GMC in Europe 2008

We’re counting down the days, and soon the hours. On Thursday, most of us will start our journey to Vienna.

A word is in order about what to expect from the GMC in Europe 2008 blog while we are traveling. My past experience is that people expect too much—and sometimes too little—from this form of communication. An advance word might help with that.

• Our overall goal as members of the Greater Middletown Chorale is to experience and enjoy the tour. This blog in some ways goes along with that goal, but it’s not the reason we’re going. No one is getting paid to write it, and it’s strictly a volunteer activity.
• Updates will happen when and where they can. We expect to have good Internet connections at our hotels, or alternatively at Internet cafes, but sometimes those connections (or our schedules) just don’t work out.
• This blog is not a place to relay messages to travelers. Most of the GMC and friends won’t even see it while we’re in Europe. I’d suggest, as one alternative, looking at the itinerary and sending messages to the hotels.

Did I leave something out? Add a comment to this post!

Our good friend Joyce Kirkpatrick is flying ahead of us, and is in Europe as I write this. Just before she left, though, she gave us the biographical information on Antonin Dvořák that she researched and wrote for the (I believe) 2005 performance of the Mass done by the Chorale.

For relative newbies like me, it was fascinating reading. For all of us, it would be a worthwhile refresher before we go over to represent and perform his music.

(Oh, I don’t have similar biographies for most of the other composers on the program, though you can find Colin’s bio at this Web link.)

For those of you boarding the bus at Cheshire, and planning to park your car:

Yes, we will have a designated section of the church parking lot set aside for you. There will be signage when you arrive.

Yes, it’s a safe place to park. No, it’s unguarded. Yes, the Cheshire police often stop in to have a cup of coffee and write reports while they sit in their cruisers. And yes, we like that.

Yes, I’d like to know your license plate number and name when you arrive. Yes, I’ll have a list at the door of the bus. And yes, we’ll hand it to the good people at the church office so they know your car is there.

Yes, this is likely to be much more convenient than driving your car to the airport and back. And no, I am completely not envious of the folks who are driving to Boston (unless of course they’re having a Wednesday evening “out” and having a great time, in which case my answer is Yes, I’m kind of envious).

And finally…

Yes, I made up some of these questions, based on questions I’ve already been asked.

But yes, I hope the questions I made up, and their real answers, will be reassuring to those of you who plan to park their cars here.

Leavin’ on a jet plane,

Don’t know when I’ll be back again…

Well, there is an itinerary. I suppose I could consult that.

We’re leaving one week from today. I’m excited!

I’m also checking to make sure

• I’ve made arrangements for the house while we’re gone
• I can see (heading to the optometrist this morning!)
• I have tickets and passport for the journey
• I’ve memorized my music where called for (why don’t those words stick?!)

We’ve received itineraries in an email from John C., and I plan to post them in the tour pages when I get a breath.

See you Sunday at Trinity, and again on Tuesday.

And again on Thursday morning, a week from today!

You might be asking, “But…where are we singing?”

We now have a page for each of the three concert venues on this blog-site.

Some of the information is still preliminary, and all of the venue pages will be updated as we get closer to the tour.

The easiest way to get to the venue pages is…to look up and to the right. There is a link called “Venues” at the top of the page.

You can point your mouse at that word, and a menu will drop down showing our three tour cities. Click on one of them, and it will take you directly to that page.

Or, just click on the word “Venues” to see a directory page with all three venues listed.

The pages will be revised as we receive more information.

How do you plug anything from home into those vaguely exotic electrical outlets in Austria and the Czech Republic?

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert, but I have a vested interest in making sure my camera and laptop work while we’re on tour. I’d hate to run out of battery power halfway through our stay in Salzburg and end up with no photos! So, I’ve done some basic research, and I invite those who have been there or lived there to add to it in the comments. 

For those of you bringing digital cameras, laptops, or other battery-operated devices, this may not pose much of a problem. Modern gadgets tend to have what’s called a “switching power supply,” which means that the power transformer brick can adjust to the different voltages and frequencies of European current. For reference, that’s 230 Volts at 50 Hz (or “cycles per second” for us old-timers!) for both Austria and the Czech Republic.Look in your owner’s manual, or at all that fine print on the adapter itself. You may see a statement like “120~240V, 50~60 Hz”. That’s an indicator that your adapter can handle different voltages. An even better indicator is to consult the manufacturer’s Web site for advice.

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Thanks all for taking cards last evening! I see several sign-ups already, so the ball is rolling.It might not be obvious how to post here. I’ve added a “Welcome” message at the top of the page, and will add these points:

•  A blog works well when several (even many) people contribute. I am hosting the blog, but I don’t expect to be writing all the posts.
• When you log in to this blog, you will see something called the Dashboard. This area shows general information about the blog. Clicking on the various links under the dark blue bar will take you to the screen where you can write your own posts.
• The user profile is important. If I know who you are (not always obvious from your email address), I’ll give your account writing privileges more quickly. (People who register on the blog start out with the privilege to read what’s there–essentially the same as not registering. I add writing privileges for GMC family.
• Someone asked me last evening if family and friends could also register on the blog. Of course!

Remember that you can always ask me questions if you’re having trouble with getting the blog working for yourself. Send me an email.

This is the tour Weblog (”blog”) for the Greater Middletown Chorale’s 2008 concert tour of Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague. Oh, my!

I’m your host, Matt McCaffrey. Most of you will recognize me as that quiet guy who sits in the back of the tenor section along with Steve, Rich, Colin, Jim, Margie, the two Johns, and other fine singers.

Okay, I’m not quiet. But I do like to sing, and I’m very excited about our upcoming tour.

This blog is for all of us—not just the people on tour, but the whole Chorale. As friends and fellow singers, the touring group very much wants to share the experience with the rest of us. We hope for a lot of comments and posts from both sides of the Atlantic over the life of the tour.

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