Friday, July 11, 2008

My first encounter with Mozart....

We got into Seefeld, Austria in the early evening last night. It was nice because we got to explore the town a bit and not have to rush off to bed. I spent the evening hearing the choir sing at St. Oswalt’s church, a church where a miracle occurred. It was an interesting story of a knight who came into the church and demanded to take the wafer during communion, which I guess is usually reserved for the priest. The priest finally gave into his demands and when the knight took the wafer it became bloody and his feet sank into the ground and his hand melted the stone altar. The priest got the wafer out of his mouth and the knight was so overcome by this experience he dedicated his life to becoming a priest. We got to see the altar and floor where this happened after the choir sang in the church. The choir sounded amazing in this space and the church was absolutely beautiful.

The choir singing in St. Oswalt's

Where the knight's foot sank into the ground

Today we drove to Innsbruck, which was home to the ’64 and ’76 Olympics. We first went to the ski jump which was on top of a mountain overlooking the Inn Valley. It was so neat to see and there were ski jumpers practicing while we were there so we got to see them go off the jump! They designed the jump to be usable year around with a special turf they would wash down with water in between jumps. It was really cool to see and also to hear those jumpers.

Can you see the ski jumper?

Next we drove down to the Wilten Basilica, which was visited by the Pope. It was so amazing to see, it was decorated in the Rococo style and was so overwhelmingly ornate and beautiful. There were lots of pinks and golds with cherubs and very detailed paintings on the ceilings. It was really remarkable and was even better because the choir got to sing a few pieces while we were there. The acoustics of those old churches are absolutely amazing and was a really great experience.

After that we drove to the Altstadt or “old city” to do some shopping. We saw a house where Mozart and his father lived and played a concert for the King, that was really cool. You wouldn’t even know it unless you saw the tiny plaque above one of the outdoor cafes. That is one things I noticed about Innsbruck, they do not really get into publicizing the cool things about their city. I was looking for some neat Olympic things, but couldn’t really find anything…..you wouldn’t even know they hosted one if someone didn’t tell you.

Where Mozart once stayed with his father in Innsbruck

We went back to Seefeld and had time to do some more shopping and eat lunch before our concert. Our concert was a challenge for myself and the kids. It rained up until our time to perform and the sun came out in full force during the concert. It was impossible to see and the heat was intense. We were lucky to still be dry because it began to pour and lightning real bad right after we locked up the trailer. The rain was welcome because it cooled everything off pretty good, just in time to see another Alp Horn concert. I think I’ll become like Dr. DeZeeuw and her bagpipes, only I’ll play the Alp Horn.

An Alp Horn concert in Seefeld (my new obsession!)

The weekend is obviously a big party time for the Austrians because the streets were filled with people who were dressed up and several DJs were out there, along with a million street vendors selling various food and drink. The Supremes were to perform but were going on too late, we had a 4am wake up the next day so an early bedtime was in the plans. When we woke up today, there were definitely still people out drinking in the streets, definitely more fun than I can handle!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hola, como va?, muy buen Blog, voy a seguir pasando, cuando quieras pasate por el mio, Saludos!! que andes bien


Luis