163 - To France ~ Europe Day 7

June 6^th, 2011 – In France!

                I am currently in bed, looking out of glass doors that open to a balcony with a view of the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance!  J

                Most of today was – unfortunately – traveling.  We left the Hotel Montana in Limburg, Germany at approximately 6:30AM, which meant rise and shine at 5.  C’est trés difficile!  A lot of us, maybe all of us, dozed on the 5 hour bus ride. 

Sleepy sleepy... I got so many excellently awful sleeping pictures.  haha.  Morning people ftw!

We crossed through Luxembourg and made our first rest stop just inside France, where many had an early lunch at about 10:30AM.  There was a small store there where I got a pair of painting reproductions for either Dad or Em (depending on what else I find).  Driving recommenced… I slept, listened to my iPod, laughed, and worked on catching up with entries.



These are our "Yay we're in France!" faces.

                One of the most interesting things about the drive were the decorations along the side of the freeway we were on – made to give drivers something to see and keep them alert.  Most were either poles or layouts of flat shapes (circles, squares, or triangles) and spray painted in bright colors, usually arranged in a rainbow pattern.  Didn't get a good picture of those... oops.

Here, let me placate you with a through-the-bus-window view of the French countryside!

                We made it into the city with little time to spare before our concert in the St. Madeleine Cathedral.  It is Catholic (as all are, unless otherwise noted, in France) and elaborately decorated.  The overall style is that of ancient Greece – inside and out.  It is designed to appear like a Greek temple from the outside, with giant columns and flying buttresses and stern white statues inside to boot. 

Ignoring the tow truck and the bit of bus in the photo, this is the front of St. Madeleine!  Really gorgeous flowers are just behind those poor peoples' cars.

And from the back.  Our entrance was on the side.

I’m not really sure how I liked it; it was impressive, but the giant statue of angels dancing around pregnant Mary up behind the altar, as well as the looming eyeless statues inset in the walls seemed excessive to me and somewhat unnerving. 

The concert was somewhat unnerving as well – we were so tired!  At least “Pacific Sanctus” (which most of us had been singing and/or playing since Christmas time) seemed to go well and received enthused applause from an otherwise rather reserved audience.  I get that there were probably plenty of confused tourists … people would get up and leave in the middle of our set… at least, we all decided to think that they were tourists and not bored French people… *le sigh*

Once all of that was over (thank the Lord), we went as a group to a mall the Galerie Lafayette for dinner.  The whole mall took up multiple buildings and was giant, designer, gourmet, and expensive.  There was essentially a gourmet grocery store in the middle of everything, which is where my group headed for food.  Cue chaos!  I managed to find pizza –covered in olives and insanely good – and guide a couple people through the process.  My eensy amount of French is menial, but functional! We also got some chocolates (mine are souvenirs for Mom and Haley) and macaroons (for me!) which were delicious. 

This may look like normal nutella.  But it is in fact GIANT MONSTER NUTELLA.  Seriously - huge!



Yay macaroons!  I got passion fruit, hazelnut, and some other chocolate kind, I think.

Tried an ATM and it didn’t work, which makes me a little nervous, but I will try another one tomorrow.  We gathered outside the cathedral at 7:15pm to head back to the bus.  We craned our necks all over to catch the sights (including the Arc de Triomphe) as we passed through the city on our 30 minute ride to our hotel. 

L'Arc de Triomphe - sights of Paris!  :D

Oh my gosh the hotel!  J  We are in a triple again with Jessie (yay)!  There is 1 bedroom, a large living room with two pull out beds, a kitchenette, and a balcony with a view of Paris!  The weird part is that the toilet is behind one door and the sink and showers (yes, there are 2 showers) are in an adjacent room.  A water closet?  Just another reminder that we’re in Europe! 

A hazy, zoomed-in view from our balcony.  Why hello there, Eiffel Tower!

An example of our general excitement, taken by Amanda.  :)

We all got generally excited and wanted to go to the pool, but it was closed.  The group hoping to go to the pool still wanted to hang out and some folks thought there was somewhere nearby where we could find some wine to take back to the rooms.  We walked to town, in the end, but things were either closed or closing.  There’s not a whole lot around to begin with.  However, it was a nice evening stroll.  While we were standing outside the hotel, we met a woman named Ursula who was walking her dog.  She ended up talking with our group and gave us some “tour” information about the town our hotel is actually in.  I don’t recall the French name, but the translation is along the lines of “Quarry on the Seine” (as in rock quarry).  It’s where a lot of the stone for various places in and around Paris comes from, which was interesting to learn.  She was really wonderful and we’re hoping she’ll be able to be at our St. Severin’s concert tomorrow.  When the group found out that where we were originally headed was closed, most turned back, but I spent a bit more time enjoying an evening walk with a small group before we all decided to turn around.  Once back in the hotel room, we all basically passed out – long day! 

Looking forward to Versailles and another cathedral concert tomorrow!

Love&Harmony,

                Erin

162 - The Festival ~ Europe Day 6!

June 5^th, 2011 – The Festival

                In all honesty, I am really writing the entry for the 5^th on Monday the 6^th.  It was another very long day; we weren’t even on our way back to the hotel until midnight!  But it was a great day.  J We were all happy to have a more leisurely morning, as COW didn’t have to compete until around 1pm.  We left the hotel at about 11:30, which was nice – er, nibes (joke by Anthony and Luke, perpetuated by Kelvin to annoy Stephanie… yeah, don’t worry about it.  :P)  haha. 

                The storms started again, as in torrential downpour of epic proportions (you could shower outside if you had soap and didn’t mind cold water), right before we were scheduled to go on.  Consequently, and to Dr. Nance’s relief, we were delayed for probably about 30 minutes.  When it was finally time for us to sing, our performance of “Jubilate Deo” was probably one of the best we had ever had!  The storm picked up during “Oh Shenandoah,” but we kept going.  However, the judges had trouble hearing it and called for a time out.  We sat around onstage for at least another 10 minutes.  The audience was wonderful in spite of our circumstances … some man even provided about 20 waters for us!  (We weren’t sure if he purchased them or what, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless!)  When the rain and thunder finally eased up, we sang Shenandoah again and ended with “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.”  It was one of our best renditions, in terms of dynamic contrast and tempo!  Woot!  J

                From there we hurried off to the men’s competition.  We missed most of their competitors in order to grab lunch, but we caught part of the Louisville men’s performance, which was impressive (they were the other American group present at the festival).  Our men were fantastic and on fire!!  So proud!  J

Woohoo PLU!

                After the men finished, we changed out of choir gear into normal clothes to wait for the awards ceremony, which started at 5:30pm.  Steph, Kelvin, Lauren, and I grouped together, got some ice cream (choco-chip this time around), and killed time with a game of Phase 10 – so glad I thought to bring it! 

We are having so. much. fun.  But really!

A surprise joust to pass the time!

We ended up starting the COW table, situated right at the front of the stage and incidentally right next to Louisville.  The tent became kind of a wild ruckus as the anticipation mounted.  A lot of people were on the tipsy side…



So you can get an idea of the crowd in the tent.

We were all ecstatic when COW won 2^nd place overall for mixed though!  The best part of the evening was when our men tied for first with a group from Taipei!  We were sort of friends with Louisville (whose men got 3^rd… their mixed group won 1^st), but it was nice to beat them at something because they are technically perfect, in music-speak.  Many hugs and cheers ensued!


Woohoo!  Second place!



We we we so excited! (Yes, I just did that)



We are manly men, men in choir!

                We changed into choir polos at the house where we were invited to keep our things (#2), and were on our own for dinner.  Most of the choir went to a pizza and kebob shop in the neighborhood.  Found diet (or “light”) Coke and mushroom pizza which was so delicious! 

Outside of the shop.

Yay dinner!  Tasted better than it looks in this photo... haha.

The shop was quite small, so most of us sat around outside, laughing, eating, and singing.  After dinner, I moseyed through the neighborhood back to the festival grounds with my friends Bryan, Jason, Sam, and Kim. 



I told you my imaginary cat is real!!!  (Don't worry about it if you don't get it.  :P)



Tasted some of their beer, and actually found that it tasted okay!  (No judging, please!)  We spent a lot of time just hanging out with various people outside the main tent.  Bryan and Jason photo-bombed some Slovenian group’s picture, and a rather tipsy friendship was born.  Haha.  Also did a lot of scatting/goofy singing with Bryan, Jason, and Julian – good times had by all!

Photo-bombing friendships... who knew?

                We warmed up to sing for the winners’ concert at about 10:30pm – we were on around 11:15.  The men sang La Cucaracha, we sang “My Soul’s…” together and did “A Mighty Fortress” as our encore.  PLUtonic also sang, about 2 or 3 groups later (including our U of E friends!) and did “Staying Alive” with “One Day” as their encore.  

The men's group from Taipei who tied with our men for first!



U of E rockin' it out again!



PLUtonic Stayin' Alive.  :)

Then we vamoosed!  Everyone was exhausted, but happy.  J  Steph and Jessie showered while I packed up.  Bed time was 1:30, with my alarm set for 5AM so I could get up with enough shower time… ugh!

… I miss the festival!

Love&Harmony,

Erin

161 - The Festival ~ Europe Day 5!

June 4^th, 2011 – The Festival

                We spent most of – all of – the day at the festival. 



Hanging out in some nice shade to avoid the humid heat.

The women competed and ended up with 4^th place overall and a silver certificate!  PLUtonic tied for first in the vocal jazz (and other) category with a group from the University of the East in the Philippines.  

Not excited at all. ;)

They were amazing and incredibly nice!  We shared a concert with them at a church in Bad Camberg – a meeting of East and West, per say :P.  Their music was amazing and spiritually moving – the Spirit was there.  The church congregation loved both groups so much!  [On Sunday, the church actually took up a collection for us and raised around 400 euro for everyone to offset our costs a bit.  They want us to come back too!  Haha J] 


The church ceiling.  It was cool!



U of E rockin' it out!

We ate a great dinner, served by those helping put the concert on, and had a fairly successful concert.  The coolest part (besides the music) were the flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder that permeated the concert… the storms started up mid-afternoon and kept going all night.  I guess storms like that are not uncommon for early summer in Germany… SO AWESOME!

                On a musical note – ha ha – we had pitch pipe malfunctions galore!  During the women’s set for our competition and when the men sang at our evening concert… they were dealt with gracefully and humorously, of course.  J

                On a food note, hazelnut ice cream is delicious (sorry Steph)!  :D

Love&Harmony,

Erin

160 - Limburg ~ Europe Day 4!

June 3, 2011 – In Germany: Limburg

Highlights of today (as it is late and I am tired) –

-          Free time for shopping/lunch in the city of Limburg an der Laun (a river)

o   Lunch was bratwurst on a roll w/ some tasty spicy mustard for lunch and Lift (a carbonated apple juice) – delicious!



Our lunch/exploring Limburg group!  Yay food!

o   2 young German boys were near us at lunch and were (probably) making fun of us; they misquoted Star Wars to us when they found out we were American “Luke I am your dad!” and Lauren scared them silly when she spoke back to them in German.  The shock on their faces was priceless!

o   Also successfully used an ATM and found batteries for my camera!

-          After lunch was a reception for Harmonie festival participants in the Rat House (like the city hall) with the mayor. 



Of course, the moment called for a quick choral exchange with the University of the East - more on them later!

-          Then came the walking tour of the city, culminating in a stop at the 13^th C (I think?) cathedral – AMAZING!

o   The best part of the day was singing “Ave Maria” (T.L. Victoria) and “Beautiful Savior” in the cathedral … absolutely beautiful.

The outside of the cathedral.  Wish I had thought to record our singing!

-          Later, we sang for about 30 minutes in a mall as a part of promoting the festival … that wasn’t as fun.  It didn’t help that we had to wait longer than planned for the bus in the sunshine after that.  Everyone was tired and too hot!

-          Dinner was at the festival – bratwurst and fries; also tried some grapefruit beer.  It was tasty, but that’s probably because it was a lot more grapefruit than beer.  Hah.  Lots of goofy pictures ensued while waiting for the concert to start.



Feeling judged?

 

Not okay!



-          Most of the evening performances were amazing, but the tent was hot and humid, which made it hard to enjoy it all.  But still, saw some fantastic choirs and folk dance groups.  The one that sticks in my mind was the Latvian girls dance troupe.  Their high-energy routine was jaw-dropping.



So fantastic!



Girls and PLUtonic compete tomorrow!

Love&Harmony,

Erin

159 - Limburg ~ Europe Day 3!

June 2, 2011 – In Germany: Limburg

Went from Bad Kreuznach to Limburg today.  2 hours of driving, split up by a 2 hour (or so) boat cruise on the Rhine River! 



Our boat!  (Technically taken after we got off, but I thought you'd want to see it.)



And we're off!

It was a beautiful day – nothing but blue sky and sunshine!  Of course, I forgot sunscreen … and my face shows it.  Oh well!  The river and towns around it were gorgeous.  Green trees carpet the countryside and castles dot the cliffs above the houses.  It’s a magnificent sight.  We all enjoyed spending time together on the boat, experiencing the tourist atmosphere.  PLUtonic sang a couple songs, and we sang “My Soul’s Been Anchored” by Moses Hogan.  Despite some confused looks, everyone seemed to enjoy the impromptu performances.

 

Yep, that's a castle.  Nbd.



Having tons o' fun!

We stopped in the town of Bacharach with just under an hour for lunch.  I ended up with my friend Tyler in a small café for paninis, which were quite yummy.  J  The town was a postcard!  It’s hard to describe: cobblestone streets, leaning old buildings, a gorgeous gothic chapel … I want to go back so badly!



A snippet of the town of Bacharach!

We are staying at the Hotel Montana, which is a short drive outside of both Limburg and Lindenholtzhausen, (where the festival will be held).  Steph and I were given a third roommate – our good friend Jessie!  We’re excited.  :)  Tonight we had dinner at our hotel and sang around 10:30pm at the opening concert for the Harmonie Festival.  It was incredible to see how diverse the choirs are!  This is such an experience.  And COW did so well!!!  “O Day Full of Grace” in particular was the best ever!  Dr. Nance cried and when we got out of the tent, we all jumped into each others’ arms and had a giant group hug.  Nights like this are why I LOVE choir!!! 



I am so excited now for the rest of the festival – I think we’re all lifted in spirit about it.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow: a tour of the town and just getting to enjoy the festival for a day before we start competing. 

Love&Harmony,

Erin



158 - Bad Kreuznach ~ Europe Day 2!

June 1, 2011 – In Germany: Bad Kreuznach 

Bad Kreuznach is a quaint little town, clean, with cobblestone streets and brick buildings.  I’ve been struck by the strangeness of seeing 21^st C life happening in the midst of medieval architecture.  Today, we got up around 7:30, had breakfast (which was SO GOOD!) in the hotel by 9, and had a walking tour of the city for about an hour and a half.  Our guide was full of political information – past and present – about Germany and it was really quite interesting!



Our guide, telling us about a statue. 



The town is picturesque and beautiful.  The old part was my favorite – it is more quiet and quaint.  I could picture myself living here!  J 



What a lot of the buildings look like - so lovely!

We had free time from noon to 5, so I wanted the town and ate lunch with various COW people.  Spent my first euros on postcards and a sandwich.  Haha.  I’m glad to know “Danke” (thank you).  I spent the rest of my free time in our hotel’s thermal baths, which are warm and salty.  It felt nice to relax (oh, yeah!  I’m on vacation!) 

We had dinner in the hotel (just as good as breakfast) and then had a choir concert in St. Paul’s Church here in town. 

Hey look!  It's us!

It went well overall and the audience was extremely warm and appreciative.  A reception followed – German pretzels (yum!) and wine.  Had my first!  Haha.  Tried a glass of red and a glass of white.  The area is known for its wine, the white in particular and, despite my limited experience, it was quite good!

Here’s to new experiences and great music!

Love&Harmony,

Erin

157 - Off We Go! Europe Day 1

May 31, 2011 – In Germany!

I’m overseas!!  Farthest I’ve ever been away from home in my life!  Today (and technically yesterday) has been an exhausting one of basically travel.  

Waiting to leave at SeaTac!  So excited!

We left SeaTac at 6:45pm on a 9 hour flight to Heathrow Airport in London and arrived there around 11:50.  I didn’t really sleep at all – dozed here and there, but a comfortable position evaded me (surprise, surprise). 

The second flight (London to Frankfurt) was delayed for a bit in both boarding and take-off, but it was just an hour long in terms of air time.  Then we had an hour long bus ride to our current town – Bad Kreuznach – and our spa hotel, the Domina. It’s pretty schnazzy.  J

Dinner was in a local restaurant at about 8:30 this evening.  We got lost walking there for a bit (thank goodness for our fully-fluent-in-German British tour guide Jenny!) The meal was 3 courses of what I guess is traditional German fare.  First course, a to die for creamy asparagus soup; second, melt-in-your-mouth meatloaf and spatzle (German pan noodles); and dessert was a strange but delicious strawberry-filled dumpling thing under a warm, sweet cream sauce.

The best part was that Steph could eat it!  :D  Yay for our first meal abroad!

I’m falling asleep writing this, so now it’s time to go…

Gute Nacht!

Love&Harmony,

Erin