Ok, since I got a bit behind the last week we were in Europe, I will be putting Paris and Barcelona together, so be forewarned that this will be longer than normal...
We were only in Paris for two full days; the third day, Wednesday, our train left about 7:20 am so we would be arriving in Barcelona a bit earlier than originally planned.
Monday, we did our best for an early start, but only managed to wake up around 8:30. We got ready for the day and then went downstairs for the hotel's breakfast. It was scrumptious: two pastries each, one baguette each with butter and jam, one large cup of coffee and one cup of orange juice. All top notch.
After the refuel, it was off to see what we could see! We started by walking to the metro station and going to the Louvre first. Upon arrival, we were dismayed to see the long lines, but hoped our "Paris museum pass" would help us go in a different line. I tried to ask a worker in French where we needed to go, but before I could say anything she saw our pass and told us where to go -- we were on the wrong floor. Ahh, much better, shorter lines! The Louvre was, of course, spectacular. We didn't stay as long as we could have, or see everything, but it is, after all, the Louvre, and would take much longer than part of a day to to experience. We tried to hit at least a few sections, though.
The weather was supposed to be not very good while we were there; forecast: cold-ish, and rainy. By the time we looked out the window of the Louvre, though, it was sunny and beautiful! So, we walk outside, around the block, can't see where the metro entrance is, and then figure, hey, it's nice, let's walk to the Arc de Triomphe! It turns out to only be about two miles, but the neat part was the fact that it was all simply straight down the Champs Élysées, so it was super interesting. We arrive at the Arc, and get to bypass the line again, which was pretty cool, especially since it's much more than 200 stairs to get to the top. It was completely worth it, though. Such a beautiful view of the city. It began to sprinkle rain a bit as we were up there, so we decided it was about time to go down to street level again and find some food.
Down a little side street, we found a small cafe that had lunch specials. The food was great and the people were very cheerful and kind.
Next stop, we wanted to see the Mercedes museum and the ... Um, I forgot, the designer purse place? Hmm... Versace? Gucci? Valentino Rossi? No, he is a motorcycle racer. I don't remember, I'm way off. Well, we just walked in and walked out, basically, just to say we did.
Continuing on, we took the metro to Notre Dame, and got in line to go inside. Tons of people, of course. There were a few military men patrolling the area with machine guns. I really wanted to take a picture, but I don't think I did. Notre Dame was beautiful, and huge...but I must admit, I actually liked Notre Dame in Strasburg better. it was prettier on the inside, I think. Of course, that's just my opinion.
Let's see, what was on the agenda next? I think we were getting tired, so we decided to go to the Sacre Coeur and then the grocery store and call it a day. It took awhile to find Sacre Coeur, but really, it's on top of a huge hill so it was hard to miss once we got in the general area. People. Everywhere. It was ok, just to say we went. We sat in a seat for prayers, because we were so exhausted, so I prayed until I started dozing off. At that point, I decided I shouldn't stay still any longer, so we left.
On to the grocery store! Our feast of the evening was a baguette, nutella, Brie, a few other kinds of cheese, some cereal, and some jam. Oh, and don't forget big bottles of water that would last us til Barcelona, and a bottle of apple juice. We returned to our hotel a few blocks from the store, and ate our meal in the lobby, where there was also free Wi-fi. I believe that was when I posted the entry before this one.
We must have just sat, eaten, and chilled for a number of hours, because before we knew it, it was time to go to bed. This feast would become our lunch and snacks for the next few days as well. Next day: Palace of Versailles!
The day of the Palace (Tuesday):
We overslept our alarm, again, a bit the next day, but I think this day we rolled out of bed by 8:45. No worries, it's raining, and a bit chilly, so we aren't in too much of a hurry to brave the weather. I have my hat and my cotton jacket, and am planning on not using an umbrella, but Korinne doesn't even have a hat, so we stop by a stand on the way out and pick up a small umbrella. Of course the umbrella falls apart bit by bit throughout the trip to Versailles and back, but it somewhat adds to the amusement. We did not go into the gardens, since it was raining, but we did at least see them from the windows.
We stopped by the gift store before we left, and bought some small souvenirs. When I was checking out, I made a valiant yet quite failed effort to speak French to the cashier. I said to the effect of "hello. I have this,unt this." (all French, except the "unt") The German just kinda slipped out without my even realizing it. The cashier laughed and acted astonished, "unt? ... unt!" then started speaking German, with a twinkle in his eye. Switching to English, he asked where I was from. I told him Alabama, at which his response was, "is your family ok after all the storms and tornadoes recently?". I was a bit surprised that he had heard about that, but perhaps I shouldn't have been. We had a brief conversation while he continued the purchasing process, and his goodbye to me was in French, German, and English. It was quite amusing, and it was neat to see someone so obviously enjoying meeting all kinds of people throughout the day.
Leaving Versailles, we did get rather cold and more rained on, so by the time we returned to the hotel, we decided to simply take a nap. Well, that nap turned into at least a few hours of catching up on sleep. It was much needed, though. We had been running pretty hard for awhile. Our Eiffel tower reservation was not until 21:15, so we leisurely got ready for the rest of the day and walked out the door a few hours early to get dinner. Of course, dinner was wonderful. We even shared a dessert and had coffee. The Eiffel tower was only about a five-minute walk from where we were currently, so we left with plenty of time to spare. Of course, the line was super long, again, but we got to go in the "reservation" line. Whoot!
It was, of course, great, and we even took the elevator up to the very very top. Ok, I'm not particularly afraid of heights, but I do not like elevators, it would seem. Shudder. Stairs for me! But not that many stairs. Maybe I will make it a life goal to one day just walk up the entire Eiffel tower stairs? Hmm... Nah, probably not. I don't think I'm quite that hardcore. The sun was setting over the city as we were up there, and I didn't see it, but I was told a couple even got engaged up there. Korinne and I speculated at how many couples got engaged up there. We don't know, but sure it's a lot. Too many, I'm sure.
We stayed up on the top of the Eiffel tower for awhile, until it was dark and we could see all the city lights. It was our last night in Paris - a short trip. The next morning we would hop on the train to Barcelona.
We stayed up rather late that evening, and chatted a bit with the front desk worker at our hotel. Turns out he is from Arabia, so we learned a bit about the different dialects of Arabic, how different they are, and had a neat conversation about just people in general, different religions, different prejudices, and such. It was quite refreshing, actually.
Next morning, we wake up super early and leave by 6 or 6:15 to get to the train station. At hotel worker's recommendation, we start our travels at the bus stop, but then read the schedule and it looks like the buses don't start running until 7:00 am. Well, that won't do! Booked it to the metro. Hurried to the train station, and made it in plenty plenty of time for our fast train. It was a smooth trip, even though our train was a bit late and we were worried we might miss our connection! We needn't have worried, because the connection waited. It was literally the only other platform and train there, so it waited until everyone had safely boarded, then left, a full three minutes late! I think I can safely say: out of all the trains we rode, that one was the only one that left the platform late.
Continuing on to Barcelona...
We knew we were getting close when we could see the ocean out the window of the train, and started going through the long tunnels through the mountains. Barcelona is nearby!
Barcelona is to be our last stop. When we arrive at the train station, our first order of business was to get to our hostal, La Terrassa. We had to call the hostal to get directions, but after walking the wrong direction from the metro stop, we finally found our way to the hostal. One of the things mentioned on the website was the lack of elevator to get to the lobby, so "Don't book a room here unless you can carry your luggage up approximately twenty steps." Korinne was in the lead, with me shortly behind. She made it to the staircase, but, true to form, I somehow failed to see the single step located four feet in front of the staircase. Ha, I'm still not completely sure how I didn't fall flat on my face! *shrugs* maybe because nearly falling down is a regular occurrence in my life.
Finally, we could put our luggage down! Our room was a bit bigger than the Paris room, with a much easier to deal with bathroom too. Oh, how nice it was to be at our second to last destination! We were both very hungry, despite the fact that it was only about 3 pm, so we freshened up from the travel and wandered out to Las Ramblas to find some tapas.
We would not be disappointed. They had plenty of tapas for two people, so we figured we would split one. Our server spoke very good English; we ended up chatting with him about Barcelona and traveling and other assorted topics. Feeling much refreshed after the meal, we decided since it was still late afternoon we would begin with a walk around Las Ramblas and the Barri Gotic. Las Ramblas was, of course, crazy with people everywhere: street vendors, live statue actors, and random people with these squeaky noise makers. They were everywhere, but the farther away we wandered from Las Ramblas, the wonderfully thinner the crowd became, and we were more able to enjoy the sights without worrying about crashing into someone.
We walked down to Placa de Catalunya, then back toward the harbor the back way. There was so much to see, and it was all so different...
We walked all the way back to the harbor and explored a bit of the mall there - it was interesting, I guess. Finally, we were tired of walking, and getting a bit hungry, so we walked back to our hostal and had a dinner of nutella, cheese, cereal, and water - the leftovers from our Paris grocery excursion. I honestly don't remember if by this point we had any bread left, but if weeks, it was part of dinner too. I think that grocery trip was the best twenty Euros spent our entire time there, honestly.
After dinner, we wandered downstairs to the lobby to check our email before going to sleep, and when we returned to our room, we met our neighbors, who were apparently about to go out on the town. (It was now around 10:15 or 10:30 pm) They were a group of three young guys from Sweden, here on holiday, so they invited us out. We politely refused, since we not only were exhausted but also didn't really have a desire to stay out late with guys we didn't know. We did tell them, though, that perhaps we could meet up with them later, like during the day the next day or something to that effect.
Finally, we could go to bed! Ahh, sweet sleep. Unfortunately, our neighbors returned somewhere around 7:00 am, which was much earlier than we planned on waking up. They tried to get us to come out of our room by knocking on the door and yelling for us to come out. I don't think they remembered our names, but they did remember where we were from, it seemed, cause I distinctly heard one of them yell, "ALABAMA!!!!! NEW YORK!!!!!" After a few minutes of this ridiculousness, the lady from the front desk came up there and told them to go to their room and quiet down, haha. I was a bit annoyed, so my half-asleep brain decided to turn my alarm off, ha. I think we ended up sleeping til around ten. It was a nice late start to the day.
Since we had already seen a good bit of the surrounding walkable area, after finding a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, coffee, and other things, we took the metro out to La Sagrata Familia, the huge unfinished cathedral by Gaudi. The line was quite long, but it moved rather quickly - we were in the cathedral in 30 minutes.
This was so spectacular. The pillars inside were reminiscent of trees, and the stained glass was amazing. It was just so huge. Next, we went in search for the bassoon player that Jennifer had told us about. Out the side door, look up, and there he is! So strange to see a group of musicians in stone on the side of a cathedral like that, yet also quietly amusing.
Ok, where to next? The Catalan Concert Hall!!! We didn't know the schedule specifically, but our book said it was open until 3 pm. We arrived at 2:52. Turns out, the last official tour in English begins at three. We hop to the ticket office and order our tickets with plenty of time to spare.
Korinne and I knew nothing about this concert hall, so we had no idea what to expect - all we knew was we probably should go see it, since we are musicians.
This ended up being my favorite part of Barcelona.
Palau de la Musica Catalana
The concert hall was built between 1905 and 1908, designed by Lluis Domenech i Montaner. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1997, and it remains one of the most unique concert halls anywhere, I would venture to say. During the tour, we were allowed to hear a short Bach piece, played by the organ in the hall. It wasn't overly boomy, like organs in halls can tend towards. The sound was just beautiful!
And that was only part of the hall. The architecture and the stained glass was the truly impressive part. They explained that when the hall was built, the designer took great care to use space and light in the best way they could to make the hall feel open and spacious. There were mosaics, statues, and stained glass everywhere; despite this, it did not feel busy or overly garish. Instead, it was organic and inspiring.
Unfortunately, I do not have pictures from the inside of this Concert Hall because it was forbidden to take them, but I was able to get a book...
After leaving the Catalan concert hall, we went in search of some lunch, and were able to find a good local place. So fresh and yummy, and I must say, I have never had a better mojito.
Dinner was again our snacks from Paris.
Friday, we decided to spend the day lounging on the beach. Leisurely breakfast, then we made it to the beach by about 11:30. It was chilly, a bit, and cloudy, but still comfortable for sitting on the beach. We decided to buy snacks from the local store instead of having lunch, so ended up relaxing on the beach until about 4:30. While there, we met two new friends who were also on vacation, and had random conversations about everything from music to culture to what it means to be a professional musician, or student musician. (They had never met a professional musician before.) In turn, we learned a bit about what it's like to be an accountant for Pepsi and what it's like to live in Dubai. We said farewell to our new friends and decided to stay in touch, and went on our way back to the hostal. Next stop: our first true shopping excursion of the entire trip! No time like the last day for that, huh? It was neat to see some of the stores: a paper stationary store and the few clothes shoppes we visited. In the last shoppe, we met a girl named Ana who said she wanted to come to America to see all things country, like farms and chickens. It was lovely to chat with her.
Our last evening in Barcelona, and we decided that it was about time to see what makes Las Ramblas so different after dark, so we set out in search of some food and then just decided to walk around afterwards. It was kinds neat, I guess, with these people everywhere trying to sell flying light propellors, noise makers and more living statues. I guess it was pretty neat, but it seemed to me to be simply the same as during the day, despite what everyone said.
We decided that for our last night here, we wanted to celebrate with some ice cream, and were just about to take a self portrait on Las Ramblas on the way, when we hear a voice, "would you two like a picture together?". We looked up, and it was Moataz and Joshua, the two guys we met at the beach! All of us were very surprised to run into one another, so when we mentioned that we were in search of some ice cream, they offered to show us where they had just gotten some nearby.
We were enjoying our conversation so much that we all decided to sit down after ice cream and grab some coffee. We discovered, though, the place we chose didn't have coffee, haha, so we order different drinks instead and continued our conversation. It was such an interesting and good conversation that we didn't realize how late it had become - they had an early flight to catch and we had a morning flight as well, so we said our goodbyes and called it our last night in Barcelona.
It was a truly neat experience. Perhaps, one day, we can return. What a memorable adventure!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011: Going to Paris!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
More Traveling Adventures
Wow, first day after the festival and we had to run to two trains already! See, we were supposed to meet at 6:15a to go to the station for our 6:41a train. It usually takes about 10 minutes plus a few more to get there, but by 6:26a we still had not heard from Christian, so Jennifer went on ahead to the train station and we went to find Christian at his hotel, up the hill near the church. His alarm had been going off for awhile but he slept through it. I think all of us stayed out a lot later than usual, since it was the last night we would have with our new friends and colleagues. Christian didn't come outside immediately, but we knew he wasn't carrying any big bags like we were (my bags weighed about 55-65 pounds, I think, and consisted of two backpacks--big one on back and little on front). Therefore, when it started to rain, we started the walk to the train station, Korinne in front and me lagging a bit behind, watching for Christian. We made it to the square in front of our hotel when I saw Christian running --really fast!-- from a different direction. Uh oh, at this rate he was going to pass me quickly, so I started booking it, jogging at a pace I hoped I could maintain for at least a few minutes.
Well, obviously I was not used to running with that much extra weight, cause Christian and I had to stop running when we had almost caught up to Korinne. We finally made it through the tunnel and were crossing the river when we looked at the time again: 6:37. We couldn't remember if the train left at 6:47 or 6:41, but we had this distinct sinking feeling that it was the earlier time.
Panic and scrambling! Time to run again. Up the hill as fast as we could, across the street without even slowing down (lucky no cars were coming), then down the stairs to the tunnel that led to the platform. Which platform?!? 50/50 chance: there are two choices.
We chose the first and were yelling "Jenniferrrr!!!!" as we got to the stairs. Christian ran up the stairs two at a time to try to see if we were on the correct platform, and at the top of the stairs was Mark, hoping to help by grabbing a bag from one of us but not realizing that our bags were strapped to us. He settled for cheering Korinne and Christian on, as they were 5-7 seconds ahead of me by now. Apparently my stair climbing needs some work, because before I got halfway up the flight of stairs My running feet started to stumble. At that moment, I knew I couldn't run any more, so I yelled, "I can't do this anymore!" I must give a huge thanks to Mark for grabbing my hand and kinda helping to pull me up the last few stairs, haha. As soon as we reached the top of the stairs, however, we see Christian and Korinne make it when the doors started beeping their final beep before closing permanently. Unfortunately, it was probably about 50 feet away, so we started sprinting as fast as my legs would carry me.
We made it, as the doors were closing.
I was so winded that I literally just lay down on a few seats without even taking my backpacks off. After a few minutes, I finally felt like I could breathe again. I was so tired. Thankfully, it was only a 45-50 minute ride, but it sure was nice to catch our breath before the next train station. I was hoping to nap on the train but there was a bit too much adrenaline in my system for that, I think.
Strasburg!
Strasburg was completely worth it, though. We went inside the Notre Dame de Strasburg, and they happened to be doing a midday Sunday service. We heard the organist play this amazing piece, but the choir was the amazing part. They sang this piece that was just breathtaking. I was very glad that Korinne ended up videotaping it so we could hear a semblance of this again. It was very chilly this day, and a little rainy.
Strasburg is so incredibly neat. Since it's very near the German-French border, many things were written in both languages. Beautiful architecture, especially in Petite France. We ate breakfast at a local wonderful place that I forget the name of, but our big meal of the day was lunch. We ate at the oldest house in Strasburg, where their specialty was sauerkraut, and boy, was it ever amazing! We split two dishes between the four of us, both with a good butter sauce and fish on top. Wonderful.
Later on, leaving Strasburg, Korinne and I said our temporary goodbyes to Jennifer and Christian, as they were returning to Saarburg and we were going on our Paris adventure. We thought we almost missed our train, because we got on the wrong train! Well, not the "wrong train," persay, but the wrong half of the train! We had to get out of the car we were in and run to the next train that was connected to this one. We were literally running, again, because we were worried we would miss it. It was so stressful, but we made it! Whew. As it was, still, the train definitely had started moving before we were seated.
Arrival time in Paris: 9:36p. Yay! Now time for metro train subway to our stop near the hotel. We get on the correct line, but we quickly discover it is actually the wrong direction. No worries, we are not far from the end of the line, so we will simply ride it and take it back the other direction, no biggie.
The last station arrives, and everyone gets off quickly. We are the only ones left in the train, and stand up when this nice looking man figures we are English speaking and says, "this is the End!" followed by, "where are you going?". He found out and says in a very emphatic voice, "you have made a mistake!". And repeats it a few times. We were glad for the help and thank him. Back going the right direction.
Finally! Over an hour from leaving the train station, we make it to our train station hop. Our hotel desk person can speak English, so he gave us directions about the room and breakfast.
Later, I will tell the rest of our Paris visit in a different post. Always an adventure!
More Traveling Adventures
Wow, first day after the festival and we had to run to two trains already! See, we were supposed to meet at 6:15a to go to the station for our 6:41a train. It usually takes about 10 minutes plus a few more to get there, but by 6:26a we still had not heard from Christian, so Jennifer went on ahead to the train station and we went to find Christian at his hotel, up the hill near the church. His alarm had been going off for awhile but he slept through it. I think all of us stayed out a lot later than usual, since it was the last night we would have with our new friends and colleagues. Christian didn't come outside immediately, but we knew he wasn't carrying any big bags like we were (my bags weighed about 55-65 pounds, I think, and consisted of two backpacks--big one on back and little on front). Therefore, when it started to rain, we started the walk to the train station, Korinne in front and me lagging a bit behind, watching for Christian. We made it to the square in front of our hotel when I saw Christian running --really fast!-- from a different direction. Uh oh, at this rate he was going to pass me quickly, so I started booking it, jogging at a pace I hoped I could maintain for at least a few minutes.
Well, obviously I was not used to running with that much extra weight, cause Christian and I had to stop running when we had almost caught up to Korinne. We finally made it through the tunnel and were crossing the river when we looked at the time again: 6:37. We couldn't remember if the train left at 6:47 or 6:41, but we had this distinct sinking feeling that it was the earlier time.
Panic and scrambling! Time to run again. Up the hill as fast as we could, across the street without even slowing down (lucky no cars were coming), then down the stairs to the tunnel that led to the platform. Which platform?!? 50/50 chance: there are two choices.
We chose the first and were yelling "Jenniferrrr!!!!" as we got to the stairs. Christian ran up the stairs two at a time to try to see if we were on the correct platform, and at the top of the stairs was Mark, hoping to help by grabbing a bag from one of us but not realizing that our bags were strapped to us. He settled for cheering Korinne and Christian on, as they were 5-7 seconds ahead of me by now. Apparently my stair climbing needs some work, because before I got halfway up the flight of stairs My running feet started to stumble. At that moment, I knew I couldn't run any more, so I yelled, "I can't do this anymore!" I must give a huge thanks to Mark for grabbing my hand and kinda helping to pull me up the last few stairs, haha. As soon as we reached the top of the stairs, however, we see Christian and Korinne make it when the doors started beeping their final beep before closing permanently. Unfortunately, it was probably about 50 feet away, so we started sprinting as fast as my legs would carry me.
We made it, as the doors were closing.
I was so winded that I literally just lay down on a few seats without even taking my backpacks off. After a few minutes, I finally felt like I could breathe again. I was so tired. Thankfully, it was only a 45-50 minute ride, but it sure was nice to catch our breath before the next train station. I was hoping to nap on the train but there was a bit too much adrenaline in my system for that, I think.
Strasburg!
Strasburg was completely worth it, though. We went inside the Notre Dame de Strasburg, and they happened to be doing a midday Sunday service. We heard the organist play this amazing piece, but the choir was the amazing part. They sang this piece that was just breathtaking. I was very glad that Korinne ended up videotaping it so we could hear a semblance of this again. It was very chilly this day, and a little rainy.
Strasburg is so incredibly neat. Since it's very near the German-French border, many things were written in both languages. Beautiful architecture, especially in Petite France. We ate breakfast at a local wonderful place that I forget the name of, but our big meal of the day was lunch. We ate at the oldest house in Strasburg, where their specialty was sauerkraut, and boy, was it ever amazing! We split two dishes between the four of us, both with a good butter sauce and fish on top. Wonderful.
Later on, leaving Strasburg, Korinne and I said our temporary goodbyes to Jennifer and Christian, as they were returning to Saarburg and we were going on our Paris adventure. We thought we almost missed our train, because we got on the wrong train! Well, not the "wrong train," persay, but the wrong half of the train! We had to get out of the car we were in and run to the next train that was connected to this one. We were literally running, again, because we were worried we would miss it. It was so stressful, but we made it! Whew. As it was, still, the train definitely had started moving before we were seated.
Arrival time in Paris: 9:36p. Yay! Now time for metro train subway to our stop near the hotel. We get on the correct line, but we quickly discover it is actually the wrong direction. No worries, we are not far from the end of the line, so we will simply ride it and take it back the other direction, no biggie.
The last station arrives, and everyone gets off quickly. We are the only ones left in the train, and stand up when this nice looking man figures we are English speaking and says, "this is the End!" followed by, "where are you going?". He found out and says in a very emphatic voice, "you have made a mistake!". And repeats it a few times. We were glad for the help and thank him. Back going the right direction.
Finally! Over an hour from leaving the train station, we make it to our train station hop. Our hotel desk person can speak English, so he gave us directions about the room and breakfast.
Later, I will tell the rest of our Paris visit in a different post. Always an adventure!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Fall on your face, get back up again
Well, last night's performance was great! It really went pretty well, despite the fact that it was an outdoor concert and it was freezing. Not literally but it sure was cold. 50s, maybe. I found that the lights in the back of the audience tent were quite warm so for about 20 minutes before the performance (we were last), the three of us sat next to the light and kept our hands warm. There was some music that was partly blown away but Korinne magically somehow kept the music on the stand. Flying music - always stressful, haha.
Today, piano was a completely different story. Our studio had studio class and a guest professor, so we had a masterclass. I think I probably haven't played so poorly in awhile. The professor was nice and just worked with different things to help it be better, but man, I was super embarrassed. The fingers just were not working the way I had practiced, at all. I did learn something pretty important, though: as long as I just focused a lot on what the teacher was saying and did not think about how bad I sounded, I didn't get too frustrated or upset. Besides, getting upset doesn't do any good, right? Haha, it's easier said than done sometimes. Still, I guess now I only have more good tools to make everything hopefully more consistent in the future. So, with that, I think I am going to go back to the practice room before my brain starts obsessing about everything I messed up today ,). So very glad I have an off day for performing -- the big Brahms performance is tomorrow evening so the plan is to be super pumped up for that. Until next time, friends.
Today, piano was a completely different story. Our studio had studio class and a guest professor, so we had a masterclass. I think I probably haven't played so poorly in awhile. The professor was nice and just worked with different things to help it be better, but man, I was super embarrassed. The fingers just were not working the way I had practiced, at all. I did learn something pretty important, though: as long as I just focused a lot on what the teacher was saying and did not think about how bad I sounded, I didn't get too frustrated or upset. Besides, getting upset doesn't do any good, right? Haha, it's easier said than done sometimes. Still, I guess now I only have more good tools to make everything hopefully more consistent in the future. So, with that, I think I am going to go back to the practice room before my brain starts obsessing about everything I messed up today ,). So very glad I have an off day for performing -- the big Brahms performance is tomorrow evening so the plan is to be super pumped up for that. Until next time, friends.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
One down, three to go...
We actually have internet at the hotel! We just arrived back from the concert, and it is currently 11:50 pm here. The concert began at 7:00, aka 19:00, and was indeed located at a brewery! Everyone played, sang, and acted really well -- Christian and I sat in the audience for the first half, since we were both on the second. Dori (whom I would be accompanying later) had two operatic/acting numbers in the first half. It was a real treat to watch all the singers act while they sang; their comedic timing was great! The Prima Donna aria was hilarious, as was the later duet from Dreimaederlhaus. I felt a little bad for the tenor, because the soprano was upset that he was flirting with other women and she was throwing him around the stage. It was classic...
The concert opened with, I believe, the youngest two members of the festival: a double violin sonata by Jean-Marie Leclair. Both violinists (9 and 12) did an excellent job. Then another young student, 13, played the Chopin 3rd Ballade, and I should probably say he has much stronger technique than I did when I performed the same piece! (Though, I'd like to think I caught up to him by now ;-). There were other neat pieces throughout the concert, but perhaps I will talk about them later, haha. It's a bit late so I will tell about the rest later.
Dori and I were right before Christian's Doppler duet, so the pianist for Christian's group turned pages for me, and I turned pages for her. Dori sang beautifully, of course! It's a Polish folk song called "Mother Dear." (If I already said that, blame the post-performance memory blank.) She is a dramatic coloratura, which is actually a pretty rare voice type. Did I mention she is also wonderful to work with? Truly a nice, honest, sincere person. I think she will be a friend when we part ways at the end of the festival.
The concerts here run pretty long by American standards, with also long intermissions. Last week one intermission was 30 minutes; today it was supposedly 20 -- but I know it was more like 25. Since the concert was held in a brewery and beer garden, many of the guests were served beer at intermission. It was so interesting, because the entire concert just seemed more like a big social and community affair than the concerts back home generally are. (At home, the concerts can indeed also be a big social and community affair, but more often the main people to attend are the classmates of the students.) After the concert, the owner of the brewery fed us this amazing, amazing soup and gave us a free drink. I had a beer with dinner and it was so good -- it was actually a bit reminiscent of green apples.
They don't rush meals here, so I have learned to eat even more slowly. It has really encouraged plenty of good conversation with my fellow musicians and colleagues, so that is a very positive thing, even if I am still the slowest eater around.
I know I have not necessarily been the most organized writer since traveling over to Saarburg, but blame it on the extremely limited time on a computer plus the very very long days. See, I even forgot to mention that Korinne and I had a coaching with Jennifer on the Schubert Duo. It was wonderful!
Air conditioning in the rooms of the hotel are not existent really, but in the evenings it is so cool that you can simply open your window and it becomes a very cool temperature.
Christian and his trio played Doppler SO WELL !!! They were always spot on together, from my page-turning vantage point, and it was so musical. I am so proud.
The cello quartet ended the concert, with an arrangement of the first movement of Handel's C major concerto (it was spectacular), followed by an Astor Piazzolla piece. They actually ended up getting an encoure by the end.
I have noticed they have blue berry like plants here but they seem to be more like holly bushes. Perhaps they are blue hollys? I tasted one and it was decidedly un-blueberry like, besides the fact that the berries were blue and oval shaped.
Alright, that is entirely enough randomness for one day. Goodnight -- until next time, my friends.
The concert opened with, I believe, the youngest two members of the festival: a double violin sonata by Jean-Marie Leclair. Both violinists (9 and 12) did an excellent job. Then another young student, 13, played the Chopin 3rd Ballade, and I should probably say he has much stronger technique than I did when I performed the same piece! (Though, I'd like to think I caught up to him by now ;-). There were other neat pieces throughout the concert, but perhaps I will talk about them later, haha. It's a bit late so I will tell about the rest later.
Dori and I were right before Christian's Doppler duet, so the pianist for Christian's group turned pages for me, and I turned pages for her. Dori sang beautifully, of course! It's a Polish folk song called "Mother Dear." (If I already said that, blame the post-performance memory blank.) She is a dramatic coloratura, which is actually a pretty rare voice type. Did I mention she is also wonderful to work with? Truly a nice, honest, sincere person. I think she will be a friend when we part ways at the end of the festival.
The concerts here run pretty long by American standards, with also long intermissions. Last week one intermission was 30 minutes; today it was supposedly 20 -- but I know it was more like 25. Since the concert was held in a brewery and beer garden, many of the guests were served beer at intermission. It was so interesting, because the entire concert just seemed more like a big social and community affair than the concerts back home generally are. (At home, the concerts can indeed also be a big social and community affair, but more often the main people to attend are the classmates of the students.) After the concert, the owner of the brewery fed us this amazing, amazing soup and gave us a free drink. I had a beer with dinner and it was so good -- it was actually a bit reminiscent of green apples.
They don't rush meals here, so I have learned to eat even more slowly. It has really encouraged plenty of good conversation with my fellow musicians and colleagues, so that is a very positive thing, even if I am still the slowest eater around.
I know I have not necessarily been the most organized writer since traveling over to Saarburg, but blame it on the extremely limited time on a computer plus the very very long days. See, I even forgot to mention that Korinne and I had a coaching with Jennifer on the Schubert Duo. It was wonderful!
Air conditioning in the rooms of the hotel are not existent really, but in the evenings it is so cool that you can simply open your window and it becomes a very cool temperature.
Christian and his trio played Doppler SO WELL !!! They were always spot on together, from my page-turning vantage point, and it was so musical. I am so proud.
The cello quartet ended the concert, with an arrangement of the first movement of Handel's C major concerto (it was spectacular), followed by an Astor Piazzolla piece. They actually ended up getting an encoure by the end.
I have noticed they have blue berry like plants here but they seem to be more like holly bushes. Perhaps they are blue hollys? I tasted one and it was decidedly un-blueberry like, besides the fact that the berries were blue and oval shaped.
Alright, that is entirely enough randomness for one day. Goodnight -- until next time, my friends.
First Performance Today
Tonight is the first performance I am involved in. The lovely and talented Dori will be singing "Mother Dear" and I will be accompanying her. I usually tend to start second guessing my interpretations at the last minute with these things, but the goal will just be to play nice music and if people do not like it, too bad! No time to second guess while you are the one playing! We will be performing the same piece tomorrow as well, so there is definitely time to change things if professors (who have not yet heard it together other than in a lesson) do not like the interpretation.
I think the performance is at a Brewery today... all of the performance spaces so far have been extremely interesting from an architectural and aesthetic point of view, but not necessarily from an acoustic point of view, so we will see how this particular space is tonight.
I think the performance is at a Brewery today... all of the performance spaces so far have been extremely interesting from an architectural and aesthetic point of view, but not necessarily from an acoustic point of view, so we will see how this particular space is tonight.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Trier and Bonn
Saturday Christian and I went to Trier for the afternoon. It was so neat -- supposedly it's the oldest city in Germany, and it has the Constantine Basilica as well as the Roman baths. Oh, and the Porta Nigra, this really neat gate that marks the pedestrian outdoor mall entrance. There was also the Palace of Trier, which had some amazing outdoor gardens surrounding it. (If you are walking from the Porta Nigra, you pass the Basilica and the Palace to get to the Roman baths.) It was quite interesting for Christian and I to be wandering around on our own. Neither of us knew exactly which stop to get off in Trier (there were two), so we just guessed. We chose wisely. There were tons of people there -- you could really tell that Trier is much more tourist-y than Saarburg. It was still worth it though to see the Roman ruins and the gardens (and Porta Nigra). Highly recommend a visit.
Sunday, a big group of us traveled to Bonn, the birthplace of Beethoven. The train ride on the way took us past tons of vineyards and through the mountains, a few hours north of Saarburg. We only had one train change, in Koblenz. We went to Beethoven's house, which was Awesome, then took a ferry ride down the Rhine river, which was also Awesome, then... well, we couldn't stay and walk up the mountain to see the ruins because we had to get back for the train. We made our train in plenty of time, then got off at the first Koblenz train stop. Oops. Wrong one! So we walked the mile or so to the correct station and continued our journey back with plenty of time to spare.
Now begins week two of the Festival, which is when all the performances are. I do not remember completely, but I think we play concerts every day starting tomorrow!
More soon...
Sunday, a big group of us traveled to Bonn, the birthplace of Beethoven. The train ride on the way took us past tons of vineyards and through the mountains, a few hours north of Saarburg. We only had one train change, in Koblenz. We went to Beethoven's house, which was Awesome, then took a ferry ride down the Rhine river, which was also Awesome, then... well, we couldn't stay and walk up the mountain to see the ruins because we had to get back for the train. We made our train in plenty of time, then got off at the first Koblenz train stop. Oops. Wrong one! So we walked the mile or so to the correct station and continued our journey back with plenty of time to spare.
Now begins week two of the Festival, which is when all the performances are. I do not remember completely, but I think we play concerts every day starting tomorrow!
More soon...
Friday, July 8, 2011
Friday!
As you can see, I am being super creative with the titles here. It is Friday morning, 10:32 am, and I have already had one lesson and practiced for ...hmm, almost an hour. It is strange to realize that it is currently what, 4:32 am back home?
Today is a rather light day for my personal schedule. I have plenty of time to practice -- but the piano rooms are almost always very full. There are probably 15 or more pianists here but only 5 practice rooms, so we really have to stick to our assigned practice times. 20 minutes until the next one, whoo!
For the Ewazen and the Brahms, we have our first coachings tomorrow. Definitely looking forward to that.
Since today is a light day for me, I will be hopefully venturing into a store or two this afternoon after practice. I need to buy a real German dictionary, since the one I have so far is not quite comprehensive enough to help. The grocery store might also have a visit from me -- Korinne bought some German chocolate yesterday and it was quite good.
Let's see, food... breakfast is usually meats and cheeses, fruit, yogurt, boiled eggs or omelets, cereal, bread, and plenty of juices and really amazing coffee. I kinda wonder if they use straight espresso here or if it is regular coffee brewed strong. Not so sure. Lunches are at the hospital cafeteria, and so far have been super yummy. There is always fresh salad, fruit, yogurt, even sliced bell peppers! Soup is also pretty consistent. The first day I picked the vegetarian dish, and I didn't know how to say "I like it but I am not vegetarian," in German, so I think they think I am vegetarian.
Last night the concert was finished around 9:45 but we still had not eaten yet (it was still light outside), so we went to this Turkish kabob place across the street from the hotel. It was such a fun place -- the people there were really cheerful and having a lot of fun. It was pretty obvious that they really enjoyed having everyone come through their store and talking to them. Also, the group of students we were with had already eaten there 3 or 4 times this week and knew the owner/workers pretty well. One of the students was even a little bit "famous" for rapping for the workers. I think they were videoing it and putting it online somewhere. Quite funny. They kept asking him to rap more. He said, "Just let me finish my coke," but they misunderstood and brought him a new coke. Most of the students in our group were pretty young - rising sophomores - and when I joked that I think I am the "old one" here by far, one of my chamber group members, Mikko, called me "Ate" ... ! It really made me smile. (In case you don't know, Ate means big sister in Tagalog. Hopefully I spelled that correctly.)
It is Friday, which means 8 full days left until the end of the festival. So much goes on that the time flies by.
In other random news, I think I saw more motorcycles here in the first 5-10 minutes of being here than I ever see in weeks of driving around South Carolina. And the cars are cool(er) here. The Toyota Yaris and Mazda 3 look very large in comparison. Of course I knew the cars were smaller here but it is neat to actually see them driving around the city. The drivers are also quite good here. They all actually seem to follow the same rules, haha. They are all very predictable, which is a good thing. I am going to have to be careful when I get back to the US because drivers here are so aware of pedestrians.
Off to practice! More later, happy Friday!
Today is a rather light day for my personal schedule. I have plenty of time to practice -- but the piano rooms are almost always very full. There are probably 15 or more pianists here but only 5 practice rooms, so we really have to stick to our assigned practice times. 20 minutes until the next one, whoo!
For the Ewazen and the Brahms, we have our first coachings tomorrow. Definitely looking forward to that.
Since today is a light day for me, I will be hopefully venturing into a store or two this afternoon after practice. I need to buy a real German dictionary, since the one I have so far is not quite comprehensive enough to help. The grocery store might also have a visit from me -- Korinne bought some German chocolate yesterday and it was quite good.
Let's see, food... breakfast is usually meats and cheeses, fruit, yogurt, boiled eggs or omelets, cereal, bread, and plenty of juices and really amazing coffee. I kinda wonder if they use straight espresso here or if it is regular coffee brewed strong. Not so sure. Lunches are at the hospital cafeteria, and so far have been super yummy. There is always fresh salad, fruit, yogurt, even sliced bell peppers! Soup is also pretty consistent. The first day I picked the vegetarian dish, and I didn't know how to say "I like it but I am not vegetarian," in German, so I think they think I am vegetarian.
Last night the concert was finished around 9:45 but we still had not eaten yet (it was still light outside), so we went to this Turkish kabob place across the street from the hotel. It was such a fun place -- the people there were really cheerful and having a lot of fun. It was pretty obvious that they really enjoyed having everyone come through their store and talking to them. Also, the group of students we were with had already eaten there 3 or 4 times this week and knew the owner/workers pretty well. One of the students was even a little bit "famous" for rapping for the workers. I think they were videoing it and putting it online somewhere. Quite funny. They kept asking him to rap more. He said, "Just let me finish my coke," but they misunderstood and brought him a new coke. Most of the students in our group were pretty young - rising sophomores - and when I joked that I think I am the "old one" here by far, one of my chamber group members, Mikko, called me "Ate" ... ! It really made me smile. (In case you don't know, Ate means big sister in Tagalog. Hopefully I spelled that correctly.)
It is Friday, which means 8 full days left until the end of the festival. So much goes on that the time flies by.
In other random news, I think I saw more motorcycles here in the first 5-10 minutes of being here than I ever see in weeks of driving around South Carolina. And the cars are cool(er) here. The Toyota Yaris and Mazda 3 look very large in comparison. Of course I knew the cars were smaller here but it is neat to actually see them driving around the city. The drivers are also quite good here. They all actually seem to follow the same rules, haha. They are all very predictable, which is a good thing. I am going to have to be careful when I get back to the US because drivers here are so aware of pedestrians.
Off to practice! More later, happy Friday!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
First Week
Internet has been a bit spotty here, so I haven't been able to update as much as I originally thought. That is fine, because there has definitelz been plenty to do! The trip here took 30 hours (more on that later); however, since then, things have been smooth sailing. We get a guaranteed 3 hours of practice time a day, so it feels very liesurely even though I am still playing for a number of people. All the performances I am involved in will be next week, so rehearsals have barely started. Voice lessons and piano lessons have been in full swing, though.
Hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures soon, because Saarburg and the surrounding areas are absolutely gorgeous. The weather is also quite mild (mid 70s) so it has been quite pleasant to wander around the city when not in rehearsal or practicing. Our first day here, we had a reception with the mayor of the city and a few other people (I forgot their names), located at the old bell foundry in town. It was SO neat -- from what I could tell, it made big and small bells all the way up until the 1970s, but do not quote me on that -- I was reading German.
All of the teachers here are so musical, very good at what they do, and are also quite nice people. So far everyone has seemed to enjoy their stay here. The local people we see everyday are also just as nice as they can be too; we are staying in Hotel Am Markt, which, like a number of other hotels in town, has a restaurant on the bottom floor. The people who work there seem to speak French, Italian, German, and English, or at least have a basic proficiency in all. There is even a man who will cook omelettes every morning if you would like.
Time for the next rehearsal -- hopefully more updates soon! Visiting Bonn this Sunday on the day off so that should be fun.
Brahms, Beethoven, Ewazen, Keiser, yay fun!
Hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures soon, because Saarburg and the surrounding areas are absolutely gorgeous. The weather is also quite mild (mid 70s) so it has been quite pleasant to wander around the city when not in rehearsal or practicing. Our first day here, we had a reception with the mayor of the city and a few other people (I forgot their names), located at the old bell foundry in town. It was SO neat -- from what I could tell, it made big and small bells all the way up until the 1970s, but do not quote me on that -- I was reading German.
All of the teachers here are so musical, very good at what they do, and are also quite nice people. So far everyone has seemed to enjoy their stay here. The local people we see everyday are also just as nice as they can be too; we are staying in Hotel Am Markt, which, like a number of other hotels in town, has a restaurant on the bottom floor. The people who work there seem to speak French, Italian, German, and English, or at least have a basic proficiency in all. There is even a man who will cook omelettes every morning if you would like.
Time for the next rehearsal -- hopefully more updates soon! Visiting Bonn this Sunday on the day off so that should be fun.
Brahms, Beethoven, Ewazen, Keiser, yay fun!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Saarburg Concert Schedule
The Concert Schedule has been posted! It looks like we will be performing in some really, really neat places. I will be attempting to photodocument all these "performance venues," as well as ...well, everywhere I go, I'm sure. (happy dance!)
Saarburg Concert Schedule
None of the performances will be professionally recorded, so I am going to try to record them with my IPod. We shall see how that works out...
Saarburg Concert Schedule
None of the performances will be professionally recorded, so I am going to try to record them with my IPod. We shall see how that works out...
Deutch - warum nicht?
So, it's five days until we fly out for Germany! This week, my "list" of things to do include: Practicing, Packing, and Learning more German -- not an overwhelmingly large list. Perhaps later today or tomorrow I will post a picture or two of my packing setup...
Until preparing for this trip, I had nearly forgotten how much I enjoy learning other languages. In the past, my learning other languages involved mostly writing and grammar studies, since that is what "classes" test you on. I have found during this most recent learning process, that the reading and comprehension is not the difficult part, and therefore not something upon which I'm focusing on very strongly. Instead, I am focusing on two things: aural comprehension and grammar. I have found that this speeds the retention process greatly, which makes learning the language that much more exciting! Must admit, the suggestion that a faculty member made to me this past semester about teaching English in Europe is becoming more and more appealing, especially if the jobs here don't pan out. But I get ahead of myself - back to German, and learning German.
Of course, finding the resource "Deutch - warum nicht?" has been so helpful in this case. The lessons (originally radio broadcasts, now streaming audio + pdf files for study) are organized very well and explain things superbly! It is quite exciting to actually be able to understand things as the lessons continue. Currently, I am on lesson five, and hoping to finish many more before we fly out in a few days. As each lesson and day goes by, I am feeling more and more confident and excited about communicating with people in German. I can't wait!
Until preparing for this trip, I had nearly forgotten how much I enjoy learning other languages. In the past, my learning other languages involved mostly writing and grammar studies, since that is what "classes" test you on. I have found during this most recent learning process, that the reading and comprehension is not the difficult part, and therefore not something upon which I'm focusing on very strongly. Instead, I am focusing on two things: aural comprehension and grammar. I have found that this speeds the retention process greatly, which makes learning the language that much more exciting! Must admit, the suggestion that a faculty member made to me this past semester about teaching English in Europe is becoming more and more appealing, especially if the jobs here don't pan out. But I get ahead of myself - back to German, and learning German.
Of course, finding the resource "Deutch - warum nicht?" has been so helpful in this case. The lessons (originally radio broadcasts, now streaming audio + pdf files for study) are organized very well and explain things superbly! It is quite exciting to actually be able to understand things as the lessons continue. Currently, I am on lesson five, and hoping to finish many more before we fly out in a few days. As each lesson and day goes by, I am feeling more and more confident and excited about communicating with people in German. I can't wait!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
An Introduction
"An undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks." What keeps you from taking risks? Is it fear of the unknown, or merely complacency? Fear of failure or rejection?
Fear of the unknown can be a very powerful thing. Fear of failure or rejection is equally as powerful, sometimes even more so. I understand these things, because I have been in that place, and it is a battle I feel I fight on a regular basis.
Sometimes, taking risks does involve rejection -- the rejection of an idea or plan as frivolous, silly, or insurmountable. This so-called rejection can come from many sources, but the most dangerous is the voice inside your head that resists your taking action in the first place: the voice that tells you "you will fail" before you even try. Sometimes, this voice is correct -- we all fail at times -- but it is what we do after we fail that makes the biggest difference. I have found that getting back up and trying again makes it easier to attempt harder and harder things. Why? Well, even if the first or the ninth attempt was a "failure," how can it be a failure if you learned something from it that can be carried to the next step? How can it be a failure if, through this attempt, you gained valuable skills that will make the next attempt a little easier?
I have learned more from what others might consider "failures" than I have from successes, but only when I have not allowed a so-called "failure" to effectively paralyze my next move. Not being afraid to fail is a very liberating feeling -- what's the worst that could happen? In music, the audience could hate your performance, the hiring committee not pick you, the performance not go well, the reviewer give you a bad review... the list goes on, but it's all the same. Every performance is a learning experience, if you allow it to be. Every new application process can be one as well, if you are able to set aside your fear of rejection and approach it with the attitude of "I have many assets to bring to this position," or, "I may have different background than many, but I am just as deserving of a position like this as someone who has entered and won this or that competition."
Beginning this post with "adventure" and arriving at "application process" may seem like a rather strange conclusion; after all, doesn't adventure have to be a vacation to an exotic place, filled with new experiences and maybe a bit of danger? In my case, the answer is no... and yes. Earlier this year, I applied and was accepted to a chamber music festival in Saarburg, Germany. For me, it IS the next great adventure. I am unbelievably excited at the opportunity to interact with musicians from all over the world; this excitement also extends to the desire I have to actually be able to communicate with people in their own language and absorbing their culture.
We fly out in one week. More updates soon.
Fear of the unknown can be a very powerful thing. Fear of failure or rejection is equally as powerful, sometimes even more so. I understand these things, because I have been in that place, and it is a battle I feel I fight on a regular basis.
Sometimes, taking risks does involve rejection -- the rejection of an idea or plan as frivolous, silly, or insurmountable. This so-called rejection can come from many sources, but the most dangerous is the voice inside your head that resists your taking action in the first place: the voice that tells you "you will fail" before you even try. Sometimes, this voice is correct -- we all fail at times -- but it is what we do after we fail that makes the biggest difference. I have found that getting back up and trying again makes it easier to attempt harder and harder things. Why? Well, even if the first or the ninth attempt was a "failure," how can it be a failure if you learned something from it that can be carried to the next step? How can it be a failure if, through this attempt, you gained valuable skills that will make the next attempt a little easier?
I have learned more from what others might consider "failures" than I have from successes, but only when I have not allowed a so-called "failure" to effectively paralyze my next move. Not being afraid to fail is a very liberating feeling -- what's the worst that could happen? In music, the audience could hate your performance, the hiring committee not pick you, the performance not go well, the reviewer give you a bad review... the list goes on, but it's all the same. Every performance is a learning experience, if you allow it to be. Every new application process can be one as well, if you are able to set aside your fear of rejection and approach it with the attitude of "I have many assets to bring to this position," or, "I may have different background than many, but I am just as deserving of a position like this as someone who has entered and won this or that competition."
Beginning this post with "adventure" and arriving at "application process" may seem like a rather strange conclusion; after all, doesn't adventure have to be a vacation to an exotic place, filled with new experiences and maybe a bit of danger? In my case, the answer is no... and yes. Earlier this year, I applied and was accepted to a chamber music festival in Saarburg, Germany. For me, it IS the next great adventure. I am unbelievably excited at the opportunity to interact with musicians from all over the world; this excitement also extends to the desire I have to actually be able to communicate with people in their own language and absorbing their culture.
We fly out in one week. More updates soon.
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