3/26/14
What an incredible day!
We started off a little earlier than we preferred (5:30 am)
to get a head start on our way to Austria. I fell asleep on the bus ride, and
when I woke up, I was greeted by those much-sung-about rolling hills of
Austria. For those of you who haven’t been, it’s true: they really are alive. I
was singing the whole way to Melk.
Melk, Austria is a beautiful tiny town. The Melk Monastery
(known in German as “Shtift Melk”) has been in existence for over a thousand
years… there is even a place in the Church that marks 1014 to 2014. Our tour
guide was fantastic as she led us through the history of the Abbey, the
beautiful views of the town, the amazing library, and finally, the breathtaking
church. I finally got to take my “hills
are alive” Sound of Music picture! The
chorus gave an impromptu performance of Ubi
Caritas, as well as the B-Flats, who sang Ave Maria. The acoustics in the church were hauntingly beautiful. I
am Jewish, but I felt holy and blessed to be able to sing in such a venue—even if
our tour guide was the only set of new ears for the performance.
After Melk, we bussed over to Vienna, where we got to walk
around after dinner. The downtown area is gorgeous; the architecture seems to
even be enhanced at night. We went into a spooky church—the biggest church in
Vienna—which had an organ playing throughout our short tour. It felt more like a
haunted house than a church, especially at night.
The highlight of my day, however, was waiting for the subway
back to our hotel. The B-Flats gave their second spontaneous performance today
of Unwritten. I happen to solo for
that song, and smiled cheerily (as did my fellow B-Flats) as passerby whipped
out phones and cameras to record the moment. We can truly sing anywhere!
Tomorrow, we are walking around Vienna some more (in the
daylight), as well as either seeing horses or going to the art museum. We also
have our second to last performance.
Vienna Tomorrow (See you tomorrow—I know, it’s not as good
as BudaBEST),
Erica
The church at Melk
The altar, where the chorus gave a fantastic impromptu performance.
The summer palace for the royal family; Downtown Vienna
This is really stunning. Thanks again for the wonderful blog and fabulous posts.
ReplyDeleteCurtis and Caroline Roberts