Italy

Zurich behind us I found myself in Genoa, although not really in it. The hotel chosen for us was a good half hour travelling from the centre. The management and arrangements were passed on to another group for these two concerts in Italy. Genoa is quite a rough place but quite pretty and full of life. After well over an hour searching the town centre on palm sunday we found a place to eat a pizza.

The next afternoon was a little more successful, with me and the pianist visiting the aquarium, the largest in Europe. The concert that evening was in the most impressive theatre. The stage and area above stretched upwards by about 14 storeys and downwards about 5 below our feet. And a really big hall.

The next evening we played in Bologna, which is a pleasant place but most were too tired to explore, my memory of the hall and the concert are quite sketchy, I think that it may have something to do with the 5 O Clock start the next morning to reach Bologna Airport for a flight shortly after 8 to Kazakhstan

Our Parents art in Zurich

After another mammoth bus journey I found myself, for the first time, in Switzerland. We have reahed the stage in a tour where people often have to ask "hang on... what country are we in" and I start getting strange looks for talking German in an Italian shop ect.

I was distinctinctly looking forward to arriving in Zurich as it was planned that kid sister would be visiting. The meeting happened without incident until kid sister said to me "I am really sorry" and I saw our parents grinning at me from across the hotel foyer. This was a pleasant surprise indeed, but not the first time the parents have snuck up on me on a tour. In 2005 they appeared in Berlin at the end of a 10 hour train journey and gave me the a little shock.

Our Parents buying me dinner:

Kid Sis and Brand New Classical Buff:

Kid sis was accompanied by a friend from college and it would turn out to be her first classical concert, I hope a rather good introduction to the genre? We went for a nice italian meal near their hotel in the old town before I had to run and change for the show. They then (eventually) worked out how the tram worked and joined me briefly in my hotel for a drink before saying goodbye. A unexpected and fleeting visit, but one that gave me much joy, I thank all four of you for visiting, and I hope you enjoyed your time, even though I was probably phased out from too much travelling.


After one night in a brand new (2 weeks old) and really pleasant hotel we left for Italy again, and less than 24 hours after crossing the border we said goodbye to Switzerland.

Travels in Foreign Lands

This is the view from a Mc Donalds somewhere in Austria on the way to Bolzano
"Would you like some amazing view with your cheeseburger, sir?"

First of all, apologies for the lateness of this post, also check earlier posts for photos.

Having left Garmisch-Partenkirchen our first port of call was a familiar place, Bolzano in the Italian Alps, A city which has been changing hands between Germany and Italy for hundreds of years. Therefore they haven't really decided which culture and language to use. It is nevertheless a pretty, energetic and friendly place.

View along the river in Bolzano:

This section of a tour is always hectic, often travelling and performing on the same day, which means that there are some citys on this tour which there is not much to say about. In Bolzano we did have a little time to convene with some old friends in our rival orchestra; the Gustov Mahler Youth Orchestra who were resident in Bolzano before setting off on their own tour.

Another highlight was being taken, with the flutes and other Irish people for dinner with Sir James. Expensive Italian food, fine wine and lots of anecdotal stories were on the menu.

One concert and ten hour bus journey and we found ourselves in Wiesbaden, Germany. Here we had our first 5 Star hotel of the tour as well as the nicest hall of the tour. I finally managed to get a hair cut, but achieved very little else. For the entire travelling part of the tour, the only effective survival method for all but the craziest (lithuanian) people is the afternoon nap, so I had one of them instead of exploring this pretty, but quite industrial city.

Final update before tour.....

Grüß Gott......

Last nights concert went very well and if you turned on the news at the right time you would have seen the Berlin group playing at the big conference treaty signing thingy. Tonight we perform Don Juan, the Rosenkavalier Suite, Ravels' Rapshodie Espagnol and The Nielson Flute Concerto (quite a sweet concert concert for the horns, as those of you in the know might realise)

After a week and a half I still never cease to be taken away by the beauty of Garmisch.... Although the mountains remain the same shape, they rarely look the same for more than a day. After 5 days of snow I am now wearing a T-shirt, even as the snow still melts on the side of the road. The sky is now so clear you feel like you could reach out and touch mountains over 10 miles away. Two days ago I was making snow angels on a balcony after a sauna.....

Tomorrow morning we leave this town, I am looking forward to reconviening with kid sis in Zurich in a few days, now I must go pick up my washing and have a nap, tonight is a big show and tomorrow will be a long day, I believe we are taking a bus through the Alps and into Italy, our destination tomorrow is another beautiful town called Bolzano. A place which already holds memories from previous trips, which reminds me that I should buy some shorts before we leave.

By the way, that little piece of German at the top is the typical Bavarian greeting, literally meaning "Hello God" or "Hello, God!" im not quite sure....

Ice hockey, diving boards and chamber music.

Since the last update there has been a lot of snow, snow ball conditions have been very good and the piste for arse sledding has been exceptional. It has also been quite cold outside so some time has been spent investigating some of the indoor activities available in the town. As an old Winter Olympics city there are many resourses for those sort of activities. Swimming has been a regular on the menu and ice skating (and ice gnomb racing) kept me very busy on thursday evening and the memories are being kept fresh by two nice blisters today.

On Friday the local ice hockey team were playing in the Play-Offs for the 2007 German League. That was an amazing event, really good atmosphere and I hadn't realised what a quick and exciting game ice hockey is. What I noticed was how much interplay there was between the announcer and the fans. whenever he said anything the spectaters would reply in perfect unison. Whenever Garmisch scored (they won 7-0) a giant flag would appear at the bottom of the fans stand and would be spread out by the fans until it covered the entire stand, quite an impressive sight in a big stadium.

Yesterday about a third of the orchestra headed for Berlin and we were left here preparing a chamber programme for tonight (Sunday). Tomorrow is the full concert and then on Tuesday morning we head to Italy.

Wedding Bells

On Wednesday the orchestra witnessed a first, the marraige of two current members during a tour. Erik and Laura were married in the Richard Strauss Instituit in Garmisch on a cool, sunny morning. As well as friends and family, members of the orchestra were allowed to attend and many people came as the couple have a long history with the orchestra.

The wedding march was played by four horns (we even got a mention in a local newspaper).

That evening a buffet was provided for the whole orchestra and the drinks were free. 280 liters of beer, several hundred shots, some cheeky scandal and a nightclub in town later and everyone was feeling a bit worn out, but a lovely night was had by all and we all give the lucky viola and harp playing couple our very best wishes.

First Snow

View from Hotel room window:
Same view the next morning:

Here is my first update, we arrived in Garmisch almost a week ago, I had forgotten how beautiful this place is, I can see the Zugspitz, the tallest mountain in Germany, from my hotel room window. The weather until today has been gorgeous and warm and just on cue today I woke up to find it snowing, once the clouds lifted this morning I saw that the mountains have changed their close and were wearing white to celebrate a new week.

As we did last year a select group of us have rented bikes, the best and only way to get around this city quickly, a few trips up the neighbouring valleys and mountain tracks have produced some spectacular views and shortness of breath, and a nice graze on my shoulder and hand from when my front wheel forgot to do its job on some gravel. I will work out how to upload pics soon I hope.

Rehearsals are going very well, the sectionals have finished and the whole orchestra have been together for two days now. I am finding my feet as the new official fourth horn of EUYO, every horn on the course auditioned for high horn so someone had to take on this different and sometimes challenging role. I am enjoying it immensely and the horn section is as good as any I have played with in this orchestra.

I am not with a small group who are making a little extra stop in Berlin but instead will be playing in a chamber music concert here before we embark on the quite busy tour schedule.

So, so far it is going really well, must go now to pick up my washing, have a hair cut at the Frissuer and dry clean my suit. Next update very shortly, there is a lot to tell.