Friday, June 28, 2013
Strasbourg, France and then home to friends!
Today we got to go to our third country on our trip through
Germany, to France! It was filled with
enchanting architecture, delicious pastries, and rain. Sadly, it rained most of the time we were in
the old city of Strasbourg in Alsace region, but it never seemed to affect our
excitement in being in a new country.
We arrived in France with our rain coats on and umbrellas
open and began walking toward the cathedral.
Every corner we turned seemed to make our jaws drop even more in awe as
one site was more beautiful than another.
We came upon the Cathedral of Our
Lady of Strasbourg with its Gothic architecture and high ceilings, detailed
interior along with multi-colored stain-glassed windows. We walked through the church admiring all the
statutes and other art works but the astronomical clock was my favorite. All the different zodiac signs lined the rim
of this large clock with the solar system in the middle showing how all the
signs lined up with our sky.
We then went on a boat tour through the canals of this
marvelous city. Though it was raining,
you could still make out the buildings of Strasbourg through our glass-covered
board, listening to random stories of the past.
The strangest story was heard was about a monk who got stuck in the
frame of a window when there was a fire and caused the death of twenty
people. This was all because he could
not fit through a window.
After the boat tour we went to an Alsatian restaurant which
had all our taste buds wanting even more though we were all full! We ended our visit to France by walking
through the town window shopping and laughing as the sun began to peer through
the lurking gray clouds.
We returned to school where we met our host families and returned
to their homes. There Breadwoman (Deborah)
and I played board games and ate chocolate until neither of us could keep our
eyes open any longer. It is sad to think
we have to leave but today made me realize that I will definitely come back so
I can see all the new friends I have made along with the ones I have made
stronger bonds with and to visit all the sites I have seen and see more of the
wonderful country of Germany and its neighboring nations.
Eliana
Eliana
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25th
The Rhine River begins in the Swiss Alps, flows into Lake Constance
located in the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg, and then flows west
towards France. It makes a sharp turn
north at the “knee bend” of the Rhine.”
This spot is located at the three corners of France, Germany and the
tiny neutral nation of Switzerland. Organized
by our gracious hosts, this one-day excursion to Basel, Switzerland, “the center
on the fringe,” was a delightful complement to our school visit.
After riding for an hour on the Duetsche Bahn, our
introduction to Basel began with a ferry crossing of the Rhine River. Our ferry had been “wool bombed,” an
expression used to describe the knitted blanket created by city artisans to
cover the rooftop of the ferry. We
encountered both multi-colored and black-and-white covered ferries, such an
unusual sight! A fellow passenger on the
ferry asked us to sing our national anthem which we all did. We then disembarked and climbed the hill into
the center of the most important cultural center of Switzerland.
Our guided tour began at the Tinguely Fountain which was
constructed from industrial machine parts in 1977 by Swiss sculptor Jean
Tinguely. Our guide then shared the
origins of this well-preserved medieval city, pointing out three gates which still
remain of the original seven constructed in 1376 after the Basel
Earthquake. The city is full of
Protestant churches as it was one of the original cities which embraced the
Reformation. We visited the Munster
Cathedral built of local red sandstone and covered with polished green and
white tiles. It closely resembled the
cathedral in Freiburg which we had visited the previous day. We then headed toward the Rathaus, also built
of this red sandstone and covered with frescoes of life in the city over the
ages.
The food we experienced was tasty and authentic. We were treated to a typical Swiss lunch of
soup, salad and several choices of entrees.
I picked Rosti, a Swiss dish made of potatoes, onions and pears. Simply delicious! Most especially since the weather had turned
unseasonably chilly and we were quite cold!
After browsing the shops, we headed back to Freiburg where
Bullis students were met by their host families with open arms. We look forward
to another day of adventure and hospitality in this most gem of a city,
Freiburg!
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Saturday, June 22 (Berlin)
As a musician there are great artistic moments that inspire
and inform our imaginations and give birth to our ever expanding aesthetic. Sometimes these come in the form of a project
on which we work but mostly they are given to us in the gift of a performance. I am confident when I say our experience on
Saturday evening was transformative for all of us.
Traveling by S-Bahn, we headed west to the 1936 Olympic Stadium, departed the train and walked down Jesse Owens Boulevard. Our purpose was to attend a
performance given by the Berlin Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic), one of
the world’s premier orchestras. As the
music teacher, I was beyond thrilled to finally have the opportunity to hear
this famed ensemble that I studied in college but I must admit I was skeptical
that kids would share my enthusiasm.
Actually, I thought we might be greeted with a traditional eye roll and
a joint petition to leave at intermission.
Once we had arrived at Waldbüne (Woodland Stage), an
original amphitheater of the Olympic complex, we were amazed by the size of the
audience. The concert was completely
sold out to a house of 22,000 and so we made our way to section K, found our
seats and nestled in for the evening.
Being American, we of course chuckled at the notion of getting a crowd
of this size to be quiet for this performance, noting that at our school it is
impossible for our audiences to comply with a no cell phone policy, we could
not imagine that 22,000 people would ever be quiet for a two hour concert. We were sorely wrong.
As the lights came up, Martin Hoffman and Maestro Sir Simon
Rattle took the stage and immediately the audience went completely silent. Without delay, the void was filled with the
lovely sound of Flex Mendellson-Bartholdy’s Violin Concert in e minor, op.
64. Martin Hoffman’s performance was of
this three movement work was nothing short of breathtaking and his treatment of
the credenza was masterful. It was such
a delight to sit in this historic place, listening to some of the greatest
musicians in the world. What was equally
impactful was the inter-generational audience’s response to this event- they
were present in the moment. Sitting
still, barely a muscle moved and as I glanced around, the level of engagement
was unreal. Berliners of all ages were
enthralled and displayed a childlike wonder at this music and clearly displayed
that classical music is not boring or for the older generation but rather it
still holds a relevancy for the youth of today.
There was an incredibly different sense of community at Waldbüne
that evening. There was great joy and
cheer and as intermission approached and it became dark, the people of Berlin
shared candles. Placing them on the
walls and holding them in small cups, the “house” began to glow with a certain
warmth.
Following intermission, the full orchestra took to the stage
and glorious sounds of the Beethoven Symphony 9 in d minor, op. 125 began to
rise from the players. The excitement
and energy in the air was palatable and we were all quickly caught up in the
majesty of this work. Normal, there is
no applause between movements in a large orchestral work, but instinctively the
crowd was carried by its appreciation and offered a hearty ovation following
the Allegro and the Molto vivace movements.
Then before movement
three, Camilla Tilling (soprano), Nathalie Stutzmann (alto), Joseph Kaiser
(tenor), and Dimitry Ivashchenko (bass) and the Rundfunkchor Berlin entered the
stage. The singers were greeted with a
warm enthusiasm from the crowd, for the audience knew they were there to
deliver the familiar strains of the powerful Ode to Joy of the fourth and final movement.
The moment arrived when the downbeat of the Presto was
given, the cellos began to the familiar theme and it was soon followed by the
powerful Ivanshchenko’s bass and the might of the chorus. I was enraptured! It may sound trite, but I wanted to cry when
the climax of Beethoven’s masterpiece arrived.
This iconic work, composed after he was completely deaf was thrilling to
experience in the forest setting of Berlin.
When the work cadenced, the crowd erupted! It was like the Berlin Philharmonic had won
the Super Bowl. In the roar of ovation,
Arman immediately popped from his seat and lead our section in a standing
ovation. Down the row, Eliana, Perri and
Abby had been given sparklers by some Berliners and eagerly shared in the
celebration of a fantastic concert.
Seven curtain calls later, we took the stairs to leave.
As we were climbing the staircase, the encore of
…..began. Being good Berliners, all in
the crowd knew exactly how and when to whistle.
It was awesome! But what was more
amazing with the response of the students.
They were all so excited and bounding out of the front gates singing and
discussing what they had just experienced.
It was a great demonstration of the power of music experienced in the
confines of community. Our night ended
with a lovely dinner under the night sky, with our imaginations filled and our
creativity sparked.
Mr. Strunk
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