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European Tour 2002
June 24 – July 11
The Heartland of Western Music
With the help of Roger Beeman I plan to maintain this web site with photos and news of our trip. Just click the dates below to see the latest. Welcome to the Tour! – Don Knull, tour manager. Email me at cyso@attbi.com
| July 10, 2002 | Our last day on land. We left our host families in the plaza in Stein, after some speeches and holding hands in a big circle, with a little song of farewell. It was obviously a very big event for them, and everyone was very sad to see it come to an end. Back on the bus, we drove an hour to Salzburg, where we spent a couple of hours in the central part of the city, getting lunch and seeing the sights. The temperature was already 93 degrees, and it became quite uncomfortable even to walk. We then continued across the border into Germany, and after a couple of rest stops we arrived in Munich around 5:00. The weather by now had become stormy and we expected a thunderstorm any time. After checking in we walked to a restaurant in Marienplatz. This restaurant is beneath the “New” Rathaus, which is where the famous Glockenspiel is housed. We had a nice farewell dinner with a lot of speeches, special recognition for our drivers and courier, and generally a very happy ending to the tour. We then walked back to the hotel for a very short night, since we had to get up at 3:30 to take our bus to the airport for departure. All the instruments and luggage were checked into the airline, and the group departed for home. |
| July 9, 2002 | Our day in the country began with a hike up a big hill to a castle in the town of Duernstein. Some of the group didn't make it to the top, but most did. The view was spectacular of the Danube and wine country. Thanks to Madison Bromel for the photos from the top – I decided not to make the climb. We continued a bus tour and stopped at lunch time at the property of our hosts, where they had been preparing for days to have a barbecue for us. The property grows wine grapes, apricots, and apples. We had a relaxing two hours and enjoyed the food very much. After lunch we drove into Krems for another walking tour and then some time on our own in town. The temperature had reached the low 90's and many of us were exhausted. It was very nice to go into the church for the rehearsal because it was very cool inside. We set up and had a sound check and then had dinner in a dance hall nearby. The concert began at 7:30, and started with introductions and speeches. The audience packed the church and they actually gave a standing ovation with synchronized clapping, the highest form of appreciation. After the concert was over everyone went out into the square for food, wine, music and dancing. In the midst of this we somehow managed to pack up the instruments and wardrobe for the plane flight home, and then went back to our host homes for the night. |
| July 8, 2002 | On our last day in Vienna we had the morning free for shopping – it's Monday and the shops are open now. We checked out of the hotel at 11:00 and took the subway one last time to the central area. After lunch and walking around we met at the same restaurant where we had dinner the first night, and then left town on our bus. A few hours on the bus brought us to the Danube river and the town of Stein where we met our host families and retired for the evening. |
| July 7, 2002 | Sunday we learned to take the subway in Vienna. We started with a group that wanted to go to church services. We chose St Stephano Cathedral, the largest in the city. It is a subway ride from the hotel and Marilyn and Travis took the group of about 13 kids for 9:00 Mass. An hour later the rest of the group joined them and then split up for sightseeing and lunch in the central part of Vienna. There are many museums there that were open, but being Sunday the shops were mostly closed. After meeting for lunch we had a few more hours free and then returned to the hotel for down-time until dinner. Some are going swimming and others using the sauna, but most just nap. Dinner was next to a huge amusement park, with the largest ferris wheel in Europe and a lot of very large attractions. We had planned to spend the evening watching the outdoor musical film, but of course the immediate request came to spend the time at the amusement park. After determining that the average ride cost over $5, and given that some kids really didn't want to do this, Travis took a vote and the result was a large majority wanted to watch the film. Wow, this was a surprise! So we followed the original plan and saw Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in a 1985 performance of the Brahms Requiem with Kathleen Battle. Afterwards we negotiated the subway one more time back to the hotel and had lights out by 11:15 pm. Tomorrow is another sleep-in day, and a welcome one. |
| July 6, 2002 | Our first day in Vienna started with a bus trip from Brno across the border into Austria. We took a little longer at the border this time because we asked that all the passports get stamped. After clearing customs we stopped for snacks and then continued on to Vienna. It was some time later that we learned that Alan, the truck driver, had been delayed at the border by customs agents who were interested in opening up the truck and seeing what was inside. They had some concern about the paperwork, and held Alan up while they hinted around about how some extra cash might help get him through. After a while they gave up and let him go on, but only after he got his boss in England to fax a paper saying that he was in fact an authorized representative of the trucking company. After arriving in Vienna we checked into our best hotel yet, and then went on a bus/walking tour of the Schoenbrunn Palace and Hundertwasser Haus. We ended the day at the Rathaus, where we had some free time and then dinner. Back to the hotel with time for swimming and sauna, and then to bed. Tomorrow we get a full day of free time and also Monday morning before going on to our home stays in Krems. |
| July 5, 2002 | Sorry for the long delay getting caught up on the travelogue. The cost of internet access in the Czech Republic is very high so I have delayed sending these until we reached Austria. Our last city in the Czech Republic was Brno. We stayed in a very nice large hotel, and drove out to the country to the town of Kromeriz for a concert. The castle in town was our venue and the hall was georgeous. The audience was large and very appreciative, and the orchestra sounded great. As I write this we are on the bus and have just cleared customs into Austria. Our next stop is Vienna. As of right now we don't know if the instrument truck is clear, but it seems like there will probably not be any problem. |
| July 4, 2002 | After several days at leisure it's time to get back to work. Today we traveled through Karlovy Vary, a spa town that is popular for the rich and famous. A film festival was starting today, and movie stars such as Sean Connery were expected. Most of the town has been completely restored since 1989, and at the upper end of town is a huge ugly concrete hotel built during the Communist time. We were told that the Russian mafia comes to the spas for their holidays. Twelve natural mineral springs are available here, and each is said to have unique therapeutic qualities. We had lunch here and also sampled the delicious crisp wafers that are sold in shops and stands. Our final destination was another spa town, Frantiskovy Lazne. After setup and rehearsal we had dinner in a local restaurant and then performed in a wonderful theater. People came from many miles to hear us, because many German and Czech people remember that it was the allied troops, and especially Americans who liberated them at the end of the war. This is their way to show appreciation, especially on the day of American independence. The concert ended at 9 pm and we packed the truck in a record 20 minutes. Then we had a 3+ hour drive back to Prague, and the group spent a lot of the time singing, starting with Neil leading America the Beautiful, the National Anthem, and a few others. We even saw a big fireworks display out the bus window! Tomorrow we can leave later than usual so we all can sleep in to 8:00. What luxury! |
| July 3, 2002 | We started the morning with a guided tour split
into two groups. We toured Prague Castle, the home of the
government and historic church. We had a couple of short breaks
in the tour, and spent all of 3 hours walking around, ending up
in the main square of the old town again. This was very
interesting – we learned a lot of the history, and our tour
guide was very informative about what it was like to grow up
under the communist rule and then be released into independence
in 1989. After several hours more shopping we got some down
time in the hotel before taking a dinner cruise on the river
Moldau (yes!). Tomorrow is a very long day and we now have two
days of concerts in the Czech Republic before heading on to
Austria.
This is a really great group of young people and we appreciate very much their attitude and support for what we are doing. They will never forget this trip and I think many are forming friendships that will last a very long time. |
| July 2, 2002 | It rained as we drove from Dresden to Prague. This is a fairly long drive, and we were worried about getting the instruments across the Czech border. Alan, our truck driver, left at 7 am and we followed at 8:30. As we approached the border Sarka got a phone call from Alan. No problem with the crossing – he was waiting for us on the other side! We stopped for snacks and continued to Prague, arriving early afternoon. We checked into the hotel and then took the bus a short distance to where we were able to walk into the old town for lunch and shopping. Back to the hotel for a nap and then dinner in the hotel restaurant. This is another very nice hotel, and Alan and Udo told us they were sure it had been owned by the communist party before they left the city. The staff is not particularly friendly, at least the night crew, but overall a very nice place to stay. |
| July 1, 2002 | Today we arrived in Dresden in the late morning and began a 2-hour walking tour of the city. There were supposed to be two guides but the second one did not appear until halfway through, at which time we split up. On my tour we had a very good guide that explained the history of Dresden, especially the reconstruction since the war and the devastation of communist control of the region. Since reunification the money has been available from Western Germany to rebuild many of the national treasures. This work is going on now and will continue for many years. After the tour we all had free time to shop, eat lunch, and convene at the hotel for rest and then dinner at a nice restaurant on the river Elbe, under the Loschwitz Bridge (aka Blue Wonder). We have an early day and a long bus ride tomorrow, crossing the border into the Czech Republic. |
| June 30, 2002 | Leipzig – what an incredible city. Since the reunification twelve years ago they have been able to restore and clean many beautiful buildings, and they plan to host the World Cup and Olympics in the next ten years, so they have a plan to restore much more by then. We had a walking tour, ending up at the Mendelssohn Museum, and then broke up into two groups – one went to watch the Germany-Brazil soccer match on a big screen in the main town square, while the other group went to the train station for shopping. We intentionally left the soccer game during halftime to avoid any crowd problems, but there were no real problems in town. The crowd was noisy and disappointed, but was pretty much gone by evening. I think they did not expect to win unless it went to a shootout, and as soon as Brazil scored everyone knew the game was over. We had down time in the hotel, more shopping later in the afternoon, and then went out to dinner at the finest restaurant in Leipzig. The hotels and restaurants so far have been exceptional. |
| June 29, 2002 | Everything is going very well. The group is handling the differences in culture and food, although some are taking to the food better than others. Today we slept in, then travelled two hours to Halle. First we were able to get lunch and browse town, and some of the group visited the Handel Museum. Halle is a largish town, fairly modern, with a large central square. After lunch we took the bus to Pauluskirche for rehearsal and a great concert at 5:00. After a quick cleanup we had dinner at a very nice Greek restaurant and then drove one hour to Leipzig. Now this is a really big city. The hotel is very near the main train station (one of the largest in Europe). Tomorrow is Sunday and most shops are closed by law. However the train station has an exemption to this rule so we have rearranged our day to allow some browsing time after visiting the Battle of Nations monument and a walking tour. Also since tomorrow is the big football match between Germany and Brazil we have planned to spend the later part of the afternoon in the hotel until we are sure that there won't be any major reaction to that game. |
| June 28, 2002 | Wow, what a day. A real challenge getting the equipment to the venue, which was very close to the hotel but in a Cathedral that was only accessable on a very narrow cobblestone road. Our truck could not go there so we had to ferry everything in a Toyota minivan. By the end of the day it was raining so we all got very wet although we managed to keep the instruments dry. Our truck driver is a real hero and all the musicians were great at volunteering and working hard to finish the job. We received many complements on the concert, the manners of the group, and on how fast the orchestra disappeared afterwards. As a reward the church opened up the “Treasury” so that everyone could see the historical treasures they safeguard. One urn they hold is said to be one of those that contained water turned to wine by Jesus. It is made of a single piece of alabaster. |
| June 27, 2002 | Yesterday we toured Eisenach and had our first concert – a great success! Today we moved to Quedlinburg and stopped for several hours in Erfurt for a tour and lunch. This afternoon we need to move the instruments to tomorrow's concert hall (a church) and we hear that this will be very difficult because the truck will not be able to drive on the tiny road from the highway to the church. Instead they will provide a small van to take several trips with the instruments. A new challenge every day! |
| June 24, 2002 | All is well, we're on the bus in Germany heading for Eisenach. No lost kids, no broken instruments (as far as we know now) and everyone is very tired. We are trying hard to stay awake to help get on our new time zone (9 hours later than Seattle). We will check into the hotel around 10:30 PM and then have Barbecue. I'm sure we'll sleep well tonight, and tomorrow will be some sightseeing followed by a rehearsal and our first concert! We've met Sarka (shar-kuh), our courier, Udo (ooh-doh, not you-doh) our bus driver, and Alan (our truck driver). Alan is English and has worked for the London Symphony. Udo is German and speaks no english, but we've had our first lesson in German already from Sarka. Here's a bunch of photos in airports where we did a lot of “hurry-up-and-wait.” The group had a shopping opportunity in London, but just barely time to obtain some Euros in Frankfurt. The weather is beautiful – it's 8:20 pm as I write this and the sun is still warm and no clouds in the sky. Many hot-air balloons in sight and it looks a lot like home. |
| June 24, 2002 | Smooth checkin at the airport with some time to spare before we said our goodbyes. |
| June 23, 2002 | We're finally ready to go, and here are some photos from Sunday's Farewell Concert. I'm sure you will agree that the orchestra sounds wonderful and looks great! We have a very long flight ahead of us, and our first concert is on Wednesday. Thanks to all who came to the concert. |
| June 11, 2002 | No, we haven't left yet. Here are some photos at rehearsal. We have only 2 rehearsals left before we leave, but the orchestra is already sounding great. Stay tuned! |
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Last updated 10/16/02
