Foreign Tours
Over the last 15 years or so choir members have enjoyed taking music on tour. To date we have sung in:
Brittany (more than once), Alsace, Prague, Tuscany, Paris, Barcelona, Budapest and most recently, in May/June 2005, Krakow.
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| Hungary |
The time of year has most frequently been the late May bank holiday week, but we have also travelled at Easter, in August and the autumn half term week. However, this does not hint at (for instance) the exceptionally warm weather we had in Barcelona and Krakow at the end of May – around 30° - or the bitter cold, several degrees below freezing, we had to contend with in Prague at the end of October!
More often than not we fly, staying in 3 star hotels, sometimes on a B&B basis, sometimes on half board. The length of stay will be up to a week, during which time we give two concerts in different venues. We always aim to finish up with a last night party of some description. Various outings and guided tours are arranged which are not compulsory, but are usually excellent value.
This year we travelled to Krakow from 28 May to 2 June. Coaches took us from Bristol to Gatwick for our flight to Krakow where we were met by our charming guide Paulina and taken to our hotel by coach. On our first morning, with temperatures in the 30s, we went on a guided, walking tour of Krakow, which helped with subsequent orientation and also gave some insight into the history of the place.
After lunch we had a rehearsal for our first concert, in St Catherine's Church. We were amused by the specification sent to us in advance for the organ, describing it as being in 'bed' condition!
Our long-suffering organist was able to confirm the accuracy of this, but nevertheless managed to cope admirably as usual. In recent years our tour accompanist has been Peter King, organist at Bath Abbey.
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| Krakow |
Two days later we sang at St Peter & Paul's Church, which proved to have a much better organ. We arrived for this rehearsal dripping wet and cold after the weather changed abruptly and we woke up in the morning to find it was now only 15°! Both concerts were well attended and well received.
However, the best acoustics we found were definitely ....... 101m underground! One of our excursions was to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. Miles and miles of amazing tunnels and caverns including the Kinga Chapel. This is a real chapel, 54m long, 15-18m wide and 10-12m high – carved entirely in salt by the miners. It was literally breathtaking, and our unaccompanied "Steal Away" sounded quite wonderful.
Our visit to Auschwitz was rather more sobering, but we were glad we went.
We also had a day trip to Zakopane, the 'capital' of the only mountainous part of Poland, where we admired wonderful woodwork for which the area is famous. Some people took the funicular to the top of the mountain for the view – only to be well and truly hailed on when they arrived! (Meanwhile, others wisely stayed below and enjoyed hot soup in a bar like a log cabin instead, admiring the craftsmanship that had gone into its construction, and enjoying the cosy surroundings.)
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For our last night party we had a meal in a restaurant in the Jewish quarter. The food was excellent, and we were entertained by a trio of young musicians performing traditional music.
All in all a wonderful 6 days, proclaimed by some to be the best tour yet – but they said that about Budapest as well ...
Plans are underway for our 2007 tour in Puglia ( the 'heel' in Italy). We look forward to singing in a less well-known region of Italy on a tour organised by the local tourist organisation.