| |
MONDAY 23rd
Well I did manage to get a little bit
of sleep but not much and in am still quite tired… will need
a little extra heavenly strength and adrenaline today for sure!!
Dave, Aron and Paul decided to come along for moral support even
though I warned them about speeches and stuff that could be really
boring…
We're going to the newly opened $340,000.000.00 GM/Avtovaz plant
where the opening ceremony will take place and that's where I'm
going to play with Symphony.
After the scariest drive of my life… I was with Dmitry who
works in the Mayor's office and he has some kind of special permission
to ignore things like speed limits and police checkpoints so our
driver got us to the factory very quickly!! It was funny because,
since we were in an "official" car, the policemen at the
checkpoints actually saluted us as we broke the speed limit and
overtook in all the wrong places!!! I love new experiences as long
as I live to tell the tale!
The new GM/Avtovaz plant is quite spectacular and the Chevy "Niva"
looked nice. A lot of people asked me what I thought of it which
of course I couldn't say because I have never driven it but the
whole grand opening ceremony was very elaborate and efficiently
organised.
I got to play my three songs with the symphony, conducted by Alexei
Vorontsov and I enjoyed it very much.
Because there were so many corporate superstars there (and we mustn't
forget Sir Roderick Lyne, Her Majesty's Ambassador) it was very
secure and serious and the high point of it all was a blessing by
the Chief Archbishop of Cyprus who had come there with a delegation,
all in full robed regalia!! Lunch with the VIP's and it was time
to run again.
Olga (who has been patiently translating for us and keeping us fairly
organised) helped me to find a special orphanage that helps children
from abusive homes and I enjoyed meeting the staff and some of the
kids who were absolutely delightful. They sang for me, they danced
for me and I was happy to be able to give the home a small donation
that will help them buy more text books. I am going to keep in touch
with them (through Olga of course) and hope to see them all again
when we visit next April.
Got back to the hotel in time for the guys to go to the hockey game
while Andy, Olga and myself went to the VIP dinner (still eating
eh?… ed). This was nice but tiring so we ducked out early and
got back to the hotel in record time (we had the same driver as
this morning!).
So our visit is almost over and it has been very enjoyable. I'll
report on the Olyanovsk show tomorrow!
Next day...
|
