Forgive me for any grammatical errors. I'll attempt to correct mistakes when I have more sleep.
4/9/2012
The first day after long, international flights are always amusing to no end. Tiring flight + massive jet lag = zombie musicians. As you might recall from Bulgaria's second day, our experience over here was no different. My two roommates and I, Cameron and Ben, woke up early and, after an hour of silence, decided to get out of bed after Ben said it was almost 7 AM. After getting up, we realized that it was not 7 AM, but 5 AM. Unable to return to the wonderful realm of sleep, we amused ourselves with various pointless activities, including Cameron injuring himself multiple times (we kept count for the day, eventually stopping at thirty-nine), until 6:30, at which point we broke out our instruments and started jamming on Bach, Kruetzer etudes, and other random stuff. We survived the painful morning until breakfast which, thankfully, was worth the wait. Creepy YouTube videos of morphing sheep and narcoleptic goats aside, breakfast was refreshing.
Afterward, we left on the bus for our first tours of the day, which included a medieval castle and the twelve-hundred year-old city of Laufen. Following these tours, we were given an hour to find lunch on our own. A group of us stumbled around the area, searching desperately for a place to eat non-desserts as all the places we seemed to find were bakeries. We ended up eating at the “Picnic”, which looked and smelled slightly shady. When we tried to leave, the waitress thought someone hadn't paid for two sandwiches, resulting in a long attempt to convince her that all the food had been paid for. Thanks to Allen Hon's knowledge of German, we successfully settled the confusion and left for the next item on our agenda. Little did we know that this next item was a three and a half hour walking tour of Salzburg. Everyone was already exhausted and jetlagged, making the long tour seem even longer. The tour was not without its merits, though. We got to see Mozart's birthplace, some gardens, a cathedral, bridges, and the largest castle in the region (situated on a massive hill, to boot!). Nevertheless, upon seeing the bus again, kids were running to give their feet some much deserved relief. At this point, our bus was looking very much like PSYO's “zombie orchestra” in Bulgaria. People were passing out left and right, leaving the bus very, very quiet. The hills of Austria were definitely not alive with the sound of JCM students this afternoon.
We had an hour and a half at the hotel before dinner, giving us some time to practice, or sleep, if desired. The group was a little more lively for dinner, and for good reason. Dinner was as fabulous as last night, and the shenanigans that occurred at our table contained some of the funniest highlights of the trip so far. As if this wasn't enough for one day, Alec Hon and I followed up on a crazy idea we had earlier. Villa Lobos' Bachianas No. 1 is scored for eight cellos and Alec had access to the music, so we thought it would be worth a shot to read through it and see if it would be feasible to play. We scrounged up eight cellos, got access to the hotel's conference room, and read through the piece with amazingly good results. Now we're back in our bunks, hoping to wake up at more reasonable hours tomorrow morning.
Afterward, we left on the bus for our first tours of the day, which included a medieval castle and the twelve-hundred year-old city of Laufen. Following these tours, we were given an hour to find lunch on our own. A group of us stumbled around the area, searching desperately for a place to eat non-desserts as all the places we seemed to find were bakeries. We ended up eating at the “Picnic”, which looked and smelled slightly shady. When we tried to leave, the waitress thought someone hadn't paid for two sandwiches, resulting in a long attempt to convince her that all the food had been paid for. Thanks to Allen Hon's knowledge of German, we successfully settled the confusion and left for the next item on our agenda. Little did we know that this next item was a three and a half hour walking tour of Salzburg. Everyone was already exhausted and jetlagged, making the long tour seem even longer. The tour was not without its merits, though. We got to see Mozart's birthplace, some gardens, a cathedral, bridges, and the largest castle in the region (situated on a massive hill, to boot!). Nevertheless, upon seeing the bus again, kids were running to give their feet some much deserved relief. At this point, our bus was looking very much like PSYO's “zombie orchestra” in Bulgaria. People were passing out left and right, leaving the bus very, very quiet. The hills of Austria were definitely not alive with the sound of JCM students this afternoon.
We had an hour and a half at the hotel before dinner, giving us some time to practice, or sleep, if desired. The group was a little more lively for dinner, and for good reason. Dinner was as fabulous as last night, and the shenanigans that occurred at our table contained some of the funniest highlights of the trip so far. As if this wasn't enough for one day, Alec Hon and I followed up on a crazy idea we had earlier. Villa Lobos' Bachianas No. 1 is scored for eight cellos and Alec had access to the music, so we thought it would be worth a shot to read through it and see if it would be feasible to play. We scrounged up eight cellos, got access to the hotel's conference room, and read through the piece with amazingly good results. Now we're back in our bunks, hoping to wake up at more reasonable hours tomorrow morning.
