First, a 12 hour flight from Denver non-stop to the Munich Airport. A three hour wait in Munich, and then a hop on a puddle jumper that takes you to Vienna, spending another hour and a half on the cramped plane. Another hour passes taking the bus into the heart of Vienna, where the Monarch Band and Choir will discover the beauty and history of Austria.
The minute we stepped foot onto Viennese ground, we immersed ourselves into the majestic history and culture. Even though we had not slept for thirty-six hours, we stuck it out to see an amazing concert performed in traditional dress from Mozart’s era (Mozart is a huge deal in Austria, you can’t walk down the street without seeing someone dressed as him!). After finally getting a few hours of sleep in the Prinz Eugen Hotel, our second day we hit the ground running, spending all morning exploring the plazas and palaces of Vienna with our free time. We even did a little shopping in the cute stores lining the cobblestoned streets. We went on many bus tours, trying to absorb the rich history and grab as many snapshots of the architecture as possible! We even got to take a tour of the Hapsburg Palace (not to metion sing in the beautiful gardens). Sampling gelato, signing in massive cathedrals and generally living it up were all on our agenda. On Easter monday, the Choir performed at the
Stift Melk Abbey en route to Salzburg from Vienna. The abbey was massive and amazingly gorgeous, with acute attention to every detail interworked throughout the sanctuary.
Singing in beautiful cathedrals was a major theme to the Choirs’ experience. The echos made from the faraway walls gave the sound a deep, resounding and spiritual feel. The awe that we felt performing in these sacred places that were ancient and filled with history may have been the most gratifying feeling ever. We even got to sing at an old folks home, brightening their day and ours simulteanously.
The best part of the entire trip came to us the day before we left for America again, leaving us with the most perfect feeling to end the trip. Our choir director had wanted us to perform at a normal elementary school in Salzburg. After we performed, we got to go around and meet the kids. Through some broken English/German, we communicated quite well with the kids and had an absolute blast! none of the kids wanted us to leave, asking for our e-mails and begging for us to autograph pieces of paper. We over extened our stay by two hours, leaving the teachers a little grumpy but the kids elated. We were so sad to leave them, but we couldn’t have had a more wonderful experience to end our action-packed trip.
The trip brought so many new emotions and friends to my life, it is one of the more defining experieces of my life. It changed my whole outlook on life, brightening my day on even the smallest thought.
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