After a very pleasant catch-up this morning, it does occur to me that there is yet another advantage of being on a Fest contract. You might not get nearly as much money as a guest appearance, but the theatre does all your bloody taxes for you!! Silver linings, say I...

Frankfurt was a lot more pleasant than I had thought (hazy memories of an audition a few years ago; don't think I really looked around the place, seeing as all that's actually stuck in my memory is a heart-shaped red cushion - I make no apologies; I'm a singer and we tend to stay in cheap hotels - and not the slightest recollection of who or what I was singing for). After a good old meander around, I ended up in the most pleasant Chinese garden in a park in the north-east of the city. Lovely place to sit and read.

I dragged a lump of dead sheep back for my delectation (note to self: great Turkish butchers on the road from the station to the opera), sang through a coaching, took in about half an hour of Angela Merkel at a political rally here (first thoughts: goodness, she's so LITTLE; and lord, someone would have definitely shot Gordon Brown by now...) and am now looking forward to my first ensemble rehearsal of the Offenbach tomorrow!