It was not all just fun....

Okay...they suffered for fashion...




Even piano players get down...




Norm in the rain

Rainy friends on the boatride

Food Glorious Food

We came. We saw. We ate. We drank. Buffet Breakfasts were great. Authentic Austrian food was wonderful. Tortes, sausages(mini brats for breakfast at the Hilton). Coffee was great as well.

Andy and Pascal

Good
Morning Dear Concordia Singers..... this is Andy speaking.

They made sure we did not get too lost and that we saw the best of Austria.

Many thanks from all of us to Andy and Pascal, our super new friends.

Trip to Innsbruck and Final Concert

Concert Day in Innsbruck

Again an early loading of our bus at 8:30 and we were able to actually leave 10 minutes early. Andy’s word for the day was " Schatz" or darling which is a very useful german word to know.

Bus one’s drivers very popular because he sells beer very cheaply out of the fridge in the front of the bus–bus 2 only has sparkling water.

We drove towards Innsbruck through the Alps which are spectacular(overused word but true). Each valley is a postcard in it’s own right. Late in the morning we arrived in Innsbruck and had some free time to explore the old city before our guided tour which took us to 4 pm. It, again, is an old city, with a rich history. Emperor Maximillians memorial church is here with it’s statues and majesty making sure, as he wished, that he not be forgotten. At 5 pm we were up the mountain above the city at a village church practising for the evening concert. It is a beautiful and old (roots of the present church go back 1000 years)

The concert went well and the congregation welcomed us after with a reception in the courtyard(at sunset with the Alps in the background). Local bread and wine plus some singing of local folksongs by the congregation. It was a great way to end our series of performances and a lasting memory of our time in Austria. Our hotel is in the center of town so tomorrow we will be able to do some walking/shopping before we board our buses for a short stop at the Swarovski crystal factory for Munich and then home.

Monday - Salt Mines.and Silent Night

Salzburg obviously gets its name from the mineral that made it famous- “salt”. Bus 2 word of the day: Darn - “Verflixt”. . The salt mines were started by the Celts around 2500 years ago and I n the early 1600s provided the wealth to build many of the great buildings in present say Salzburg. Entering the mine on a train we walked, slide down a slide, and road a boat across a salt pond- wearing special coveralls which made us look like a host arrayed in white. We also crossed into Germany and back into \Austria–all underground.
Next for today was to travel to the chapel of Silent Night, where once the church stood where this wonderful Christmas Carol was first sung. IT is pretty special to be able to visit such special places. In the afternoon after a time for shopping(shoes are a big item) we went to Mirabelle Palace (mid 1600's) for a reception by the Mayor. We were able to sing several pieces in the famous and amazingly beautiful marble room. Supper was in a restaurant just below the fortress(our first sourkraut) and then the evening was free --- some went to the Marionette show. Tomorrow morning we leave for Innsbruck and our last concert.

Sunday, July 12 - Salzburg

Got to sleep in this morning before we boarded the buses to take us to the Salzburg Don where we sang as part of the morning Mass. Sunday in Salzburg is quiet as the shops(except tourist) area closed. Lots of churches and bells ringing gives it a special air. The Dom zu Salzburg is a large and extremely beautiful cathedral–second, one person said–only to St. Peter’s in Rome. The choir met for a rehearsal in a special modern rehearsal hall with a wonderful piano (Boston). After rehearsal and devotions we lined up and entered the cathedral for one of the morning masses and in that great space sang 4 of our pieces. During Communion we sang: “Lord Jesus of You I will Sing as I journey” while people flowed towards the front of the church. Later in the day we learned, from our guides, that this cathedral, which has 5 pipe organs, has one organ where Mozart played and composed a lot. In such a space to sing God’s praises was an experience we will not soon forget.
After the service, a quick change and then a few hours to wander through the old part of Salzburg. In the afternoon excellent guides took us up to the fortress which overlooks Salzburg and then on a walking tour to the oldest graveyard owned by the Benedictines, the music festival hall, and ended up at the Mozart house. This is an old city by Canadian standards with one building sporting an “Established in 803". After the tour our choir went many different ways for evening events. Some went to concerts, some relaxed, a goodly group took in the Mozart Dinner Concert. In a lavish hall at the 803 A.D. restaurant, we ate a meal that would have been served to the aristocracy at the time of Mozart. In between each course we were entertained with Mozart music performed by a 5 piece string orchestra and two opera singers. A most delightful evening that started at 8 and ended at 11 pm. A quick walk back the hotel and the end to another wonderful day. Streets are very safe to walk on here and the cleanliness of the streets is something we as Canadians really notice. Sundays are great in Salzburg. PS: The organ on the right was played regularly by Mozart.
Andy’s German Word of the Day: “ausgezeichnet” - excellent.

Saturday, July 11, 2009 - Graz to Salzburg.

Graz was a delightful experience and we could have spent days there but this morning we boarded the buses for the drive to Salzburg through beautiful forests, valleys, and villages filled with the alpine style houses with colorful window boxes on almost every balcony. The area is somewhat like the drives around Jasper with some mountains and lakes. On bus two we entered our second day of german lessons: Yesterday we learned numbers, today we learned the phrase: “Um himmel villen” or “for heaven’s sake”. Our destination at first was the small village on the lake called St. Wolfgang but chose to stop at a Benedictine Monastery at Admont. It is the home of the largest medieval library in the world. Though the monastery goes back to 1074 the present library was built in 1776 and was considered the 8th wonder of the world at the time and after visiting it we can understand why it was seen thus. It’s beauty is overwhelming, even against the large church it is beside.
Around 1:30 we boarded the buses to go to St. Wolfgang a tourist village filled, again, with beautiful houses of the Austrian style. We walked through the town, visiting shops, eating ginger bread(something the town is known for, it was good), and enjoying an air show that was going on above the lake beside the town. The town church was built in 976 A.D. - the oldest we’ve seen so far.
At 5:15 we got on a boat to cruise on the Wolfgangsee for around 50 minutes to St. Gilgen where we got on the buses to our hotel in Salzburg. The boat trip started in the sunshine but we entered a downpour but we still got an amazing experience of this lake. At our hotel we had our supper of veal goulash and spaetzle. Tired and a bit wet many made it an early night. PS: We brought along our own lounge piano player so we had some quiet entertainment in the hotel.