"A Musical Journey Through-out Europe"
Journal Entries from my trip with the Iowa Ambassadors of Music
July 1-17, 1998
July 1, 1998 - Leaving Cedar Rapids, IA
Well, the camp to learn the band music is now over. Lots of practicing each day didn't allow us a lot of free time. During rehearsals I chat with Sarita and Jill, the second and third chair clarinet players. Aside from them, and my 2 other roommates, I've all ready made many new friends! And more to come, I'm sure! This morning I got up at 7am and finished packing. Then we drove to Chicago. From there we flew to Detroit in a charter/commuter type Northwest plane. That was a fairly smooth 45 minute ride. We arrived at 6pm. THEN our London flight kept getting delayed hour after hour! Finally, a little after 11pm our flight was canceled. We ended up spending about 11 hours in the Detroit airport! It was really fun though. I guess the Northwest workers were on strike or something. We ended up getting free pizzas, pop, $30 meal vouchers each, and a night at the Marriott from the airline! The Marriott was nice, but I was only there for about 4 hours.. Got to my room at 5:30am, after all arrangements had been made.
July 2, 1998 - Canadian Air Flight
Short night/morning.. I was awakened by an advisor, nearly 4 hours after arriving at the Marriott, telling me to get ready and get on the bus for a rescheduled flight. Talk about being in a hurry! I got on the bus and headed back to the Detroit airport once again. Then I got on a Canadian Air Flight and flew up to Toronto. We weren't there very long, but now I can say I have been there! After the lunch time in the airport we raced to the gate. "We" meaning myself and Jason, my airplane seat neighbor. I got into Heathrow, England, at 8:30am or so. And my luggage wasn't missing! Thank goodness.
July 3, 1998 - Windsor
This is actually a continuation of my previous entry, but since the day changed, due to time zone changes and such, I started a new entry. Windsor was pretty cute. We saw the castle where the Queen lives. I didn't want to pay 18 pounds to go in though. I bought a few postcards and a Britain sticker to put on my clarinet case. Hopefully I'll be able to get a sticker from each country! We had a rather strange lunch. Ham sandwich, cheese sandwich, tomato, apple, chips, and either Bourban Cookies or Digestive Cookies. HA! We thought the cookie names were pretty funny. As lunch neared it's end, there was a Michigan marching band warming up nearby. Oh, I also saw from a distance where Prince William goes to school.
July 4, 1998 - Tour of London
No fireworks for me today! Nothing to celebrate over here. Rodney, Rodney, he's our man! Yep, today was the best. Rodney was our tour guide and boy was he good! We went to the place where Princess Diana used to live. Kensington Palace, correct? Took a few pictures in the beautiful gardens. And surprise, surprise. There just happened to be the huge once a year Gay Pride March through downtown London. It was the most entertaining parade I have ever seen in my life! Half naked people and the "spiderman" guy that was yelling the most interesting things, if you know what I mean. Now that was a parade you don't see in Iowa everyday. It's a cultural experience. -That became our motto of the whole trip.. Also saw Big Ben and West Minster. Piccadilly Circus was our activity of the night, rode the tube to get there as well. Not much was open though.
July 5, 1998 - English Channel
Wow! We got up at 4:15am this morning! Got on the buses for a few years, I mean hours. ha. Then the bus drove on the ferry. That was pretty neat. I took a few pictures of the White Cliffs of Dover. So pretty! And the water was a beautiful blue-green. The ferry ride was only an hour, but I did manage to buy a stuffed frog for my collection and a "Mr. Bean" key chain. I felt it was appropriate. From there it was a 5 hour ride to Paris. I was going to write on all of my postcards, but I found out that it would cost 80 cents each to mail them (note: Should have sent them ALL from here, later it turned out to be $1.30 each!). Our first impression of Paris was awful! Trash was everywhere. I'd be scared to death to walk around that part at night. That's where our restaurant reservations were though. First we had quiche, then Chicken cordon Bleu (don't focus on the spelling here!), and last, some kind of custard dessert. I wasn't crazy about it. Our hotel was really fancy. Except, my roommates, well, let's say I choose the wrong people. I barely survived through 2 days with them. AH! Tomorrow I'm off to the Louvre and my first concert! Ah, before I forget. I got a picture of the soccer stadium. Coupe Du Monde is going on you know!
July 6, 1998 - Paris and the Sites
Paris does have it's beautiful parts! This morning I had the chance to walk around the Luxembourg Gardens. Pretty! Took a few pictures. For lunch I had a salami salad sandwich. YUM! After lunch the "A" and "B" band performed for the French crowd. It went fairly well. A couple of ladies walking by stopped and started dancing to "Stars and Stripes Forever". From the concert I went to the Louvre. Found the Mona Lisa, beautiful paintings, and part of the original castle that stood there. Back to the same restaurant as last night, but I loved the food this time! First- mushroom dumpling second-potatoes and chicken third- chocolate mousse, even with teeny cocoa chips! As if that wasn't enough fun for one day, we went on a cruise down the Seine River as well. I was so cold! Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and another concert coming up tomorrow!
July 7, 1998 - Eiffel Tower Day
In the rain and cool breeze we wandered around the Eiffel Tower. Rachel and I decided not to pay to walk to the 2nd flight, so we explored the surrounding area and found this delightful little deli. Wonderful food there! Later we passed the place where Princess Diana last stayed before her tragic accident. Right across the road from the "Ritz" was the hotel that the composer Bach died in. Ah, we also drove through the tunnel that Diana's crash happened at. Our bus driver, Hubert, said that the police takes away memorials and flowers from the site because they don't want it to be marked, or draw attention. On the overhead pass it said "Peace Diana" and "We love Diana" in red. Notre Dame was interesting. Many candles inside and beautiful stonework! It was difficult to understand John, our tour guide, though. We visited another church as well, but the view of the city was more amazing than the church itself. I believe this was St. Mark's Cathedral. As I was walking down the steps, I finally found the type of hat I had been searching for. BUT, it was an illegal vendor selling them, and just as I walked up, he spotted a cop, pulled the string on his display and took off like there was no tomorrow. Bummer. Needless to say, I didn't get my hat. I did find a soccer jersey though. An Italy one.
July 8, 1998 - Bus Ride
No more Saphir (our hotel in France). I had the pleasure of spending 10 hours on the bus once again today. It wasn't really that bad though. Seemed as if the ride was about 3 hours or so. As we left France, the scenery started to become a lot more beautiful by the mile, or kilometer I should say. Entering Switzerland looked a lot like Pennsylvania or Colorado, only more drastic! The Alps, for goodness sake! I looked out over Lake Geneva at the rest stop. Sort of permanently foggy. My roommates and I got an apartment! There are 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living room, loft, kitchen, 2 balconies, it's just like "The Real World", in a tiny town! HA! I'm loving it! Tonight the meal at Champery was the best one yet! Then we had a meeting in a tent they put up for the US Ambassadors. It cost them nearly $15,000! Since Iowa had the most students come (477), they opened up all of the little stores downtown just for us. They also put on a special concert for our group! It was a blast! They played "Oh No!", "YMCA", "In the Navy", and other classics that we loved. Plus, 3 encores!
July 9, 1998 - Concerts and the Castle
I got to sleep in! I finally decided to get up at 8:30am! We had a free morning, so I "tried" to catch up on my sleep. Then I walked up "the hill" to breakfast and walked into a few of the stores. Concert day this afternoon! We played in Montreux at the Jazz Festival. Big deal, cause Jazz Bands from all over the world were preforming there, and we had our chance (even though we were a concert band). After lunch, which was on our own, I went to the Castle of Chillion, meaning "Castle on the Rock". It was really neat! Our tour there lasted about an hour. The tour guide even took us through one of the secret passage ways, so that was an experience. Most of the doorways and entrances through-out the castle were very low to the ground. In order to get to the main "tower" you had to climb 130+ steps, passing through one room with about a 5'4" ceiling! Some of the guys had quite the time fitting in there. ha. Back to Montreux once again, this time to look in the many shops. I opted to take a break and have a warm "sucre", meaning sugar, crepe. After a tiring day, we went back to Champery, walked back up "the hill", and sat down to a wonderful dinner! Being too lazy to walk back up the hill again, I had brought my uniform with me to change into! The Swiss crowd loved our performance! Many of the older ladies danced around the tent with some people from our group. Quite the sight. I also bought some more chocolates afterwards. My favorite? Raspberry filled! Yummy! I had to go back and get more!
July 10, 1998 - Zermatt's Matterhorn
Early morning. Good thing Anna and I bought breakfast yesterday! We didn't have to get up as early OR walk up "the hill". Good deal! We got up at 6:30am, walked to the coach lot, then left a bit after 7am for Zermatt. Actually we rode the bus to Tasch, then got on a train for a 20 minute ride to Zermatt. It was like a subway ride through the woods. Different. In Zermatt there were many, many shops to look in. I think I've been burned out on exploring little shops at this point. Stopped by a small deli and bought myself a Salami Salad sandwich for lunch. It was okay, I lived anyway. At 11:30am, Anna, Heather, and I went and got our ticket to ride the 3 cables up to a closer mountain. Once we rode all 3 cables (about 35 minutes), we just walked around. I got separated from Heather and Anna, so once up there, I sat on a big rock and talked to a few guys. They let me try their "stinky cheese". It was gross! We also had our own little chocolate taste test. Now this I liked! This nonsense lasted for 2hours, believe it or not. It showed later! Red nose and crescent moon on my back! In otherwords? Sun burn. Back down the cables, rode the train, and then, a 2 hour nap on the bus back to Champery. Dinner tonight was mustard tasting chicken. Something I could have lived without. But wait! The big "Swiss Surprise" was tonight! And it was.. A Polka Fest!!! The town had called in 3 little old men to play polka music for us, while advisors showed us the steps. VERY FUN! Everyone loved it. Thank goodness the dance ended a bit early. Still had to shower, pack, and say my final goodbyes to Champery, Hotel Champbois, room # 36... Au revoir!
July 11, 1998 - Liechtenstein and Austria
Even earlier morning.. Got out of bed at 5:15am. Whew! Good thing I packed last night! All 6 of us were ready by 6:10am, loading our luggage into the van. My roomies and I walked up "the hill" (now famous to us) for the LAST time to enjoy a croissant with raspberry jelly. Good, but worth the walk? Bus pulled out a bit later. Nothing happened till we stopped in Liechtenstein for lunch. I had spaghetti and a coke. One of the few pops I drank during the trip. Paid to get my passport stamped.. Then we left the country (It's only 60 sq. miles, so it wasn't a major ordeal). Trying to get into Austria took forever! I guess there have been S. Americans getting into Austria easily-illegally - then getting free welfare. Or something. Sooo... We sat on the bus for an hour while the guards typed in all of the codes on each of our passports, checking our background travel time in Europe. We each got another stamp though! We arrived in Seefeld, Austria, at six. They had quite a few stores, although I was told Innsbruck has more, and we're going there tomorrow. Right to the left of our hotel was the Olympia pool used in the 1968 Olympics. Close to that date anyway.
July 12, 1998 - Innsbruck
Once again the Navy bus (my bus for the whole trip) has been shafted! We were supposed to have a buffet type breakfast, like all of the other people in the hotels. But no. When I got there, there were hardly any rolls left! Maybe tomorrow. The bus left at 9am so we were allowed a little more sleep. The drive to Innsbruck wasn't very long, but that's just as well. Before visiting the town, we stopped at Bergisel to see the 1964 Olympic ski jump site. Rachel, Anna, and I climbed most of the way up. That was 395 steps- ONE WAY! Ouch! The calves hurt after that! It was a pretty remarkable view though. Rachel and I had our picture taken in front of the Olympic Innsbruck ring wall. Once closer to the town, we drove down Maria-Theresian Strasse, which is an avenue running through the heart of Innsbruck. We didn't get to see the golden roof since they were working on it. They just hung up a picture of it over the site. It would have been nice to see the real thing. First we just walked through the downtown area. We heard a band, so we went and found it. It was a jazz ensemble playing at a celebration for a newly released Ford car. Stayed for a bit, then left. We walked in to a museum thinking it was also the church we wanted to see. It wasn't, so "Jergy" (a cool advisor) kind of hounded the lady till we got our money back. "Stupid Americans!" ha! We also hit the main crystal store. About an hour earlier a girl from our trip knocked over a case full of crystal with her backpack. It was an accident, but a costly one! Apparently everything shattered and the people were adding up the prices as she stood there not knowing what to do... I think it totaled $1,000, but her insurance would cover $800 or so. Then we went into Maximillion's Mausoleum where he planned to be buried. There were 28 intricate statues guarding the tomb, although he was never buried there. Back to Seefeld. Rachel and I walked around town and I had ice cream 3 times today! I swear, if I saw another cone, I would have died! And I also stumbled across an Internet Cafe, the only one I ever saw while in Europe. It was 30 min. for $5. I didn't go in though. We decided to spend our time elsewhere.
July 13, 1998 - Venice
Early morning! I got up at 4:30 to get ready and go. We ate breakfast, but once again, no buffet as promised! Advisors were not happy. It took us about 4 hours to get to the coach park. We ate lunch, then got on a "vaporetto" boat to go to Venice. From there we were shown the glass blowing factory, Basilica of San Marco, and the Bridge of Sighs. The choir sang 2 songs in the basilica, and since no legs or shoulders are to be bare, many of the girls brought their black uniform skirts to velcro on. I did. It was so hot! While walking on the "main drag" we came across all of the gondolas or "gondoles" as the sign said. After much debate we each decided to fork over the equivalency of $18 to ride for half an hour. It was worth it! I ended up being in many tourists' pictures. That was cool. I also had my first Sprite in 2 weeks! Our ride back to Seefeld was one hour shorter, thanks to Juli, our bus driver of the day. Need I say "speeding"? :o) Yeah...
July 14, 1998 - Germany
Once again, no "all you can eat" breakfast buffet at our hotel as promised. BUT, since our city coordinator didn't believe us that we hadn't one yet, he came and ate breakfast WITH us. Now this was funny. Same old, same old. Bread and water. He got furious at the ladies in charge!!! Practically chewed their ears off and then more. Big argument and many disappointed looks from the coordinator. Then, we were told to take a few things to eat for lunch on the road that day, and whew! The ladies noticed and started storming at the guy again. "You Americans don't understand. We lost money for that. We cannot just give food away!" Or something to that extent. Anyway, it was quite the spectacle. After stopping and eating our "stolen" breakfast, and a few goodies they gave us as a "compromise" gift, we headed on toward Dachau, Germany. Here we stopped for an hour or two to travel back to historic times. The time of the Holocaust. On March 22, 1933, the first German concentration camp was set up near Dachau on the grounds where a ammunition factory used to be. Fifteen barracks (or "wohnbarackens") were marked by the foundations filled with rocks. The "Krematorium" was a popular building to visit while there. Other musuems, temples, and memorials were open to the public as well. I read that nearly 31, 591 prisoners died in the Dachau camp. After our trip back to reality in Dachau we moved on to Rothenburg. An old German town enclosed by a wall. We were told it was more of a tourists' place than a place for many people to leave. And we could tell! Most of the town was filled with shops! It was so neat.. Rachel and I decided to walk around the wall too. At one time they had guards up standing behind the wall, and you can still walk around nearly the whole town today up there.
July 15, 1998 - Rothenburg
Our last full day in Europe! Basically a free day too! And boy, did we enjoy it! Our morning was free, so we wandered all over town, going to the many shops and stopping at pastry shops. There were three well known Christmas stores in Rothenburg called Kathe Wohlfart. You could find nearly anything you ever dreamed of in those stores! At 1:30pm we had our final concert in the Marktplatz, which was the main square downtown. Many people walking by stopped to listen to our concert, so we had quite the crowd. And for our encore we had none other than the owner of the Kathe Wohlfart Christmas stores direct for us! That was pretty cool. The rest of the day was spent doing whatever you wanted. Most opted to visit all of the stores once more, walk the wall, or just sit and eat ice cream their friends. As more of a "formal" goodbye, we had a get together at "The Barn". Here we had our advisors say their last, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some announcements". A song that I wrote with one of the girls I met in the airport in Detroit was also sung! She got two guys to sing it with her since she couldn't find me on the spur of the moment. I was surprised. People actually thought it was funny! So, a great trip had come to an end.. Not too soon, nor too late.
July 16, 1998 - Homeward Bound
4:45am came and our luggage was loaded onto the bus. About 3 hours later we arrived at the Frankfurt airport where we had to sit for a few hours more. But after those 12 hours in Detroit? What was an hour or two?! Rachel and I decided to leave Germany with a bang, so yes, we gave in and ate lunch at none other than... McDonalds!!! hehe Other than that? That's about how the story goes. We flew to Detroit, then to Chicago, rode the bus four hours to Iowa City, Iowa, and we were home. Our home state anyway.. So, with all things in mind, I'd like to say one more thing to sum up the whole trip.
It's a cultural experience!