It was damn hard to sleep after such exciting events. Having taken a short nap, I returned to Marriott where we made an appointment at noon, and enjoyed Alphaville’s company for another three hours – until they had to check out from the hotel. Marian was delayed at the reception desk and I remembered I didn’t take a picture with him this time. “Hey, you only want to take a picture with me – you don’t want to kiss and hug me, it’s not fair!” – he smiled. I gave him a big hug and kissed his soft beard. “I love your perfume!”, he exclaimed. And I love such compliments from my idols J

Slava arrived by 3 p.m. and we went to the Leningradrailway station to see the band off to St.Petersburg. We had to walk along a long long train to get them in the very first railcar, which had the zero number for some reason. It was a special comfortable train that reached St.Petersburg within 5 hours instead of usual 8, and Alphaville was in a special car with sleeping compartments convenient enough for 2 people.

I visited Marian who shared the compartment with Steffi. He didn’t look tired – rather cheerful, as always. Having chatted for a while about the new album, he took me aback once again: “I can play you a new song, if you want to. But just one”. Do I want to hear a new song?! What kind of a question is that J Marian reached for his Macintosh laptop. I saw a strikingly beautiful picture of a little girl on the desktop, who we easily identified as Lily – the first daughter of Marian. As we were listening to the song, Marian was kind enough to show us some more pictures of Lily taken during the recent vacations at the seaside. She looked like her mother and father at the same time; we were deeply touched by her sweetness. She’s not just a kid – she’s an angel!

We jumped off the train just one minute before its departure, trying to hold back the tears. Sadness came later in the evening, when I realized I missed these people too much..... as I always do after each meeting. How many times did we get together by now? Must be about 7. How many concerts have I seen? 10 + this festival. Did I have enough? No way. No such a chance :)

Things I've learned during these 2 days:

1. New image of Marian Gold – with funny beard
2. Compelled playback performance – when Rudy played the synthesizer happily knocking on the keys with his fist
3. New song – Criminal Girl – is quite similar to Hurricane. Alphaville has all the chances to produce another great new album
4. Luxury Marriott hotel in Moscow– even if you’re just a visitor, you feel like a millionaire
5. Fast traveling to St.Petersburg by train can be fun instead of torture, but will probably cost as much as the round way trip by plane
6. Lily is a lovely angel JJJ
7. ZAMBUKA RULES!!!!!!!!!J