This picture is not so clear but DAS IST PLACIDOOO!
He was marvelous. You cannot see how charming a performer is by listening to a CD. He walked back and forth across the stage and sang to every audience member. He joked around with the conductor and worked very well with the soprano who sang as well. It was a joy to see him sing and to hear his voice live.
After seeing Placido Domingo sing, Bene, Erick and I went to McDonald's for dinner. We all ate small because afterwards we went to Cafe Tomaselli for cake/coffee/ice cream. It was scrumptious! They didn't press us with the bill afterwards either. Once we finished we sat for another hour people watching and talking and enjoying the sights of Salzburg. Here's the view UP from our seat:
After our dessert, we went to a pub to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. It was an Irish pub so there were a lot of people there from England and Ireland. Experiencing the Olympics with people from other countries (especially the hosting country) is really interesting. You see another side to the games and to the opinions of others.
I also met some very interesting people including a hat thief, a percussionist, and some bar tenders with fun characters!
Saturday morning, Bene and I awoke for breakfast. That lucky duck had tickets to see Elina Garanca's Liederabend. From what I heard, her performance was spectacular and here outfits were stunning. So 1/3 of the students in the program had tickets for Elina Garanca and another 1/3 had tickets for the Mozart Matinee that morning. I was one of the last 1/3 that had to find something to do. While other people stayed in and slept or did homework (blech) I went for a walk around Salzburg all on my own!
First, I found Hedwig's grave (May he rest in Peace):
After that, I walked around some more in Old Salzburg. Finally, I thought I might enjoy some more adventuring on the other side of the river. I crossed the bridge and went down a creepy road that looked relatively uninhabited. Then I found stairs. I went up, up, up. Then there was a turn with more stairs so I went up, up, up. Then...... There were more stairs.....
UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP UP
Finally, I reached the top and found a cool place in the shade of a giant tree that had a spectacular view of all of Salzburg.
I found someone to take a picture of the Old City behind me (if you look closely, you can see the coffee stain on my pants hehehe)
At 1:00, I met up with all the people who went to the concerts and we walked to the Billa (Grocery Store) and got sandwiches and fruit and chips and drinks. We then sat under a shady tree by the river for about 2 and a half hours chatting and eating and enjoying the lovely weather!
After the picnic, Erick kindly got ice cream for Bene and me. We went back to the Lehrerhaus and prepared ourselves for an evening of Opera!!!
On the way back down into the city, we followed to guys with man purses. On was fur. I totally captured this moment:
Starting on the 27th, every night in the Kapitelplatz, they show different videos of past and present events of the Salzburg festival. They show Operas and concerts and even a puppet show! On this evening, they were showing the 2006 production of Le Nozze di Figaro with Anna Netrebko.
There were a lot of people in attendance for this free showing and then the sky grew dark. They started handing out ponchos and we knew we were in for an uncomfortable evening.
The clouds opened up and it began to POURRR!
But you can NOT just leave a free opera. It's free. We sat through the rain like champs!!
This is a picture of many pancho'd people before they began leaving. We were some of the few people who stayed for the whole opera. But it was such a good production and worth it!
On Sunday morning (rain was falling...), I had tickets to the Mozart Matinee at 11. It was in the old Mozarteum right next to the Marionette Theater. The performance was marvelous. It was something like an Oratorio by Mozart. The story was about Divine Mercy, Divine Justice, and the Christian Spirit deciding how they should deal with all the men who give into the Worldly Spirit. It was an interesting show. At the end of it thought, I learned it was "The end of Part one." I guess I'll never know what happens in the second part...
The concert hall was GLORIOUS!!! See for yourself:
After the Mozart Matinee, I walked back to the Lehrerhaus to get Bene. When I was there I found new friend Megan and went with her to her host family's house with new friend Bret to celebrate new friend Mary Beth's birthday! We had delicious cake and pizza and it was very fun! ...But being in Salzburg, it started POURING once again. I had to leave too because I wanted to get dinner and go see the broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic concert that happened earlier that day.
I left in the rain and got my boat shoes wet. Bene said she didn't want to go with me to the Kapitalplatz so it was me, myself, and I!
Gemütlichkeit = a German term with the connotation of enjoying the simple pleasures in life. This trip by myself definitely fell under the category of Gemütlichkeit! I got a large coffee and sat in the cool weather by myself :) ...then it started raining again. That was less gemütlich. It was actually pretty awful. But I was enjoying listening to something that wasn't Mozart so I didn't leave. My boat shoes are not dark dark brown and not drying well. But I enjoyed myself.
It was a good thing that Bene didn't come with me because she was sick all night.
Today is Monday and we have a masterclass with Krista Ludwig this afternoon! After that there is a Live simulcast of Die Zauberflöte in Kapitelplatz at 8!!! May the adventures continue and the rain cease :)
~~~Rachel~~~
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