Today we went to Prague. Although the day started very stressfully (getting the wrong train ticket and then almost missing the train….) we finally made it and while it ended up costing more than anticipated, it was worth every koruna. We took out 1,000 of them and spent that in a flash. It felt strange to see such large numbers pop on the register when we bought stuff! We went across the Charles Bridge which was HUGE, packed with tourists and had a zillion statues. From there we went to the Prague Castle. While there, we visited St. Vitus Cathedral which was huge and amazing with the most gorgeous stained glass. This cathedral was so big that it had over 10 altars inside! Plus there were graves all over and a crypt. I was TOTALLY in my element there and verging on giddy. I love love LOVE cathedrals and the history and mystery and all of that. LOVE! We also went in the castle itself as well as the basilica of St. George. I could have stayed 10 days here. It was all full of European goodness. Seriously. This would most certainly be on my list of top five favorite cities in Europe and I hope I can go back one day and spend more time. Rather than rambling on and trying to express with words what I’m experiencing, I’ll let the pictures do the talking. It was a VERY windy day, so we struggled to get pictures of us looking halfway decent. HAHA. (Don’t worry… when we got home, we found ice cream)
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Prague Blog
Gate to Prague Castle
Castle guard sporting his shades
St. Vitus Cathedral
View from the castle
Street musicians
Delicious traditional Prague something or other, called Tredlnik
Statue in front of museum of King Wenceslaus. Yes, THE King Wenceslaus!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Silbermann and Strawberries
We began today with some wonderfully delicious Amerikaners. One of my favorite treats here ever. YUMMY.
Then we headed to Nassau so I could play another organ. (Silbermann, II/19) When we arrived, we saw a man in the tower ringing the bell because it was noon. I loved this quaint little town. It was the sort of little town how you would imagine Germany was years and years ago. It made me wish that I was born in Germany several hundred years ago. I could just eat it up. It makes me so so happy to be in these little towns. I can’t even describe it. Anyway, the elder came and let us in and I played for 90 minutes. The pedal board was WIDE and of course no low C sharp. With every organ I play, I can feel my understanding grow and I get more confident in my abilities as an organist. It still is so overwhelming, though. You just get this sense of awe and wonder and feel so inadequate to be sitting on a bench where hundreds of organists have played and you feel like you are becoming one in a long line of organists through the centuries. It’s very humbling and there is this sense of responsibility and the weightiness of it all that settles on you. These organs are DEEP. Even after playing 90 minutes, I had only scratched the surface of all this organ has to offer. I felt like I was living a part of history and the music just came to life as I played it. This music fits so well on these organs. It’s music the way music was meant to be done. Golly. I can’t wrap my mind around it.
After this we drove up the road to the Silbermann museum in Frauenstein. This was chocked full of history and while it was all in German, I could figure some of it out. AND there was a little Silbermann positiv that looked so familiar. Then it dawned on me. We its twin in the crypt of the Bremen Dom. When I went over to read it, I confirmed that this was in fact the case.
When we got home, we went downtown again for more ice cream. And since there was no vanilla at this place, I had to pick out something else, and in honor of Kevin and memory of my first trip to Germany, I ate strawberry. Don’t faint.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Honey, I'm home!
Unlike yesterday, the weather today was not so nice. Chilly, windy and rainy. We didn’t let that stop us from having a good time. We first went to a church in Grosshartmannsdorf. Silbermann organ, II/21. Everything around me disappeared and I just ate up the time with the organ. In fact, when Katie showed me some pictures she had taken, I didn’t recognize where they were from. I had been so mesmerized by the organ I had forgotten to look around the church.
Once finished with this, we ate lunch at a little place and went on to the St. Nikolaikirche in Langhennersdorf. The church, like so many in Germany, was built in sections as they continued to add on to make it bigger. The oldest part dates from the 13th century! It was wonderful and old and had that good smell to it. It was cold and damp inside and I felt so at home there! The organist met us there and while he spoke only little English and I only little German, we got along just fine and it was a delightful time. He led me up these wonderful old stairs to the organ. Hildebrandt, II/21. I played and the organist pulled stops. It was glorious. This organ makes my top 10 list without question. It was intense. These organ builders were truly genius. It is unbelievable. Can’t even wrap your mind around it. And I played this one…. I’m back at it. My touch came back, I listened and controlled the wind and it left me speechless (which is rare!). It is amazing to me how I can be so at home at a place I’ve spent relatively little time in. I just feel so at home with all these organs!
After all this excitement, we wandered the city of Dresden, took a million pictures. Oh, and of course it goes without saying that I ate gelato!
After all this excitement, we wandered the city of Dresden, took a million pictures. Oh, and of course it goes without saying that I ate gelato!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Joys of Dresden
Today was a beautiful warm and sunny day in Germany. We woke up early, said our goodbyes and boarded the train and made our way to the great city of Dresden. Once there, we picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel, The Mezcalero. It was a little strange to walk into the room and feel like we are in Spain. “Bano” was printed on the bathroom door, and I must confess, Spanish is the last language I wanted to see. I’m still trying to figure out German, for crying out loud. Anyway, it’s a nice little place at an amazing price and in a great location. After we were settled, we drove out of the city to the Wegscheider organ workshop. We sat in the garden waiting for the owner to arrive and when he did he and his apprentice from North Carolina showed us around. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. It’s so wonderful to be around people who understand and value good instruments crafted the way they were zillions of years ago. They had a little positiv organ that they let me play. I was in heaven. The trackers came from below so it was unbelievably sensitive.
Then the boss sat us down in his office to chat, which was wonderful. He asked what my interests were and where I had played, etc. etc. When he told me about a nearby church that had meantone, my eyes popped out of my head. He laughed and said he hadn’t been there in years, but still had the key and “come. We must go if you have time.” Um, hello! I ALWAYS have time to play German organs… especially meantone. So we drove a short way to the Kirche Wilschdorf and I played awhile. No C# in the low octave and out of tune reeds, but the rest was wonderful. It felt sooooooooo good to be back on such an instrument. Good to have feeling under my fingers and be able to connect to the instrument. Where you aren’t sure where you end and the organ begins. I was a bit rough and out of practice (after all, I don’t have instruments like this to practice on in the States) but I knew it would come back quickly.
Then the boss sat us down in his office to chat, which was wonderful. He asked what my interests were and where I had played, etc. etc. When he told me about a nearby church that had meantone, my eyes popped out of my head. He laughed and said he hadn’t been there in years, but still had the key and “come. We must go if you have time.” Um, hello! I ALWAYS have time to play German organs… especially meantone. So we drove a short way to the Kirche Wilschdorf and I played awhile. No C# in the low octave and out of tune reeds, but the rest was wonderful. It felt sooooooooo good to be back on such an instrument. Good to have feeling under my fingers and be able to connect to the instrument. Where you aren’t sure where you end and the organ begins. I was a bit rough and out of practice (after all, I don’t have instruments like this to practice on in the States) but I knew it would come back quickly.
From there we went to the hotel, changed, and went to see an opera, which was modern so not my favorite, but still good. Once it was done, we walked back to our hotel enjoying gelato and the warm summer European evening. I laid in bed a long time, unable to sleep because I was just too full of joy!! Organ workshop, playing an organ, gelato, being in Europe…. Sigh. It’s that deep joy that wells up inside of you until you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and you think that surely you must be living in a fairy tale. Except you are living real life, and life couldn’t possibly get any better.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Germany, take two
We enjoyed a leisurely morning in Chicago on the 27th, but we SHOULD HAVE BEEN WANDERING THE STREETS OF BERLIN!!! We went back to O’Hare and got on a flight that thankfully made it all the way to Frankfort, then made our connecting flight to Berlin where we landed at 8:30AM on the 28th. HURRAY! We walked to the SELK church where we were staying, left our stuff and walked around looking for a map and Starbucks. We met up with another college friend, James, who is studying in Berlin for 2 months this summer. We met around 2:00 and sat around talking and then went downtown and visited lots of tourist attractions. Then, Manfred called and met up to join us. We all had ice cream and walked around the city a bit more. After that, we sat outside along a river and visited while the guys enjoyed a beer, Katie enjoyed a glass of wine, and I enjoyed good conversation. Manfred then got on the train to head home and Katie, Chris, James and I headed to see the Berlin Dom, which I also saw last year.
We didn’t go in, but it is still amazing to look at from the outside. By this point, we were feeling the effects of jet lag and arrived back at the church around 11:00 and were in bed by midnight. It was that strange feeling of total exhaustion. I left Chicago at 2:30, didn’t sleep on the plane, arrived in Germany and spend a jam packed day touring. And, must I say, it feels so good to be back. So very, very good. Now I just need to get reacquainted with these old historic organs and life will be perfect.
We didn’t go in, but it is still amazing to look at from the outside. By this point, we were feeling the effects of jet lag and arrived back at the church around 11:00 and were in bed by midnight. It was that strange feeling of total exhaustion. I left Chicago at 2:30, didn’t sleep on the plane, arrived in Germany and spend a jam packed day touring. And, must I say, it feels so good to be back. So very, very good. Now I just need to get reacquainted with these old historic organs and life will be perfect.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Destination.... Chicago?
Today was the day I have been waiting for since I landed back in America last June. Today I was going back to Germany. Or so I thought. This year, I am going with my friends from college, Katie and Chris. We all met at the air port. No problem. We checked our luggage. No problem. We got our tickets. Small problem: they mixed up our seats and my vegetarian meal. They resolved that, thank goodness. We got on the plane and waited for the clear. Big problem: the flaps weren’t floppy and they had to repair them. Two hours later we were given the go ahead and took off. An hour or so later, we were in the air. HUGE PROBLEM: one of the motors quit and they were operating off a generator. They told us we would be returning to Chicago. We got back to O’Hare and needed to land. Biggest problem of all. See, since we had a full tank of fuel, we were overweight to land. So, as Chicago neared all I could see was the flashing lights of ambulances and fire trucks on either side of the runway “just as a precaution”. It was a hard landing. Hard as in you could feel the thud of the land and wondered if we’d stop before plowing through the airport. Hard as in this meant no Germany for me today. We rebooked for tomorrow and headed for my parents house for the night. So, I’m still in America, and not too happy about it.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
One Week
In one week, I will be boarding a plane and going back. I cannot sleep at night. The music is running through my head without stopping. Yes, I'm going back.
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