road trip

 

for part of the tour we rented a car and drove around Europe to the shows. needless to say... Rp highly enjoyed the autobahn. 

boys and cars. I'll never totally get it. 

most of the drive looked the same... snowy and bleak. however, I would highly recommend this mode of travel around Europe. Super easy and cheaper than flying - especially when you plan to hop between cities every single day.  put this on your to-do list.

on the road playlist: bon iver, alt-j, dirty dancing soundtrack

gangster.

xo,

b

Paris snapshot

Our European adventure/tour kicked off with a night in Paris. This is just a snapshot... much more to come later. The biggest news from the Popes is that we'll be LIVING in Paris for 2 months after the tour. So, while you won't find much here in this post, I wanted to give you guys that little piece of information so that you'll stick with me and follow me around Paris for a while. While it won't be all play (Ron is working on the new album, and I'll be working on the business side of the new album), I am sure we'll find some time to run around and show you the sights. 

For now, here's a glimpse into how the tour started off...

 

We adore Paris! And I'm quickly becoming obsessed with my latest camera acquisition. A point and shoot that gives me a pretty good range of manual functions (Canon G15 for those who are interested). Lightweight, compact, pretty quick on the autofocus... I'm a happy girl. 

Running off to another sound check... only a few more shows this tour!

xoxox,

b

places

Morning, babies! How's it going? How's the new year going?

So, I'm not a huge fan of resolutions, but I AM a fan of hearing yours. Mostly because I'm a little stalkery and curious. But not like a cat because I hate cats. Dogs 4 eva. 

Anyway - I hope that you've included a few travel plans in your 2013. Or if you haven't that you have plans to plan. While I do all this traveling for my job, I was a pretty avid traveler before we started this whole mess. The world is wide, my dears, and you should go see it. 

So, let me know... where are you going this year? 

(Even if it's only in dreamland - tell me what you want to see!)

[photo: a not quite ready focus in paris in february 2012)

making christmas in brooklyn

Ron and I are now doing "the holiday switch off" - meaning we switch off between families for Thanksgiving & Christmas each year. Last year we were in Atlanta with my fam - this year we're up in New York where most of his family has landed. So this means we got to host our very first real holiday (sort of)! We hosted Christmas Eve with our family and close friends at our... um... I mean, some dude's apartment that we've never met. We got an apartment via AirBnB for the few weeks we're in town. Luckily, it was perfect for our holiday! Thanks, random dude!

Ron, his brother, and his dad made an Italian dinner for us... and I made dessert (lemon + basil cookies and funfetti cupcakes!). Dinner was out of this world as always - you can't beat antipasto, homemade lasagna, rice balls, and veal cutlets. God bless an Italian kitchen. PLUS, we had a delicious holiday cocktail/amazing champagne/perfect wine. The mint, cranberries, and pomegranates below are our drink garnishes... nice touch, if I do say so myself. Can't beat it with a stick.

Merry Christmas everyone... more to come from this crew... but go hug your fam and celebrate with them. See ya lata.

-b

wrapping up Australia (with a bow)

as we're winding down on 2012 (and what a crazy year it's been), I wanted to FINALLY wrap up posts from Australia.

Our final adventure down under was ill-planned and very last minute, but we made it work and had the best time. We realized we had not yet done the very thing that Ron talked about doing non-stop before our trip... he wanted to actually HOLD a koala. Yes, we had seen one, stood next to one, and even tousled it's little furry head, but hold one, we had not! One small situation: due to our lack of planning and busy schedule, we had no more time. We had to drive back to Brisbane from Byron Bay in order to catch an afternoon flight to Sydney that would eventually connect us to our flight to LA. We realized we had ONE shot - we could squeeze in one short hour at The Lone Pine Koala Reserve before we had to turn in the rental car and make it to the plane before it took off. Challenge accepted!

Knowing we only had one hour to hold a koala, feed kangaroos, and see the dingos meant we literally had to run from one spot to the other, pushing little kids down left and right. I'd say looking and acting like idiots was 100% worth it for THIS:

That's it! I simply adored being in Australia and can't wait to go back... so much we missed and so much more slang to learn! Until next time...

-b

oh, hello

sorry about my non-existence these days! We're back in New York and as always we are so busy I can't think straight. We're trying to slip in some New York Christmas festivities, but I've been VERY bad at keeping this old thing on the up and up. I promise I'll return! I still have a post or two left about Australia, so I better get this puppy back on track before the new year hits!

Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about you!

xo,
b

dudes

our Thanksgiving consisted of zero turkey consumption, but more than a little salt water was taken in.  To celebrate a holiday that is not celebrated in Australia, we went with a very Aussie activity - surfing. Neither one of us had tried it before, but we were there and WHAT THE HELL... ya know?

Admittedly, I was a tad bit of a bitch on the way out there. We took a massively long bus ride to a non-touristy surf spot, so I spent my time wishing I was laying on the beach being a bum. Once we got in the water, my mood shifted and I became friends with my board. Turns out, I love surfing and I don't suck at it. Who knew? God bless the adventure.

Unfortunately, the photographer (yes, there was one with this particular instructor) didn't get too many Rp shots, but I figured Ron's legit ALL OVER this blog, so here's my face for a minute.

(please disregard my intense face and disappearing eyes... next step is learning to surf with sunnies)

later, dudes!

xxoo,
b

a break in byron bay

after the tour we took a short detour (get it?? get it?! Oh my God, I'm lame) and went to Byron Bay. It's about two hours away from Brisbane, which was the last show of the tour. What a show it was, also! First of all, these crazy Aussies came out in the HAIL. I'm not sure why I was under the impression that Australia was a never-ending summer, but my brain has been sorted out properly now.

We chose Byron in an effort to skirt the Schoolies... which is basically Australian kids' one shot at spring break. It happens right after they finish high school - which happened to coincide directly with the end of the tour. While we did find a few stray schoolies running about, Byron was pretty low key for the most part & unlike any beach I've ever been to. The water is an insane blue and the beaches are left in their wonderfully natural state.

The weather was pretty meh the first day we went out exploring... but it definitely redeemed itself the following days.

Catch ya later - so behind on these!
-b

we're goin' places

February/Paris

a call for help! We've got lots of travel coming up for this ridiculousness that is our job... and I need some suggestions for things to do! I've never been to 99% of these places and I'm more than ecstatic to go.

A few things to keep in mind: we will have a limited time in each of these places (usually just a day!), so if you're familiar with the area let me know if there is something specific that I just have to see/eat/do. Also since we are going to these places on tour, we have a limited budget - so please don't tell me the only/best thing to do is eat the world's greatest caviar. [and please don't tempt me with amazing Champagne! I will surely cave & we'll be stuck in whatever city I find it in. Then I'll be asking for help to bust out of champagne rehab... and we just don't want to go there.]  One other request - I'm talking local shops and food. If it's a major tourist attraction, you don't have to tell me about it (i.e. the eiffel tower).

Ok? and go!

((also, come see us at the shows!!! Tickets: RonPopeMusic.com/Shows))

November: Australia!

1. Melbourne
2. Sydney
3. Brisbane

January: UK/Europe!

1. London, UK
2. Leeds, UK
3. Birmingham, UK
4. Manchester, UK
5. Glasgow, UK
6. Belfast, UK
7. Dublin, Ireland
8. Paris, France
9. Zurich, Switzerland
10. Munich, Germany
11. Antwerp, Belgium
12. Cologne, Germany
13. Frankfurt, Germany
14. Amsterdam, Netherlands
15. Hamburg, Germany
16. Berlin, Germany
17. Copenhagen, Denmark
18. Stockholm, Sweden

I'll be doing my own research, but since some of you are also frequent travelers, why not ask you... ya know? 

As always, I'll be photo documenting for you, so if there is something you just WANT me to do, feel free to include it! 

thanks a mill & a trill.

-b

waking up in Montana

we drove through Montana and couldn't help pulling over to watch this sunset. nothing short of spectacular...