Day 1, Tuesday, Feb 2 - 2017 Germany Inspection Trip

We are underway.

Writer's note

The contents of this blog are the personal reflections of me, Ryan Saunders, and do not reflect an official opinion of The Chorus of Westerly nor an official statement from the Chorus of Westerly (or from me as Executive Director). It is being shared with you on a personal, friendly basis, as a member of the Chorus family, a tour participant, or friend of Ryan personally. This blog is NOT to be reproduced by media outlets without my permission. For now, I also ask that you do not share this blog's link on your Facebook walls, Twitter feeds, personal, or other online sources without my permission first. You may feel free to share the link, without my permission, with those considering the tour or considering supporting the tour as long as you explain for me that this is a personal journal/log of my trip site inspection and not an official itinerary or other document. 

There certainly might be some geographic errors, or detail errors, or typos, or grammar mistakes, and I do apologize for them. No need to send me corrections. You are getting this straight out of my head. I'll edit it later.

Well, here we are ready to go on another whirlwind Chorus of Westerly adventure. Or, at least, here we are about to go on another whirlwind Chorus adventure to plan a Chorus adventure for 190 or so of our beloved singers, family members, and friends. Our destination this time around is someplace quite near and dear to my heart, Germany. As you all know, we are more than a year and a half away from this grand 11-day adventure taking place, but Chorus Music Director Andrew Howell and I are headed out on a site inspection, planning, and management trip with our tour management company, ACFEA. Specifically, we will be with our masterminds of the last tour (and this one) Nick and Amanda, and joined once we get to Deutschland by ACFEA’s Germany personnel Sue and Stephan. We leave on a Tuesday night and get back on Sunday, and we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Andrew texted me at 2:41 pm that he and Emily were leaving Westerly for my house and Alisa text me ten minutes ago that she was on her way home, so I best clean myself up, double check that I have my passport and get ready to go.
Written Tuesday, February 2, 2016, 3:16 pm

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Where were we:
Westerly (Andrew)
North Attleborough
Boston
Lufthansa 425

It’s great fun to be on this tour inspection with Andrew Howell. I must say that on my inspection for the 2014 tour I had great company in Nick Abbott the entire way - and I mean that - but it is nice to have Andrew here too and all of us (Nick, Amanda, Andrew, Sue, and Stephan) all together. We’re like this Chorus of Westerly Force roaring through Germany with a goal of the best Chorus Tour ever — and I think this can and will be it, and that is saying something as we’ve had some pretty great tours in the past.

Emily Howell drove Andrew to my house in North Attleborough as I was to drive the two of us into Boston for our flight on Lufthansa at 8:20 pm. Alisa came home quickly from school to see us off. The Howells arrived at about five minutes after four and after we said farewell to our wives, Andrew and I loaded into my Altima for our drive to Logan departing at 4:16 PM. As we departed, literally as we pulled out of the driveway, Andrew realized he had forgotten his jacket in their minivan, so we chased Emily a little ways down Landry Avenue before pulling into a side street for the jacket transfer. That was, thankfully, the only little snafu of our travels and the only thing - at least that we discovered so far - that we forgot. It only added about five minutes onto our journey into the city, so that was a very good thing.

Our ride into Boston and to the airport was remarkably easy considering it was rush hour. Mind you, much traffic can be in either direction at that time and we did encounter about ten minutes worth, but nothing crippling. We arrived at Logan at about quarter after five and went to park in Central Parking, but were oddly redirected out of Central Parking and to the other side of the airport to economy parking. They said the lot was full but it was visibly not full - not even close. Our theory was that they were about to do some work in a portion of the garage. They strangely had people all a long the route to economy and then inside the lot to guide us to an economy spot — it was seemingly a useless outlay of staff as it was quite easy to figure out where to go. 

By 5:19 we were parked on the top deck of the parking garage. A quick trip down three floors to the bus station and right on to a departing shuttle bus and we were on our way to Terminal E. We met a colleague of my brother-in-law Tyler McCabe while on the bus too, but, apologies Tyler, we didn’t get his name. I noticed his backpack was one for Tyler's company.

We got off the economy parking shuttle bus and into Terminal E quite quickly. Ascending up the escalators to the departure level, Andrew had an amusing conversation with a TSA agent about Smashburger and all the deliciousness that comes with their product. I'm always in awe at Andrew's ability to interact so quickly with strangers or people he just met. He's got such a gift at that. That sort of random conversation horrifies me. He's great at it.

We found the Lufthansa check-in kiosks quite quickly and no lines at all. The massive pre-security part of the terminal itself had some people in it, but we estimated no more than 100 or so side to side. It was, despite about eight international flights boarding in the next two to three hours, quite quiet. In fact, we were through security in record time. There was literally no one in front of us. We just sort of strolled in. Maybe strolling is the wrong word, but it was quite simple. It won't be this way, we should all be aware, in the summer months.

At the security checkpoint where I took off most of my layers, but not enough to cause a scene, I was surprised to discover we no longer needed to reveal our iPads and such. I actually got zinged for that in 2014 in Frankfurt - but I suppose the iPad threat to society is not as grave these days for a variety of reasons no one has yet explained.

LH425 - We got there a bit early.

Once we cleared, I was determined to take Andrew down to the newer part of Terminal E, which was in fact the old Terminal D and included domestic departures on JetBlue and Southwest. They have a far better selection of restaurants and chairs in that area, and no one from the international side ever tends to use them. But alas, I was foiled as they had the stairwell down to this section was closed off for terminal reconstruction. It seems on both ends of Terminal E they are knocking old gates down to presumably build new ones — I’m guessing maybe they are thinking about the Airbus 380s in to Logan and need some space. That’s a guess, but it sounds smart, doesn’t it? 

Anyway...

We settled back in the original Terminal E at the Logan Airport version of Durgin Park which is dreadfully over priced with a selection of food items that was not exactly what we were searching for on this evening (well, I should say me, Andrew made a side stop at Chipolte on the way up with Emily on Bald Hill Road). But, they did have overpriced beer, so over the next few hours I enjoyed a few Cold Snaps - including spilling half of one over the floor (it was like pouring away money) and Andrew enjoyed the fine brew that is Shock Top. We got some chicken tenders as well and bothered folks with text messages, I also gave Verizon a call to activate my international plan, before heading down to our gate for a very on time boarding at 7:44 pm (that was boarding time, we walked on the plane about 10 minutes later).

The boarding process was quite efficient, which is not at all surprising with Lufthansa. We were all well sorted and in our seats quite quickly. One of the unfortunate things about Lufthansa these days is that, unless you pay a varying level of fee - which I noted is more than a few dollars - you cannot pick you seats until you check-in for your flight. To tour participants, take note of this and remember it. It is not likely we will have the same flexibility in terms of individual seats in 2017 like we did in 2014, though policies do change from time to time and year to year. Alas, we will find a way to make it work somehow, but we might need some good group swapping once we figure out who goes where on the plane. This is quite a ways off though, so no worries about it in February of 2016.

The row Andrew and I were on, however, on our Airbus 330-400, was row 27 and we were both on an aisle. I'll admit, I'd paid the fee to pick our seats. It was worth it as we, fortunately, were in the row directly behind economy which came with it an extraordinary amount of extra leg room. Looking ahead, it will be very well worth it for our tallest singers and followers in July of 2017. But, no promises. We were across the aisle from each other in seats G and H respectively. 

The flight pushed back on time from the gate for our scheduled 8:20 pm departure and the take off out of Logan was as smooth as I can ever remember. It was a perfectly clear evening leaving Boston, and our seats were right on the wing, so this certainly helped. In fact, for nearly the entire flight to Munich, there was no real moments of turbulence - maybe one little set, but not enough to turn the seat belt sign off. Once we were airborne, the captain left the seat belt sign off for the entire flight.

It is highly likely that the entire group will be on Lufthansa this time around (two of three planes were last time), and if this is the case, one group will likely head to Frankfurt and one to Munich. There is much discussion happening already about airport transfers and getting to Leipzig and the best plan to make this work. Leipzig has an airport, the jets that come in to it, that we could connect on, are too small to hold our large groups. This adds quite a layer of complication. There are a few solutions, but both involved coach buses and good drives. 

On this inspection trip, we were to connect through Munich, then an hour layover, then to Berlin on a smaller jet. But, there is still a good drive from Berlin to Leipzig. The drive from Frankfurt to Leipzig is longer than Berlin to Leipzig, but the total time traveling is similar. 

Details on flight and coach bus plans to be worked out in the capable hands of your Chorus staff, Nick, Amanda, Sue, Stephan, and the rest of the brilliant ACFEA management brains.

On the flight over, and this will likely be the same in the summer of 2017, we were served a drink and a light snack soon after take-off (Happy Mix!). For a drink, you can literally get anything, including nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and there is no charge. I was quite impressed with the selection they had available for us on this flight. Good selection there, I’m a bit boring and simply enjoyed a Warsteiner beer. Andrew did as well. 

The "maestro"?

As some of you can recall from the 2014 tour, the seats on Lufthansa going across the pond are functional, and that is about the only nice way to describe them. They are certainly better than domestic seats on the same airline, but sadly quite narrow and without a lot of cushion on the bottom. Using your blanket or pillow to help with this is effective, but only to a point, and, heaven forbid you want to actually use your pillow or blanket for their real purpose. The seats do have little head rests you can move out and use to lean your a head against, and that is lovely, but sadly Andrew didn’t discover this until he notice me using them about 40 minutes from landing after nearly 7 hours on the plane. My fault for not pointing it out.

Lufthansa does have an excellent television and movie on demand service. There is loads of programming of all sorts, good for kids, teens, and adults. There are current movies, or movies that came out maybe two to six months ago, and old classic movies. There are fun, good any time sorts of flicks in the library along with tons of old television programs. I believe there is something for everyone on there and if you are a person who can’t really sleep on a plane like me, you can find ways to keep yourself entertained for such a long journey in a thin metal tube.

Dinner came round to us about 85 minutes into the flight and was quite a good size portion. There was a pasta dish or chicken available. Andrew and I both went with the chicken which was a bit spicy, but came with a little salad, cheese, a huge roll, and a delicious chocolate brownie for desert. Lufthansa always has done a good job with their meals. You certainly do not feel underserved. They also keep coming by with drinks. No, I did not get beer every time. But, throughout the flight the cart makes its way up and down the aisle. In the middle of the flight when they turn all the lights off and everyone should be sleeping (but we are mostly not sleeping), they walk around with trays of cold water (no bubbles) and orange juice. If you go to the galley too and ask for something, they will politely give it to you with no attitude.

I must say, I have never had bad service on a Lufthansa flight from the cabin attendants and this flight was no different. Hopefully our way home is just as successful.

Andrew managed to get a little sleep on the plane. He read a semi-recent book of mine on Bach by John Eliot Gardiner for most of the time he was awake. He watched a movie for part of the time too, but I couldn’t see which one it was. I got no sleep at all, though I did try. I did watch Black Mass during the middle of the flight. That’s probably not a story I’d recommend for kids, but I thought the acting in the movie was top notch. We got a nice breakfast, very simple, of a muffin and some fruit (plus coffee and tea and such) about 70 minutes before we landed. Again, it was out and on our tray tables quickly and they cleaned up just as quickly. I should also note the plane was full minus maybe 5 or 6 empty seats in economy class.

Our landing into Munich, despite it lightly raining and starting to snow, was fairly easy. The plane didn’t really bounce coming down despite the weather conditions being pretty nasty. We did hit the ground a little hard, but otherwise it was an easy landing. Our flight was scheduled to land at 9:55 am, but by 9:30 we were at the gate. By 9:35 pm we were off the jetway and heading to the escalator that led to the terminal. This was a great relief to us as we knew we had passport control and a long walk ahead of us and our next plane was to board at 10:35 am. That extra 20 minutes or so eased our minds quite a bit.

Tuesday night had magically turned into Wednesday morning and the next step of our journey was a flight from Munich to Berlin Tegel.

Day 2, Wed, Feb 3 - 2017 Germany Inspection Trip

From the Lufthansa magazine, the Munich terminals.

Wednesday

Where were we:
- München (Munich - MUC) International Airport, Terminal 2
- Berlin (Tegel)
- Magdeburg
- Leipzig


I had not landed in Munich - coming from the United States - in about 16 years. My journeys for the tour and site inspection for the 2014 tour took me into Europe via Frankfurt and home through Munich, so I had not done passport control or the walk from landing gate to passport control in this capacity recently.

When you get off the international planes at your gate in Munich, you ascend a very well heated jetway and get to a glass area where there are two escalators (including one amusingly short one - sort of like an escalator preview!!), and then you get to the upper level of the airport. You hook a right and then - using people movers - walk for what feels like a half mile but in truth is probably not even an 1/8 of a mile until you get to the center of (this floor of) the terminal. You hook a right and voila, passport control.

Singers and followers should be careful to get into the right passport line - whether they come through Frankfurt, Munich, or wherever in Europe - there are lines for EU Citizens, which are plentiful and then far fewer for non-EU citizens. But, confusingly, they have signs that say the lines are for each and light up one side for what is supposed to be in that lane. You can’t take pictures here either, FYI, and they will tell you that. If you are groggy and just got off a plane that flew 3200 miles, it is easy to get confused. 

At the passport control, take your time, read signs, look for and help your friends. I imagine the lines will likely be quite large in the summer so you will have time to figure this out.

A side note is that the passport control area in Munich is far smaller than its Frankfurt counterpart. That’s likely due to the vastly different amount of international, non-EU arrivals Munich sees as opposed to Frankfurt. But, be smart, go straight to passport control in either airport before you do anything else (unless you need a WC, there are a bunch a long the way, feel free to use those, but don't nap in there!).

At the passport control gate, they asked us both a few questions. They seemed to ask Andrew more than me, but that’s probably just random. We you are entering in the summer of 2017, just tell them you are here as a tourist and tell them the cities you will be visiting if they ask. If they don’t ask a question, don’t feel the need to answer anything else. But, don’t screw around here either. These guys and ladies are all business, and they should be with their duties for Germany and the EU.

Once you clear passport control you hook a quick right, head down an escalator (or you can take an elevator), and you are in the domestic terminal a floor below.  Here in Munich, at least today, there was no more security. We were done. This is different from Frankfurt where you have to pass through another pre-flight security check before getting into the domestic (and, I should say, by domestic I mean flights within Germany or the EU) part of the terminal.

Our domestic boarding gate was not too far from the center, maybe two people move rides away, and we found it quite quickly. There are, throughout the Lufthansa terminals, lovely little free coffee stations that can give you a variety of warm beverages ranging from regular coffee to espresso to Wiener melange to hot chocolate or just hot water for tea (and there are tea bags). They are not at every gate, but in little alcoves through the terminal, so just look for them or ask a Lufthansa attendant — and they all speak English (the Lufthansa staff) – and you should be able to locate them.

We both freshened up in the perfectly clean WCs in the Munich Airport right near our gate, had a few cups of coffee each before boarding began for our plane at 10:35 AM in the morning, European central time. Boarding was fast and we went downstairs (again there is an elevator) and then went outside for about three meters (it was covered) and boarded a long, accordion style bus. The bus was packed, but Andrew and I did manage to get a seat. We then began a lovely venture out and around the tarmac hinterlands before finally arriving at our Lufthansa A321-200 (name Bayreuth) at 10:43 AM. 

Andrew snuck off the bus quite quickly and immediately followed the herd of people towards the closet entrance staircase to the plane that used the rear door. Mind you, now it was raining and snowing and cold, so it was sort of a mad dash for the plane for the bus. However, Andrew got out before I could grab him and was in the line to ascend the plane far ahead of me. Our tickets were for row 6, so a rear entrance of a 48 row plane was not ideal. I love my friend Andrew, but I walked to the front entrance staircase knowing that this would be quicker. He figured it out quite fast that he should have gone the other way round as he had to wait for lots of folks to get seated before he could come back down the aisle to our row. He made it though eventually and we both found ourself in Row 6. I had an aisle seat and he had a window, and we had some German gentlemen about our age with a good beard sitting between us.

We departed right on schedule, 11 am, and, different from our international flight, take-off here was a very bumpy as we cleared the clouds over the Bavarian countryside. Once we got above the storm it was fairly smooth sailing. I drifted off, finally, for all of 3-4 minute on the plane before the snack and beverage service began, but that was about it. I spent most of the time reading as did Andrew.

Snacks and service on this plane were simple. It was a few cookies and a drink of your choice. I got coffee — had to fuel up for the day ahead. And, really as soon as service finished, we were getting ready to begin our landing process into Berlin’s octagonal and relatively small Tegel Airport on the northwestern outskirts of the city. As we came into Berlin, I could see out the south side window and got a very good view from the old eastern side into the western side. The famous television transmitter tower helped me orient myself once we cleared the clouds. It was very windy out and coming down was bumpy, but we landed safely in Berlin a little after noon.

In Berlin, because of the interesting design of Tegel, you are never really far from the outside of the building. Once we got off the jetway, we walked maybe 25 feet or so before we had the security exit to the small inside terminal (there is no more passport control once you are in Germany). We popped out immediately and were warmly welcomed within about 30 seconds by Nick, Amanda, and Sue.

While Andrew and I used the restrooms quickly before the long drive we had ahead, Sue was kind enough to get us all coffees from the nearby cafe. We then immediately walked outside (again, the exit to the street was maybe 20 feet away from where we cleared security) we met Stephan, our driver and co-guide for the next four days, and walked across a few lanes of traffic (in crosswalks mind you, but there were no cars coming!) and right to his van. As simple as getting picked up at TF Green or the Manchester Airport. Perhaps even simpler. You never would have thought that for an airport in such a major city as Berlin. But alas, it was simple.

We boarded our rather large van (which has the front seats and two more rows of seating) and were delightfully surprised to find very nice bag lunches for all of us which sandwiches, fruit, and drinks. Top notch service from Sue!! We were very grateful for this bags.

Amanda sat up front with Stephan who was driving, Andrew and Sue sat in the middle row, and Nick and I sat in the first row, and we began a very quick exit from Tegel. We were headed straight out onto the road for our first appointment in Magdeburg. I would guess we were on the road by about 12:35 or so and we had about a 90-100 minute drive ahead of us. As we journeyed, we had a great discussion about Germany and about our plan over the next several days.

This trip to Magdeburg was of relative surprise to us about two weeks back. This city and venue, as the itinerary for 2017 now stood, is to be the site of the first full Chorus performance. It is considered a “run out” performance as we would travel from Leipzig to Magdeburg to do it on the first Saturday we are in Germany (we arrive on Friday). The original plan for this performance was for it to be in the city of Halle, a neighboring town about 20 miles from Leipzig, in the city church of Halle. Unfortunately, as tends to happen, the church elders have decided to do serious renovation and repair work on the church over the next year and a half. It may be done by the time we would be on tour, but there were no guarantees for this to be true. As such, booking a concert in this venue was simply not something the church, ACFEA, or, now that Andrew and I understand the circumstance, the Chorus should engage in. So, sadly, this venue fell through.

The Johanniskirche exterior.
I climbed up that south bell tower.
I am very out of shape.

However, Andrew and I have great, great faith in ACFEA - especially in Nick and Amanda (and I am coming to develop that same trust with Sue, she is really fantastic like they are), and Andrew and I both knew they would certainly present us with another great option. Indeed, ACFEA is very well aware of what we look for and want in a performance venue: a good space for the music we are performing (this is the most critical), a space which can hold us comfortably and meet all of our performer demands, a space where good audiences - both in size and in energy - can be expected and will come to hear us, and, ideally, a space of high historic importance and/or community importance or project or concert series importance.

Their solution to all of this was a very interesting and fascinating venue: the Johanniskirche in the Altstadt of Magdeburg.

Different from any other place we have sung on any tour, the Johanniskirche was, once upon a time, a church of high importance. Like many of the churches we are visiting on the first leg of the tour, it was also a church important in both the Catholic and then Protestant traditions. And, much like a lot of churches in this area of the world, it was a church where 500 years ago one could find Martin Luther preaching from its ornate pulpit.

But, toward the end the second World War, Magdeburg was hit by the allies very hard and almost all of its medieval and old core was obliterated. This is something that happened to many German cities as you all are quite aware, but Magdeburg, like Dresden, did get hit badly. The Johanniskirche was almost completely destroyed, but some of it survived to the point that, someday, the church building could be rebuilt.

Magdeburg and this venue are interesting places. This is especially true if you have an even a small knowledge or appreciation for the Cold War and the years that Germany was split into two: the free, western “West Germany” (BRD) and the Soviet control communist GDR (or DDR as you would hear here and I'll refer to it from now on. DDR = East Germany). The DDR, as we know it, was East Germany. Germany reunified on 3. October 1990, but from really the end of the second world war through the 9. November 1989, East Germany was a closed society strictly dictated by a Soviet-allied socialist government. 

I’ll let Google explain the rest of this history for you. This doesn't really sum it up. Really, make sure you read up on this history before the tour.

Now a glorious concert hall, the Johanniskirche
is tied directly into the rebirth of Magdeburg

Magdeburg and the Johanniskirche, in my opinion, are an interesting case-study of life after and during the Cold War. Magdeburg itself is alive and functioning well today. The city has a strong academic culture, busy shops, friendly people, and the signs of the west are as clear as the McDonald’s you see on the nearby corner. But, it was rebuilt in the era of communism/socialism and in the days of the Soviets and DDR. The buildings and their architecture reflect this very much, Of course, while it is a free, open society now, with signs and influence of the west everywhere from the 26 years of reunification, you can still see a city built of a different time. 

Personally, as a child living in Germany in 1989 and 1990, I spent a very little direct time in the East before reunification, but did spend some time in East Berlin and in a small Czech town on the border. I know a little bit about what the architecture of the era looked like and the very uniform, simple, functional building style of that time from that experience. 

This feel and style of architecture is still here in Magdeburg, but with a level of new life and energy. A reason I think seeing Magdeburg is fascinating is that, unlike many other German cities we will visit on the former “East” side, I think Magdeburg gives you the closest glimpse of a former East German city in look and feel (only).

I would not look as this assessment of Magdeburg as a bad thing - there are some very lovely and beautiful areas of this city, certainly, but I think it is good for us all to see and know historically a few things before visiting it. And also know, the residents are quite proud of their city remerging on the map and putting much energy into the projects they have ahead of them.

This brings me back to the Johanniskirche. Keep in mind, under the socialist and communist regimes, going to church was not looked upon kindly nor, truthfully, legally allowed. Churches were to be considered museums and/or historic sites first, not necessarily places of worship and God. The Germans, however, have a deep religious history in all their states spanning many faiths and disciplines. So, churches and places of worship were built - before the world wars - all over the country. On the western side, many if not all of the major churches were rebuilt nearly identically to their original designs with, in especially the big West German cities, little to no expense spared (and in many cases with financial support of the United States). On the east side, there was some rebuilding in a few key places, but there was also a great deal of straight demolition. And, in a few places you can still see today, crumbled buildings or churches from WWII were just left as they were for many unfortunate reasons.

Beginning in 1990, right around the time of reunification, the Johanniskirche was restored, slowly, and over many years through many different fundraising projects (plaques of which you can find all over the church today). If I read a particular plaque correctly, the major restoration and rebuilding project was completed in 1999. But, instead of reopening the church as a parish church, the Johanniskirche was turned into a specialized performance hall - one with exceptional acoustics. Connected to the main nave, a series of performance hall features were added (with a newer, but really well down architectural style). The side of the hall is thus built up in a really fascinating way where there is a little restaurant and bar for intermissions, restrooms, dressing rooms, warm-up spaces, and a huge loft for receptions and such at the very top towards the roof. There is also an elevator to get you to and from all the different levels.

In the main nave, you can see the remnants of the original structure, but the liturgical elements are gone. Much like the George Kent Performance Hall, this former important parish church - which is held close to the heart of its residents - now serves as a venue for, mostly, music. So, it is a performance hall, built in a former church, but with great lighting, space, flexible audience seating, risers, and great audience and performer spaces. 

Truth be told, there are lot of interesting ideas here that we might be able to steal back in Westerly!

A comparison to Kent Hall, though, is unfair, as this facility is much larger in terms of height and width and scope than our hall. However, we are to expect an audience in the 600 person range, if not more, when we get back here in 2017. The concert we are to sing here is part of a special series held my the elders of the Johanniskirche called the Kuratorium für den Wiederaufbau der Johanniskirche zu Magdeburg. Specifically, once a year they have a huge concert present by the Kuratorium that they invite the entire city too as a fundraiser. And, being even more specific, the concert fundraiser is for the restoration fund of their stained glass windows. 

The windows of the Johanniskirche were all destroyed during the war. The Kuratorium has gone about replacing them, one window at a time, through funds raised in this annual concert. They have commissioned artists to do the design of these replaced windows. Our concert is to support the Kuratorium and the Johanniskirche in these efforts. 

In fact, I can show you a photograph (see below) of the specific window we will be singing for on the concert. With the concert here, in the Johanniskirche, we will leave what is anticipated to be an incredible audience with two things: a performance of the Bach B Minor in an exceptional acoustic space for this performance AND a piece of us and our love in commitment in, when it eventually goes in, a soaring stained glass window. We will be helping a city continues its long and ongoing rebirth and renaissance and emergence from a period of time of great struggle in the city. And we will be helping out a community and its most important cultural center share are and beauty for a long while. 

I think that is quite special.

The window there on the right, that would be
 the Chorus of Westerly supported window.

So, that’s a long explanation as to why our car was not headed for Jena but to Magdeburg!! And that’s where we ended up, less than two hours after arriving in Berlin.


Magdeburg
We first went to the local Maritim hotel to see their large restaurant. The thought, at the time, was we were to have a group dinner here in this very large venue after we finished the concert at the Johanniskirche on Saturday night. 

Before our meeting with the catering manager, we enjoyed Earl Grey tea together - Sue, like Nick, is English, but she has lived in Germany since 1981 and carries with her the best of both worlds, and her German is flawless. 

After our cup of tea, we took some pictures and completed our inspection of the dining facility. It was a nice place, a bit cold in terms of charm, but functional for a meal after the concert. There emerged quite a conversation about dinner plans for Magdeburg and the timing of things for singers and followers, as the drive to and from Leipzig is lengthy. But, those decisions were to be be for later, for now, we were to inspect and figure out the logistics here to see if this were doable should we decide to use it.

We left the Maritim about 2:50 pm or so and then quickly headed over to a different restaurant right on the river Elbe to see if this might be a better fit. Truth be told, it was a lovely venue and lovely location, but its capacity was too small for a group dinner for us without some very clever human management that might be impractical. Alas, we put it in the book as a bit of a maybe (really, for someone else, though I liked the location, but I get it being too small) and then quickly darted off to our meeting at the Johanniskirche.

We arrived right on schedule for the meeting at the Johanniskirche at 3 pm. It was very, very windy out, but perfectly clear otherwise. The wind did make things ridiculously cold, so we scurried inside right away to begin our meeting and inspection with three members of the Johanniskirche staff.

I have already written about the background of the church and the nature of our concert. This was explained to us both on the ride to Magdeburg and once we arrived. The more we learned about the place and the concert, the more we were pleased with what we heard and we seeing. It seemed like a very good fit for the Chorus of Westerly.

The acoustics in the Johanniskirche are excellent. In fact, I dare say for our Bach B Minor, they are better than our own hall. As I noted above, this facility has been turned into a fully functioning concert hall - albeit in a former church, but we know all about that. As such, the lighting was good, the staging area for this was good, the site lines were perfect, and the audience seating and layout quite comfortable and useful. And, again, the sound in there was marvelous. 

Looking up and down in the hall was quite a trip too. It has high, high ceilings, flat and very simple walls, and lots of windows up high. About 1/3 of them have their new stained glass in them. We will help them get another one of the windows in.

We looked at and saw really everything in the main hall and on the side floors. The top, top floor - where there is a decent sized reception space - is glorious. Truly glorious. Unfortunately, though I must say there was a lot of confusion about this and lack of clarity - in my opinion - due to issues of either fire code or weight limit stress (which seems odd for a structure supported by steel) - they say no more than 100 people can be up there. I have to tell you, I’ve worked a lot of concerts, events, and receptions before in lots of spaces (as you all know), and I think that number is grossly too low. 
But, that doesn’t help them or me or ACFEA for that matter negotiate with the Magdeburg fire department. Our thought was it might be a cool place for a sandwich or something between rehearsal and concert (and that might be possible) but better yet for a Chorus and followers only reception. The answer was no for right now, but I might not give up on that just yet because it would be pretty spectacular. And, yes, there is a perfectly fine elevator that gets people up there (unlike the torpedo tube elevator in Stephansdom to their attic). 

No promises here — Andrew and I tried, but first answer was a no.

The staff at the Johanniskirche were excellent and so enjoyable to work with and tour the space with, and, while singers and followers might not note such things, I certainly do. Good artist managers, venue managers, agents, is so important in our world. These folks got it, clearly. They run a very well organized machine here at the Johanniskirche and I believe them when they talk about their good audience sizes for this hugely important community event.

Towards the end of our inspection and meeting, I noticed a sign in German about the steps going up the bell tower (all the way up to the top). The first lady we were with said no, I couldn’t go up. The second lady said no, it was 270 steps and I shouldn’t do it. Then the gentlemen we were with, looked at the both and, in German, said something along the lines of, fine, let’s see if they can do it, and they unlocked the door!

This is the north tower, we climbed the south.
It was something.

Andrew, Nick, and I decided to make the climb up this very, very old (and this was original from hundreds of years ago) uneven, stone, winding staircase. And I started out sort of sprinting up. And, 270 steps at first on an old, winding, uneven stone staircase seems simple - and then you realize how out of shape and overweight you are about 1/3 of the way up. You also realize you are just getting over bronchitis and left your inhaler in the van. But, you then remember how often are you in Magdeburg climbing a staircase built hundreds of years ago ascending a bell tower to, more than likely, get an incredible view of the city once you get the top. And you go faster!! Unfortunately, with Andrew also in the same recent respiratory illness phase as I was in recently (and I’m more out of it than him), about 1/2 way up, at the first level landing, Andrew deemed it wise for him to call it a good try and head back down. I probably should have done the same thing, but sometimes (okay, a bit too often) I’m a stubborn ass just hell bent to do something, so Nick and I kept going.

We both thought we had reach the top where it was very light when we realized it was another landing — I swear this was the end of the 270 steps they told us about, but there was at least another 3 stories (or 4, God only knows) of an OPEN spiral staircase to the very top. Open in the sense that the first 3/4 of the way up, the stone stairs went right to the wall and you could brace with two railings and there was wall all around you…this part the room was slightly larger, the staircase smaller, and you the walls from the side of the stairs and its little metal rail was about 6 feet away on each side. So, this was the scary part. But, up we went.

And we reach the top. Let me tell you, it was so well worth it. The wind was awful and scary in its own right, but we were well protected from falling over, no worries, and we did not stray to far from the center of the little landing at the top of the spire. But the view, goodness, incredible. 

The Magdeburg Dom (cathedral is Dom in German and will be hence used) was glowing as the sun was going down in the sky. The clouds and sky were blue, orange, and pink and it was just exceptionally beautiful. No, we did get to see any bells, those are enclosed and protected in a room with no access on our end (though I did see the entrance) - we were actually well above them at this point. But, it was awesome.

The truth is the climb down the stairs was just as challenging, if not more so, as it was harder to see for some reason going down, and the uneven cobblestone stairs were treacherous. Both Nick and I clung tightly to the hand rails. We made it back safely, no worries!

We might, might, be able to persuade them to let folks make this ascent in 2017 - it is geared at the very top as a safe viewing platform. But, it is not for little kids or anyone with mobility, balance, or other issues. And, if heights isn’t your thing, it’s not for you either. We’ll see. It was cool. One of the highlights for me so far!! Again, no promises.

The maestro in Magdeburg.

After our trek up to the heavens we wrapped it up at the Johanniskirche and then headed into the nearby city core and rebuilt (or rebuildig) Altstadt to assess the shopping and, more importantly, dining situation should we send singers loose in this little area between the rehearsal and concert in lieu of dinner after the concert (which is the plan we are leaning towards as of this writing). There are a lot of options, quite quickly and quite cheap, within really easy walk (like across the street and a block) from the Johanniskirche. There were a fair amount available and out on a frigid winter day, so it stands to reason there should be more options and more outdoor options in the two main squares on a warm July day with a late sunset in July 2017. We walked around and checked out a few places to eat over the next half hour or so, there were indeed some fun places before hopping back in the van with Stephan and making a quick trip over to the very, very impressive Dom in Magdeburg. 

The Dom (cathedral) is not a site of regular concerts of our type nor would it really work for us, but the structure itself — at least from the exterior — is breath taking. It’s only a few minutes walk from the Johanniskirche and singers and followers will likely be able to make a trip over here if they’d like (on foot and on their own) during the good size break between rehearsal and dinner.

The enormous Magdeburg Dom.

By 4:47 pm we were back in our warm van and headed to the autobahn to head to Leipzig. It is a good trek between the two cities, about 80-90 minutes. But, after the concert, the singers will be able to relax on the ride which is almost directly straight (it’s not winding or anything like that) through the German countryside as we head back to Leipzig.

Autobahn
Our drive was actually lovely. The vast farms of the countryside - dotted with many wind turbine farms - was made even more beautiful by the sun setting in the southwest sky. It was a magnificent sunset and one I tried to get a good picture of but failed since we were in a moving van. By the way, our time to Leipzig was better than the time I’m noting above. Why? Because there is no speed limit for non-coaches on the autobahn. And let me tell you, that mini-bus or van thing we are in, well, Stephan drives it very well. And there were people passing us. Kind off amazing to see someone pass you on a highway at a speed they’d get arrested for in the US. Alas, it’s open road in places here so, engage!!! Sorry, I’ve typed too much without a Star Trek reference!!

Leipzig
We arrived into Leipzig and got checked into our hotel, the InterCity Hotel, around 6:15-20 pm. We had yet another meeting ahead of us, this time a tour of the InterCity and room inspection, right away, so we had a very short time to go to our rooms, drop our stuff off, use the bathroom, and then we were back at it at 6:30 pm touring the hotel.

The IC was actually quite nice. It’s been recently built  and is a new hotel. The rooms are simple, very clean, and very identical to each other. Everything is new, so I found no really issues with anything. They seem to have all the room types we need, a great check-in process, ample space for breakfast and such, a great hotel bar, and very comfortable beds. The showers and bathrooms are not huge in a regular room, but they are private and the showers were good. It was a bit like the hotel, for those who have been on them, in Prague and Vienna and maybe sort of a hybrid of the two. The rooms were small, definitely city hotel rooms, but not too small that you thought, oh my goodness, I am in a broom closet. It sort of reminded me of a hotel say in the actual city of Boston at like the Hilton or Sheraton in Back Bay. Perhaps a tad smaller, but again, perfectly fine. VERY clean. The hall ways were quite easy to navigate as well and the elevators were very efficient.

A few great things to know about this hotel. 

One, the location is FABULOUS. You are not right smack in the center of the Altstadt (old city) but it sits right on its edge — basically, you cross the big main street (it’s a ring street like Vienna) and boom, you’re in it and within really 5 to 15 minutes walk of everything. Truth is, you are within 2-3 minutes walk of the beginning of all of it and it is really, really easy to navigate. And, once you cross the street and get inside the ring, you are already there. The location is really fantastic. This is very important to me in the hotels on our tour, but especially this one, but Andrew and I were both very, very impressed.

Two, Leipzig has an incredible and really user friendly (and extensive and frequent) tram network. This might be blasphemy for me to say, but it gives Vienna a run for its money. It doesn’t go inside the ring sans maybe one line, but you can basically pick up the tram at any point along the ring, and, if you are on the other side of the hotel, hop on to it and it brings you right back to the stop about 100 yards from the hotel. It can also easily take you to historic and interesting sites, of which there are some you certainly might want to visit, outside of the ring should you desire.

But, here is the best part, every tour singer and follower - everyone staying in the hotel with us - gets a FREE (free!) Leipzig Transit pass for the DURATION OF YOUR STAY! Meaning, you get a pass when you check in and between that moment and the moment you check out, as long as you have that pass on you, you can hop on and off any tram, bus, or whatever in Leipzig whenever you want and for any ride you want. You don’t have to validate it or anything. You can just use it. And they will help you at reception and give you maps if you have questions. The staff here is very “user friendly” and proud of their city.

Finally, wait for it, this hotel has very good and password free to guests Wifi! They have done a great job here in this hotel and they have one a lot of points with both Andrew and I during our stay.

Okay, enough about the hotel, but I thought you’d all like to know all that interesting stuff.

We finished our meeting and inspection in the hotel at 6:50 pm. We took a ten-minute break to freshen up and then all met downstairs in the lobby at 7 pm to head out into Leipzig. She’ll have to forgive me but one of Sue’s friends and main contacts in Leipzig, who for now I’ll call Frau Leipzig, met us in the lobby and brought out into the city so we could get to know it a bit and learn how easy it was to navigate.

Worth noting right away as we noted on our walk: Right across the ring from us is a HUGE mall with all sorts of shops in it — including a grocery store and Target-esque store so if folks need stuff, this is a great option. Secondly, a block away from us is the main train station, one of the largest and best in Europe which also has a mall with 300 shops (I’m not sure if that’s true, because that seems like a lot, but that is what Frau Leipzig said) and the train station and its shops are open late into the evening. So, this is great for folks to know. Nearly every tram in the city stops within two blocks from our hotel at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) so we really are right at the nerve center or entrance into the core of the town (city, but Leipzig once you cross into the Altstadt from the ring really has a big town feel).

We crossed from here into center and began a beautiful walk all around the side and main streets of Leipzig which are remarkably clean and well lighted and safe at night. What’s really neat is Leipzig is filled with lots of little side or connector passageways and hofs, also well lit, and filled with little shops and tons - tons - of restaurants.

The Altstadt is quite beautiful and the streets are so deliciously charming. As charming as all those side and winding streets in Prague. In fact, Leipzig has a very Prague feel to it. It’s interesting to compare Leipzig to Prague because, at least from my quick visit here — which has been a quick one – Leipzig and Prague have had a lot of money come into them, have made great strides since the fall of the Eastern bloc and end of the Cold War, and they feel very western. Like West German cities of old. And things from the second world war, minus a few notable buildings left as war monuments, have been rebuilt and repaired or are really now undergoing serious rebuild and repair. But, you’d be hard press to know the Cold War past in Leipzig if not from the smattering of really ugly buidlings built every few blocks in the Altstadt on sites where total obliteration either from WWII or the DDR days took place. There are some really hideous ones in there for sure, but there is so much beauty in other places. (Noting too, though, this is true in the center part of the city, as you push out you’ll see a lot more “scars” from the DDR days and a lot of empty or falling apart buildings which are still in need of help and investment. Sue points out this is related to building ownership dating back decades — I’ll explain that at another time or let the guides explain it to you when you are her).

I really enjoyed this walk in Leipzig. Both Andrew and I immediately commented that the Chorus and our followers are going to adore this city, especially in the summer months.

We found our way to the Nickolaikirche, one of the three churches where Bach was kantor. This and Thomaskirche are the two that survive. We could not get in to see the stately Nickolaikirche at this hour, but it was beautifully illuminated in the winter Leipzig sky and was quite a sight to see. In this church was the beginnings of the freedom movement in the DDR. The movement that brought Germany back together and “took down” the wall started in Leipzig and in this church (keeping in mind, it was an active church in the DDR days). But a movement that changed a nation and the world began here and spread through Leipzig from actions that took place here more than 25 years ago now.

Nickolai looking up.

I write a lot about this time as it was a time of profound impact in my life. Having lived in West Germany in 1989 and 1990, and being 10 and 11 years old, I was in this nation as it began to heal itself and come back together. At first, it was hard for me to grasp what this all meant, but I have a very brilliant mother who is an incredible teacher. And she helped guide my sister and I during that year and understand the importance of what we were seeing close up and personally. I thus, have quite an affection not only for the German people, but a great appreciation for what it meant for the country to be reunited. What it meant for the wall to come down. What it meant for families to be reunited across a closed border. What it meant for freedom to come to these people. Because of the divisions though, in that time, by time in the DDR was spent either on a train crawling through the country side and stopping in stations surrounded by police dogs and warnings to not take pictures or get off the train, or, briefly, in East Berlin soon after it was open. I got a very small taste of what their oppression had looked like, but did not experience that first hand — but I did know what they had gone through and how much sadness and distress and woe it created. What I did see and watch was the joy of that ending, and the bringing together of people through trust and friendship.

So, seeing a city like Leipzig thrive — much like Prague or Budapest – is impactful to me. Seeing a city like Magdeburg work so hard to make this move too, is also impactful. Seeing the Nickolaikirche and knowing what began there was pretty special.

Approaching the Thomaskirche.

And, on the ground outside of the Nickolaikirche are 140 tiles that, over the course of the evening - and in seemingly but not actual random location - built into the cobblestone that one by one over the course of the evening turn on. Randomly, and changing their color each night and order each night. These tiles represent the growing movement of freedom that started in Leipzig from the church and how it grew and grew and grew until finally it was all over the DDR (as it also spread throughout the other Soviet bloc countries in the east). It’s a powerful little monument to a major time.

This is a lot of history, but man, this country drips history.

Our walk eventually took us by the next and perhaps more important Bach church and the second Chorus venue, the Thomaskirche (A LOT more on that tomorrow), which, like its Nickolai cousin, was also gloriously illuminated. It was also closed for the evening, but in this church lies what remains of Johann Sebastian Bach and this is the church for Bach music and Bach performance. It is also one of Leipzig’s most active parish churches with its own extensive musical program. Outside is a great statue and memorial to Bach where we definitely snapped a few pictures. Andrew was almost giddy seeing the church, and I don’t blame him, so was I. Truth be told, getting to sing here is a real coup and a real treat for us for a myriad of reasons you all know so very well!!

Churches aside, we also took a look at some other good and historic restaurants, not for the full group meals, but so we can have good tips to give people when they go to eat on their own. There are many, many options and we’ll try our best to compile a list of them for you all next year if not before. But, the good news, things here are very reasonably priced. I daresay, and this could change in the summer, cheap.

Andrew's seat at the Ratskeller.

But, we had dinner reservations at 7:45 pm at the Ratskeller in the “new” town hall, which is still pretty old or looks old and is an incredible building. A grand restaurant with a lovely menu, beer, and wine selection, this is to be the site of our first night group meal together once we are all in Leipzig. It is a very good space for this and the room we are using, adorned with old Leipziger battle armor and shields and other various “bling” as Nick called it is a perfect atmosphere for us and for us to start off together. The meal will be served buffet style and we try everything - for our meal, served to us family style, that the Chorus and followers will have. It is good variety and very, very tasty. And, they already know, our group likes their beer quickly and cold, and they’ll make sure they are ready for us!!

Our dinner was truly lovely and it was great to get some true German beer, though, I’ll admit, rather than Leipziger local I opted for some good Bavarian dark wheat beers which I love so much and had a couple of them. It was so very tasty. We did inspect the place before dinner with the management, and this was a very good and efficient meeting, but the real inspection was the food which both Andrew and I can report back was quite good. We are in for a treat our first night together in a place that will work great for the Chorus! I’m quite excited about it.

Nick and Amanda on the #9.

After dinner, having explained to our group (most of whom knew this) my unending love of public transit, Frau Leipzig said good-bye, but then Sue, Amanda, Nick, Andrew, and I decided to take the tram back around the ring to the hotel. I ride was all of 4 minutes back, but saved us about 15 minutes of walking and, as advertised was very, very easy.

We headed back into our hotel just before 10 pm. Having been up at this point for nearly two days without sleep, it was time to head in for the night. Our departure was at 8:45 am in the morning for a crazy day that would take us to a big important meeting at the Thomaskirche, then on to Jena for a meeting, a meal, a tour, then on to Weimar, then on to Erfurt for lots of other things. So much ahead of us.

I got to my room, took a very enjoyable hot shower and waited up until 11:30 pm or so to be able to FaceTime home so I could talk to my family and send them love home before bed.

Huge day ahead on Thursday.

Seacreast, out.

Day 3, Thu, Feb 4 - 2017 Germany Inspection Trip

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Where were we:

- Leipzig
- Jena
- Weimar
- Erfurt 

Guten morgen from Leipzig! There is a great deal ahead today to write about so buckle up and gather your kids, parents, grandparents, and pets around the internet, and welcome to the blog.

I have often had a difficult time sleeping the first night I am in Europe despite being jet lagged. Nick commented on this as well as he has been having similar issues. Mine is that I never have a fully restful sleep and wake up a lot from strange noises or worries, not that my clock is not functioning properly. And, I am always certain overtired. But, this sleep from Wednesday and Thursday was nearly perfect. I believe, or at least, I remember, only waking up just once (which is sort of a record for me and my terrible bladder).

The showers at the IC Hotel are great. Hot water, two options of spray - from the traditional top or hand held, and efficient draining systems. You sort of feel like you are on the Enterprise's transporter pad. My mattress over night seemed quite comfortable and the temperature control system in the room were first rate.

I was in a standard double and the room was clean, efficient, and perfectly comfortable for me and one other I would suspect (had my wife Alisa been along for the ride, she would have liked it too). I think you will find this the same for you. It is a very good hotel and my rest was enjoyable and quiet and comfortable. That’s all you can ask for in my book.

I was down at breakfast at about 8:20 am and had a very quick breakfast as we were leaving at 8:45 am for the Thomaskirche inspection and meeting with their musical and parish staff. 

The breakfast was very good. It was German traditional with lots of meats, cheese, and fruit - a great selection - as well as a wonderful selection of breads, pastries, and cereal and so forth. There were several American items too like scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon, and even pancakes. Great coffee and tea and juice selection as well. The breakfast was first-rate all around. 

There is ample seating in the breakfast room in the front of the lobby (which doubles as the bar after breakfast service), but there is also a large connecting overflow room, perfectly fine but without the big windows, attached. They will easily be able to hold a Chorus group of singers and camp followers and this is again very encouraging.

After breakfast, I sprinted back to the lift to get my bags out of my room.

Here is an important part about the elevators in all of our hotels. You will get a room card key, fairly standard in all American hotels these days. You will not get an actual key. To use the elevator and go any higher than the ground or first level (remember in Europe the ground floor is level E or O or R, but never 1, 1 is what we would think of as the second floor) you have to swipe your card into a slot next to the floors on the elevator control panel. Then, you press your number and off you go. Once you get to your floor, you will see a similar slot outside your door and not in it. This is the same for all three hotels. The only exception to this is that in the hotel in Ulm, the card swipe in the elevator automatically selects your floor for you, so no extra pushing of buttons. Going down or to other floors once you go to your original floor is possible to do without a swipe. We will remind you of that next summer.

We had a 9 am appointment at the Thomaskirche and got there at 8:54 am. Just enough time to snap a picture at both the Mendelssohn and Bach statues in this square. If you are not sure how Mendelssohn influenced our love of Bach today, I encourage you to Google it. It is a good story you can read about before the tour - and should - our a Leipzig guide can tell you themselves in a a year and a half.

Walking into the Thomaskirche, which today is a living and breathing parish church much like it was five centuries ago, and knowing all of the music Bach brought to life in this building and its importance on choral history was a bit like, for me, stepping into King’s College or Westminster for the first time. This was holy ground for many reasons, but especially for us choral musicians and choral music lovers. You could tell Andrew was just as giddy as I was about it as we realize what we were doing.

As we walked in, though, we reminded this is a musical church and a living one. One of the organs in the church was being tuned, another was in major repair and renovation, and there were - on the upper level galleries - organ pieces every where! Amanda called them Organ Legos. It was wild to listen to an organ tuning in Bach’s church, but also difficult to think as well. Alas, all little tuning noise was well worth it.

We met our Thomaskirche contact and immediately began a tour of the facility before finding our way up to the massive - and I mean massive, it could fit an orchestra and huge choir - gallery in the back upper level of the nave. It is an impressive space in which to work and to see a great few of the full church. Thomaskirche is a big church, but not a mammoth Catholic cathedral. Instead, it is a parish church and church of the people of Leipzig filled with so much character and history. Words can’t describe the impact the Thomaskirche had on both Andrew and I - and the thought of singing Bach in this church in a year and a half, well, that was something special to keep in mind.

Our inspection was fairly standard on the viewing side. We then engaged in a very lengthy meeting with the Thomaskirche personnel. It was a great time for to practice my German listening and translating skills as a lot of this meeting was in German. Sue and Nick speak fluently. Sue probably better than fluet. I have discovered my listening German and ability to translate is in good shape. My speaking German, not so much, but I can figure out what is going on and usually being said, so this helped me listen in a little more. I am hell bent now on getting a German tutor and getting some of my spoken German back over the next year and a half. A lot is creeping back in my head even after only a few days on the ground here - and I want that language back in my brain and easily speakable from my mouth.

All of the nitty gritty details - of which there was a ton - were hammered out over the next 35 minutes or so and there were several interesting developments. One, the Leipzig music/parish director invited us on behalf of the Thomaskirche to not just sing the “secondary” service in the evening on the Sunday we are in Leipzig, but extended to us the formal invitation to sing the “primary” and “high” service - the most popular and important one - in the morning as well. To add on, originally, we were told for any service we sing, no more than a little bit of Bach if any at all. By this meeting it had changed to do some portions of the B Minor within the church service (panic not, certainly and not even close to all or even 1/2 of it, just some key parts that the Chorus and Thomaskirche and Andrew agreed on. But, with the primary high service and honor secured, we thought it might too much to tackle both services that day. We respectfully bowed out of the second in favor of the first, and all involved thought this was a great step and move.

All and all this service and music and arrangement is a HUGE honor for our merry band of singers. 

Secondly, related to this, our new Thomaskirche friend - their lead contact - has a husband who plays regularly in a very good Leipzig based orchestra. Originally, we were going to use an orchestra based in Halle, but with this off the radar at the moment, options freed up. Long story short of this, the husband is going to try to bring together the special orchestra we need for this and come play trumpet with us - hopefully - on Sunday morning at the high service. This is a direct personnel contact, Andrew’s contractor in Leipzig so to say, and gives us great assurance that we will have a wonderful rosters of players in July of 2017.

This Thomaskirche news and situation just was fabulous. Andrew and I couldn’t be more pleased at this development. These few long paragraphs still cannot describe the importance of doing this and this invitation enough.

With just a little bit of time before we had to leave the beautiful city of Leipzig, and as Stephan reminded us it was really little, we zipped over quick to see Bach’s other well known church, the previously described Nickolaikirche. It is an impressive space also. Very soupy in terms of sound with its high ceiling and flat surfaces. We all thought the space was beautiful - and it is - highly worth a stop and they have nearly daily organ concerts in there (not so much choral, but organ, yes). Andrew noted that Nickolai was more grand and stately - like a museum or a showcase church. He noted that the Thomaskirche, to him, felt like the personal church, the local church, the church of the people and had far more vibe for what we are going to do. Still, Nickolai is very worth your visit - perhaps after you morning service at the Thomaskirche - the revolution of the DDR began in this church.

We headed out of the city about 10:12 am and then headed into the sort of sprawl of the city toward the autobahn while first making a stop at a huge monument, apparently slightly larger than the Eiffel Tower (debated greatly by our mini-van of travel folks). It wasn’t necessarily pretty, or in a pretty area of Leipzig (though there was a nice park nearby), but it was impressive to see. But, from there we said farewell to Leipzing.

Jena
We were headed to Jena - home of our second concert, a run-out of about 35 minutes from Erfurt, ultimately our stop at the end of the day.

We were in Jena about 11:21 am and went straight in to the very lovely Stadtkirche, St. Michael’s - just for you Michael Freitas and Michael Grillo.

Another important main city church in the land of Luther, Bach, and friends, this church has a very well attended a regionally popular summer concert series. In 2017, it will be filled with performances like ours tied into the many celebrations of the Reformation across Germany. The church has exceptional acoustics, and both Andrew and I agreed that the Chorus and orchestra would sound really good doing the B Minor in this space.

They anticipate an audience of anywhere from 500 to 700, it was set up for about 500 when we were in there, but this is to be one of the marquee concerts on their Thursday Summer Series (with special attention for the 2017 celebration) so the team of the Stadtkirche seemed quite confident.

St. Michael's - the Stadtkirche of Jena

Like the performance in Magdeburg, the proceeds of this performance will be offered by the church, on behalf of the church and the Chorus of Westerly, to a local charitable or youth cause of our choice. Sometime over the next year, the Chorus will get to look at a list of some causes we could support. Odds are good we are going to look for a good program to support through either music, community development, or children — or all of them. But, there are lots of other options that are, perhaps, more relevant that we could then explore. Much more to come on this, of course.

Andrew and I really liked the Kirche and loved that we were on the Stadtkirche Summer Series, and loved even more the idea of supporting a local organization or program. Much like our gig in Magdeburg, we will be helping a community with our performance. Exciting to bring great music, sing for a great community, and, in the best we can - through music - harness music to change lives and nurture the soul of a community (that’s a slight twist on our mission statement, FYI).

Before we completed our meeting and inspection in the Kirche we went up to the upper level galleries and the choir gallery itself to see the organ and to get a good view of the entire place. We are not singing up here, but it was kind of the Kirche’s staff to let us get up there for some good prospective. 

Inside St. Michael's from the choir gallery.

Our inspection and meeting at the Jena church went very well. Everyone was pleased. Once we were completed, we went immediately next door to the Kirche to the vibrant and alive university and into their main hall and student center. In a very old and lovely building, students were bustling to and from classes. It was nice to be there and watch the German students head to and from class and interact with each other.

But, far from just checking it out, this building is the holding room, dressing room, bathrooms, et cetera for the Chorus for the performance in the kirche. It has sufficient restrooms and that is quite good as there is one toilet in the church itself (which, in itself, is worth the visit, the bathroom’s ceiling goes up the bell tower — hard to describe and I didn’t think a picture in there was really appropriate).

With our meetings completed and Andrew and I very satisfied with what we heard and saw, Nick, Amanda, Andrew, Sue, and I headed out into the side streets of Jena around 12:07 PM.

Jena is really a neat little city. Easily walkable and filled with little side streets complete with charming shops and many restaurants, we found it quite nice to walk around in. I think our camp followers, if they would like, could come with us to Jena and enjoy exploring the town for a few hours in the afternoon, and, perhaps, finding a nice place outside in one of two or three main squares to enjoy a glass of beer or wine or a soft drink. Our time was so limited in Jena that our walk around was not much more than 1/2 an hour, but both Andrew and I agreed that this town would be very fun to explore when the weather was warm in July 2017.

Our next appointment was at Roter Hirsch, a Gasthaus located right at the edge of the Altstadt. Roter Hirsch is a planned location of dinner for the Chorus and follower prior to the Jena performance.


Before we got to tRoter Hirsch via foot, we stopped at another beer garden restaurant on one of the tiny side streets to inspect and see, should something with Roter Hirsch fall through or it not be possible, we had seen a possible alternate. As it turned out, that conversation was relevant as Roter Hirsch can - max and it would be tight - only hold 170 or so for a meal. With couriers and bus drivers and such, we are projecting about 197 people for the tour, so this presented a problem.

At Roter Hirsch we met up with Stephan. And, once we were served our beer, we had a big discussion about the Jena day, the singers eating, and the followers eating, and bus times for singers and followers and/or folks who do or do not want to come to Jena (PS - everyone should come to Jena). We all liked Roter Hirsch very much. The building, the service, the atmosphere, the food was all very authentic and quite good, and we knew it was a good hit for us.

As this day in Jena presents some interesting logistical time problems - and options for followers and such - we came to the conclusion we could make this work if some followers were willing to do a later seating for dinner (the Chorus will eat between rehearsal and concert), then come to the concert while the Chorus is getting dress and ready. This might some confusing or worrisome, but don’t worry, however we work this all out it will be great.

Our meal in Roter Hirsch was potatoes, salad, and a schnitzel, followed by some sort of simple pudding for dessert. It was good, but we will still probably need to refine the meal here a little bit later on. This depends on a few things with the other locations and their menus. We will have more on that later, but, in terms of the restaurant itself, we think we have a winner.

While we are here in Jena, a few things came to mind that I think could be in an interlude. Let’s call it, things I forgot to say or things that need mentioning. 

Walking around Jena.

The schedule and how this tour will run is going to be different from the last tour. It is, logistically for us, a little more complicated because we are doing - with the exception of our Thomaskirche service - concerts in locations outside of our host cities. Our host cities are, like parts of the 1981, 1987, 1995, launching sites for us to head out to nearby venues for run out concerts (that is the term). We also have lots of excursions or things that we are working on, non performance related, to other nearby places and locations. 

For example, we are going to have an excursion day - included in the cost of the tour for everyone at no additional cost - to the city of Dresden (this is during our four night stay in Leipzig). There is a meal in Dresden likely provided as well, but the trip itself will be optional. Even once in Dresden, we will have some other options and excursions available (those will likely be a la carte with fees if they apply). So, there will be a fair amount of options on this tour and you will be able to make it as busy as you want — or not as busy. We will tell you more about it, but I wanted you to know that these were coming. 

Dresden is the one city in all of this, FYI, we didn’t see, but from what we know of it and are told of it, it is worth the trip.

Other excursions being worked in or around include an optional excursion to Eisenach on one of our Erfurt days - include a trip to the Wartburg and Wittenburg Church, if interest exists, an excursion to Buchenwald (there is an age minimum on this, 14, due to many factors), and several other interesting items. There’s not a real logical place to explain this all in here, so I thought I’d throw it in now.

Back to the actual record of action.

Weimar

We left Jena at 1:28 PM and Stephan deftly navigated us out of the city and on to a long and winding road on the way to Weimar. I sat up front for the first time in the van and got a good chance to look at the pretty German countryside.

The drive to Weimar was quite easy in terms of time, but the weather turned quite awful along the way as it started to rain quite a bit. It did not slow Stephan down though, he did a great job and we arrived in the core of Weimar at 2:09 PM. And, because it was raining so hard and we had appointments in Erfurt later in the day, we skipped the walking around tour together in favor of a very fast Stephan car tour with Sue as guide.

Quick stop in Weimar.

The Chorus Tour will take us - in terms of host cities - from Leipzig to Erfurt on the first leg. Weimar is roughly half way between them. So, the plan is to stop in Weimar on the way to Erfurt and give people several hours to explore the city on their own and get lunch in the city. Weimar is quite small and easy to navigate and, much like Jena, a very cool little city. There is a lot of historical stuff to see in Weimar, and a great park, so I encourage you to Google it and check it out.

Before we left Weimar we made about a four minute stop at one of the local historic churches - forgive me that I didn’t get the name - that is being fully restored having only opened recently. It was interesting that inside they were actually painting back on the ornate gold trim along the sides of the church. 

Stephan was illegally parked, so we made this visit very quick and then got back into our little coach to continue our drive to Erfurt. It was 2:21 PM when we left Weimar and we were pulling up to our hotel, the Radisson Blu (which, like all of the hotels we visited has a great location) at 2:55 PM. By 3 PM, we were all checked in and headed quickly to our rooms before our inspection of the hotel for the tour.

Erfurt

The Radisson Blu is a big, modernish tower in an otherwise very, very old city. It has recently undergone a renovation and all rooms have new mattresses. Its lobby is very large and very comfortable with one very nice and big bar and a big sports bar too. It will very easily accommodate us. Like the InterCity, I think this hotel will work great for the Chorus.

The check-in process was easy and, after dropping off bags in our room, we began our inspection. It was worth noting that our rooms looked out on a very old church that is basically the Bach family church - with, oddly, the exception of JS Bach (who never worked there) but 60 or so of his real family did and his parents were married there, so it’s the family church. It’s right next to the hotel and that was quite cool.

The sales manager, a young blonde German woman who’s name I have forgotten, toured us around the hotel. The rooms here are all bright, clean, and, again with new mattresses. We do have options for families and such, so that is great. The room’s aren’t all huge, but I found them acceptable in size. The beds are comfortable. The bathrooms are interesting. It’s hard to describe this, but the toilet and the shower are not together but share a door. Okay, that doesn’t make sense. 

So…

Imagine a shower facing you, right in front of you. Now directly to your right, there is a toilet. There is a door, right now, it closes in the shower. But, if you want a door for the toilet, you open the shower door and then swing it to become the toilet door. And imagine it is made of glass, but the top and very bottom are clear. You can’t see anything, but it is a little odd. You still have privacy, but they used the space here creatively. If you went on the 2014 tour and and the weird open shower in Vienna, it’s not quite like that in turns of “exposure” to the entire world, but it’s one of those goofy European designs.

You just have to see it to believe it. The shower works great, though!

The hotel has 16 floors plus the ground level (there floor 0 or floor E). The upper level is the gym and fitness center which is not free but 2.50 per person if you want to use it. All of the floors are smoke-free. With possibly the exception of the 15th floor (don’t worry, we can all fit in the hotel without the 15th floor). But, let me tell you a funny story about the 15th floor.

So, as we went up the elevator, our nice German manager told us all the floors were smoke free. But, very quickly, both Nick and Andrew quizzed her on that because on the elevator button panel every floor BUT the 15th was marked non-smoking. 15 was the only without that particular tag (it said nothing). She insisted that everything was smoke free and this was wrong. But, as fate would have it, we were headed to the 15th floor to see the suites up there as another family with small children possibility.

The minute we stepped into the hallways it was clear that this was a smoking floor. You couldn’t help but notice. Nick, Amanda, Andrew, Sue, everyone commented on it right away. This was a smoking floor.

No, no, our German friend insisted, it was not. Someone must be smoking in their rooms and we will have to come investigate this as soon as possible. Seemed odd but it was a fair point. 

Then, almost dramatically, we went into a suite. And the suite smelled like a smoking room too. It was not just someone’s sensitive nose. 

No, no, this must have been leftover smell from way back when this was smoking. It is a non-smoking room. Sue asked in German, Nick asked in English, and Andrew really asked - was this smoking or not. Then someone, I can’t remember now if it was Nick or Andrew (I think it was Andrew) quickly noticed an ashtray - a Radisson ashtray on the table. She said that was just a leftover.

So, the 15th floor is non smoking in theory only. It is a smoking floor. Why she wouldn’t acknowledge that is beyond me — it’s okay with me to have 1 floor out of 16 or 17 for it. And it being at the top is fine for me too (and everyone else). Because, truthfully, it is a few lovely hotel and will be great for our group. We were pleased with everything we saw. It just was amusing she wouldn’t acknowledge it. And there were no translation problems either. Sue asked in German, and all of us heard the answer in German and could understand it - non smoking. So odd.

This hotel is great in that, in its lobby, it has a wonderful Altstadt city map that is really easy to read. Plus they have tons of material available and their lobby staff was very helpful. That’s sort of a random comment, but I thought I would share it.

Another thing: empty fridges in each room here, but no safes. There are safes and they will store valuables for you here at reception. 

Oh, here’s another funny thing about our visit to Erfurt and actually all these cities. It’s Fasching here in Germany. Their period of Carnival or Mardi Gras before Mardi. Whatever, Lent starts on Wednesday and the Germans celebrate starting today. Lots of people in costumes, parades, bands, things happening in places all over.

Erfurt apparently has “princes” or something — that’s not the right title, but Sue kept calling them princes (by the way, Sue is hilarious - a good hilarious). Well some of these princes were in the hotel. Now, imagine getting on the elevator with a very tall German man where black pants, a white shirt, and orange tails. No tie. Then a crazy bird like hat with feathers and bling. And imagine something even weirder than this and is what we had in the lobby with us throughout the date, plus beer.

The other Fasching tradition, as this was the start of it, is that if men wear ties on Fasching, women have permission to cut the tie and then wear it as some sort of prize. I am not sure what that all represents, but I am sure the internet can help you with that if you are interested!

Let’s talk a little more about Erfurt, shall we? First, Google it and read up about it to get the history. It’s got a lot of it and it is quite a special place. Its medieval core is preserved mostly, and it has great streets to explore and wander across. Leipzig does as well - within its core ring - but Erfurt feels a bit older as criss-cross it and get loss in its insides. Like Leipzig and so many European cities, the core of the city is all within a ring street. Our hotel is right off the ring on the inner city side. You walk one block from our hotel to the Bach family church and boom, you are in the middle of everything. One couldn’t ask for a better locale.

We wrapped up our hotel tour at 3:42 pm and reconvene the group together just before 4 pm in the lobby to go on a guided city tour around the Altstadt with an old friend of Sue’s, Gudrun Alt (age 83 and still going strong!) and a woman in her twenties named Yvonne from the Erfurt Visitors Bureau. Gudrun and her husband Hans Peter, who is of similar age, have been apparently the go to Erfurt guides forever.  She is a delightful woman and served as the primary guide for our entire walk around Erfurt (Yvonne walked with us and answered a lot of questions for me towards the back. She lives in the Altstadt and is very much in love with her city. I don’t blame her, it is a great place).

Bach's family church. His parents were married here.

Our tour took us all over the Altstadt. It was a very busy place with lots of people - all locals - out and about. It was also quite cold and raining, but we were all well bundled and wit rain gear. Gudrun had a great Erfurt umbrella that I wished we could have stolen and taken home!

We weaved in and out of lots of streets. Erfurt has many beautiful buildings, lots (and I mean lots) of shops and restaurants, and has a really great and fun vibe to it. To me, it is a lot like a much smaller Prague with the big castle or sprawling suburbs. I cannot way to see it in the summer time when its streets and squares are filled with tables and life from all their restaurants. Despite the rain, Andrew and I immediately understood why this place was so highly regarded by so many.

I should note that like Leipzig and, in the inner core more extensive than Leipzig, the Strassenbahn Tram network here is very good and very extensive. You can use it very easily all of the old city and it stops everywhere. Andrew commented on it was amazing that it could navigate through so many streets and how cleanly it was integrated in to the fabric of the city. This leads to a tip, however.

Leipzig is filled with trams. They are a little easier to spot than Erfurt. Erfurt is really filled with trams and they whip around corners quickly. Be very, very mindful of this - they are frequently coming and at all hours. And they are quiet. One can easily sneak up on you and they really do go right through the pedestrian zones and such so you have to remain alert.

The tip: Don’t get hit by a tram. Thank you for this consideration.

Some of the most beautiful places or Erfurt are around the river - in fact the name Erfurt comes from its relationship to the river. I have no internet access at the moment to give you a few overview, so Google that too if you would like — information is great!

Here’s another tip. All over Germany, there are a lot of cobblestones. But Erfurt (and Ulm too, less so in Leipzig) is filled with them. They are everywhere. So, our advice, wear only good walking shoes. Comfort. Safetly. Speed. Style. Follow this for your shoes.

Here endeth the tip. Amen.

About 40 minutes into our tour we arrived at the cathedral in Erfurt and its sister parish church. Two incredible buildings on a hill at the other end of the Altstadt in Erfurt. Time was crucial as they closed 4:45 so we made our way up the 90 or so stairs to get to the entrance level and first went into the magnificent Dom (Cathedral). 

In the rain, we head to the Dom (left)
and Servuskirche (right), 90 stairs to them.

The Dom is a very interesting building. Hugely high ceilings and a cavernous nave, it was pretty jaw dropping. The way the church was set up internally though was curious, with a prime alter in a weird place in the middle of the church. Then, the main high alter was sort of tucked away up front — almost like two different churches in one. It’s not a good venue for the Chorus to sing in however, though. The acoustics are just way to soupy and/or muddy, and the space itself on the inside just doesn’t present itself well for performances. It is beautiful though, especially when you see it all lighted up at night and between it and its neighboring parish church, it creates and incredible seen for us all to see.

We snuck quickly after this to the huge Parish church next door - The Severuskirche. Another beautiful structure and a lot like St. Margaret’s next to Westminster. The Dom is the Bishop’s church, the Parish church is the people’s church. Together, they make quite the complex. 

I can’t say enough how beautiful it was up there, and we also got one heck of a view of the city.

Our tour wan’t over though, and we headed back into the tiny streets of Erfurt, passed the grand city hall and square (a hot bed of activity in the summer), Andrew and I took a picture with a weird cartoon character statue, and then we went down this little street and stopped into the Visitors Bureau to warm up for a few minutes. Yvonne had to leave us here, but, before we left, she gave us each a play mobile Martin Luther. Apparently they are collectors items. Who knew?

Our next stop on the tour took us really into the depths of the old town and to the Krämerbrücken - the Kramer Bridge. It is a bridge, over the river, filled with houses and shops on it. Different and, in my opinion far more beautiful than its Florence counterpart, there are lots of great shops on the bridge. There is also a great window to see and a great story for me to tell off the internet about why, in this region of German, being “blue” is an interesting thing. I’ll tell you about that later because this is a family blog.

Erfurt - so lovely even in the rain.

We made a trip down to the river to look at the outside of the bridge and its houses before continuing or city walk. We learned a lot and were very impressed with the city and what we saw. We finished up back at the hotel at about 6 pm and said thank you and farewell to Gudrun and finally had a free period until our dinner call time at 7:45 pm. Nick and Amanda used this time to rest, have a drink, and catch up on work for the day. I think Sue used this period for a rest. Stephan was somewhere in the hotel or city. Andrew and I, after about a 10 minute pit stop, decided to just got out and walk more around the town again to get a good feel for it. 

We spent about an hour or so walking around, intentionally trying to vary our route from what it had been, but did find our way back to the cathedral to see it all illuminated at night. The rain had at this point started to end, but it was still a bit cold. We did get to see the cathedral and it was well worth the walk.

Walking back to the hotel, which we managed to do without a map (the entire walk actually), it took about 15-20 minutes end to end, maybe less (probably less), we had a long conversation about elements of the tour we have seen so far. Funny too.

At this point, Thursday at say 7 pm Europe time, we had been, since Tuesday, 7 pm, Boston time, in the Munich Airport, in the Berlin Airport, in Magdeburg, in Leipzig, in Jena, in Weimar, and now we were in Erfurt. We’d been in maybe a dozen churches, a lot of restaurants, on multiple tours of hotels or a city, and with very, very little sleep. Andrew and I were both having some difficulty keeping track of where we were or what venue we were talking about. At one point, rather humorously but honestly, Andrew asked me, “Wait, where are we?” as we walked back to the hotel. Things were moving so fast and we were seeing so much (and also processing so much), it was easy to get confused.

We arrived back from our walk, dropped off some stuff, and then immediately headed out to dinner at a place called Feurkugel. It was on the other side of the Krämerbrucke and about a 5-10 walk from the hotel. Stephan met us at the other end of the bridge and then we went in for a fine German meal. Stephan and I got the Thüringer Spezialitäten, which was more meat on a plate than I have ever seen. We also got the table a plate of wurst and kraut, so we were a very “full” group when we were done.

The famous bridge.

An interesting thing happened while we were there, which is another good tip. Nick’s credit card didn’t work. He had to drain his cash to make things roll, but folks, in Germany, cards sort of work. Cash is still king here. When you go out with your friends, make sure everyone has a little cash on them — it can’t hurt – or, at least locate an ATM near your restaurant as you walk in. I know we love credit cards, heck, that’s all I use is credit and debit these days. But, in some of the smaller cities and restaurants they don’t always work. Mind you, we are going in a year and a half, but keep this in mind before you go.

We were back at the hotel at 9:32 PM after a great dinner. Nick went to the bank across the street to use their ATM, but there was none (at least, none available early or late hours). Eventually, he did find one in the post office complex which is right in the first square you encounter near the Bach Church (3-5 minutes walk if that). So, keep that in mind.
Random aside topic, in that main square, really, really close to the hotel, is a shopping mall and in it you can find everything - grocery store, drug store, everything. It’s not open late, but during the day, it is there and very handy.

Many in the gang were exhausted, and I don’t blame them. So, we all said Gute Nacht a little before 10 pm and headed to our rooms.

I worked a lot of this blog once I got up there, and then, despite being exhausted couldn’t sleep. I think I fell asleep a little after 3 am, unfortunately. I did take a picture of my playmobil Martin Luther at 2:15 am and talked to home around 12:40 am.

But, once I was asleep, I did find the bed really comfy. My brain was just on fire that night as I was spinning on everything that we had seen.

And it was morning and it was evening, another great day.

More Erfurt pictures...