to the Country Music Hall of Fame to finish off our tour & eventually left about 16h30. It has been a very enjoyable day so far.

        

Doug availed of a deep massage this afternoon & was advised to do regular stretching exercises. Apparently she agreed that he was a bad advert for someone married to a yoga teacher!

Tonight we walked down to BB King’s Blues Bar (he died last week) where there was music playing & food available. There was, of course the inevitable tribute to the man himself during the session. It is becoming obvious that the food is pretty standard fare wherever you go, involving deep frying, chilli sauce & beef. I had pasta tonight, a rare treat. The portions are big & so are the people, hardly surprising. We bought a Tshirt for Doug this afternoon in size L, unheard of in Europe where he is always at least XL. Other than NY & the shopping mall yesterday, we haven’t really seen any shops in the cities. Doug is delighted of course but I am on the lookout for some jeans.

I included a couple of truck photos in the last post ‘cos they are so big. It can be quite unnerving when they are along side you on the motorways. Tonight’s photos to follow.