Bach Trip and Then Some
So last week the entire group went on a trip to Prague and Germany. This trip was similar to the one that we went on when I was a student on this program. We had a few more days this time though since we're having the retreat with the church choir this coming weekend. Last time, it just turned out that the Bach trip was the week after that retreat. Anyway, it meant that we got to spend a little more time in Prague and Jena. The first two days were spent in Prague in a hostel right off the center of town. We walked everywhere from there. It was rather nice there particularly because it was sunny and warm. We went on a tour of old Prague and the Jewish Quarter. It was really fun to see the famous Prague clock. Apparently the guy who made it was executed after because the king didn't want him to make another clock like it for a different town. We also went to see a puppet opera of Don Giovanni. That was hilarious and rather inappropriate. I would not take a child to it, that's for sure. I must have repressed how inappropriate it was because we saw the same opera the last time we were in Prague. After Prague, we drove to Jena via Dresden. Dresden was rather interesting because it's so modern now. One doesn't really think too much about it since America is all relatively modern in comparison to the rest of Europe. But then when you think about why Dresden is the way it is... it's rather sad really. My host mother here in Vienna was born and raised in Dresden. She wasn't there when it was firebombed, but her family was. She didn't hear from them for half a year. It must have been absolutely horrible for her, not knowing. It would tear me up inside. We got a tour of Jena, which is famous for it's university and the glasses company that started there. The glasses company has since moved it's headquarters to the west side of Germany and many people think that it originated there, but that's not true. There's even a square dedicated to the men who started the company. In that square is a memorial, a rather modern memorial, in memory of those men. We got to see it and we got to sing inside it. It was pretty cool. The next few days were full of almost all of the places Bach lived or is associated with. We went to Wechmar were his great great grandfather lived. They owned a bakery there and the family played instruments. Then there was Eisenach, where Bach was born. We saw a lot of museums and a lot of organ concerts in places that Bach worked and lived. We also got to see the church where he married his first wife. It was a cute little church. Many people actually go there just to get married because it was the church where Bach was married. We also went to Buchenwald, a concentration camp. That was a rather hard day because it started with something so depressing. It ended really nicely though with one of the best organ concerts that we had. I liked it so much because the organist was so energetic and fun to watch. Our final stop was in Leipzig, which I have yet to see, because, like last time, I was sick in Leipzig. I had a head cold that just wouldn't go away, so I had to stay at the hotel and sleep. I did get to see a wonderful Wagner concert that night though with everyone else. I couldn't miss it. It really made me miss playing in band. The timpani were awesome and I really loved the brass section. Then we headed home with a stop in Olmütz to give a concert. I was rather sick at the time and I don't think that I sounded all that good, but I sang anyway. The past few days I've just been sleeping mostly, except for the things that I have to do. I think that after I'm done here I'm going to go home and just sleep/relax. This is a rather persistent cold and we have our retreat this weekend. We're going to sing so much, I just have to be healthy, otherwise it will just knock me out for another week. I am really looking forward to this weekend though despite the cold. It should be really fun.