GMC in Europe 2008

We’re having a gathering at the First Congregational Church in Cheshire today to show photos and tell stories about our trip.

It’s focused on the Cheshire participants, but really any and all are welcome!

We plan to start at 12:30 p.m. following the second worship service, in the Fellowship Hall. Hope you can come!

Now that I’ve had a day to sleep, I’m starting to troubleshoot the problem with posting photos directly on the blog. Also, I’m picking up Dennis’ video this afternoon, and should have some video posted here. Alison recorded the final concert in Prague, and I will post some excerpts from that as well.

Finally, working on a little photo contest, and I hope to have details of that ready for tomorrow evening’s GMC rehearsal.

After close to seven thousand miles traveled and ten days on the road, the GMC Europe touring group returned home safely this evening.

For about half of us, the day started with a 5:30 a.m. (CEST) wake-up call. (That would be 11:30 p.m. EDT, yesterday.) We were packed, through with breakfast, and on our bus by 7 a.m., and from the hotel straight to the airport, where we boarded a 9:25 a.m. flight to Amsterdam. Of course, it was delayed by 10 minutes, which only cut into the four-hour layover time.

We departed Amsterdam at about 3:15 p.m. CEST (9:15 a.m. EDT), and touched down in Boston at 5 p.m. EDT. As I write this, having arrived home about an hour ago, I’m a little surprised to acknowledge I’ve been up for the past 24 hours. Where did the time go?

Of course, there will be much to write, and much to show you…but we did want all of you reading the blog to know we are back safe and sound.

Salzburg really is a beautiful city. And, there is plenty to see.

But, it seems to have a “complex” of some kind in relationship to Vienna. Our tour guide on Tuesday morning, a lovely Viennese native who has lived in Salzburg for years, said:

Vienna styles itself as the center of Austria; after all, it is the national capital, and it has many inhabitants. But, the citizens of Salzburg secretly think that Vienna thinks too much of itself, and that in fact Salzburg is the better city.

Well, I’m not sure if they’re correct about that. The shops were certainly competing to see who could be the best vendor of “Mozart Balls,” the strange chocolates wrapped in likenesses of W. Amadeus himself. The funicular ride to the famous Festung Hohensalzburg (the town’s imposing fortress/castle) was clean and efficient and quick (although because it was efficient, it also took a while for it to start because they insisted on filling the car to its capacity of 40 riders before starting the one-minute journey!).

Still, there was something like a chip on Salzburg’s shoulder. I don’t quite know what it was, but there is an edge to the city, like it wants to be Vienna, perhaps, and knows it never can.

No matter: the food was good, the cathedral (with its five organs!) breathtakingly beautiful, and the company of choristers and friends has been delightful!

A very short post (because our bus awaits) to let you know we all arrived safely in Prague. We had no internet access in Salzburg, but many stories queued up and waiting to share with you.

Thanks for your encouraging comments!

As the group discussed our transit from Vienna to Salzburg, we realized that we would be passing through Linz, less than five miles away from the village of Mauthausen and its Nazi-era concentration camp. About 40 of us requested the opportunity to deviate from the planned program and visit the camp. (I should add that those who chose to go on to Salzburg had either visited a camp previously, or had other good reasons not to go.)

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Wow…the Greater Middletown Chorale is in Vienna.

No exclamation mark, just a fact. We’ve been grounding ourselves in the local culture for the past two days and having a blast.

Our two groups were reunited at the Hotel Ananan on Friday evening, and those of us who were on the Northwest/KLM flight were reassured to know that the Lufthansa folks had had their own “hardships” (no choice of movie on the plane; an early arrival that resulted in an unscheduled wait for two hours; a Mozart visit that was less than spectacular). By comparison, our wait due to “technical difficulties” at the Amsterdam airport (we were finally airborne at 2:30, about three hours past our scheduled departure) was almost pleasant.

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I’m in Amsterdam as I write this…in an airport that Alison described as “one giant Ikea.” Euro-style is certainly different. It’s more humane, for one thing…the terminal in which we’re laying over has a whole section devoted to “comfort chairs.” They have foot rests and can recline, and you don’t need to be a member of an elite flying club to sit in them.

Our travel is going well. We departed from First Congregational Church in Cheshire promptly at 10 a.m., on board a bus that just needs wings to be fully competitive with an airliner. We met up with the rest of the chorale in Middletown, and then we were off to Boston.

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When was it? November, 2006? Ahhh, yessss…

We were rehearsing with the terrific choristers of Coginchaug High School in Durham, and singing about snakes and such. (Just to be Candide about it!)

And, following the concert, we started hearing about an idea that sounded wild and attractive at the same time: What if we were to organize a Chorale tour of several European cities?

One thing led to another, and after many meetings, presentations, and plummeting dollar rates, here we are, about to board our planes for the flight to Vienna.

It doesn’t seem like the day should be upon us so quickly, but here we are. It’s time to go.

We’re looking forward to posting lots of photos, perhaps a snippet or two of our performances if all goes well, and following Patricia’s advice about all things pastry (and her other advice that also turned out to be about pastry) and Adam’s intelligence about Czech beer. And most of all, we will be anticipating the day when we return and are reunited with our friends to put on an outstanding concert on May 4.

Because of the flight schedules, we’ll be “teleported” six hours ahead and thus launched into Friday before we know it. I don’t expect you’ll be seeing any blog entries until Friday evening. (Note we’re on Central European Summer Time — CEST — which is Greenwich Mean Time plus two hours. You should add six hours to Eastern Daylight Time to know what time it is in Austria and the Czech Republic.)

Keep reading this blog, and leave us lots of comments. Despite my ritual disclaimers, your comments are very much welcome and will keep us going during our tour!

We heard some great advice about packing from Ann at Sunday’s rehearsal (thank you!), but I need to see it as well as hear it.

Here are links to relevant packing information from our airlines.

Lufthansa

Checked Luggage (note that 23 kg is approximately 50 lb)

Carry-on Luggage (note that 8 kg is approx. 17 lb; 55 cm ≈ 21.5 in; 40 cm ≈ 15.5 in; 20 cm ≈ 7.8 in)

Northwest/KLM

Checked Luggage

Carry-on Luggage

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Complete information about items accepted and prohibited at airport security checkpoints

Hope this helps!