Saturday, June 19, 2004
So sorry! But here's the low-down:
I apologise for making a liar out of myself in the post two before this one; I said I would provide a schedule of the tour for you to drool and feel envious over. Well, here it is now, and I hope you will judge for yourselves whether it deserves to be described as "salivatious" (what was I thinking?).
Monday 21 June: We fly to Singapore, and spend most of the next day sightseeing, buying cheap watches because we left our expensive one at home to keep it safe, and trying some of the weird and wonderful (and allegedly smelly) fruits that you just can't buy (or imagine) in New Zealand. We do a concert, too, at some point. The Singapore Youth Choir are also competing in Italy at the same competition as us; they will be in the audience at our Singapore concert, but they're not performing themselves... hmmm can you say "choral espionage"?
Wednesday 23: We fly, via Frankfurt, to Maribor, Slovenia. So, who knew that place existed, huh? Apparently Slovenia is very beautiful. It's part of the former Yugoslavia, so it has a lot of historical appeal. The war in Yugoslavia seemed like a fairly constant fact of childhood, so I'm looking forward to putting a landscape and some faces to the old news items. We get another free day in Maribor.
Sunday 27 After some concerts and a festival we catch a coach to Ljubljana. I love these Eastern European countries, they use so many consonants! I think we are doing a seminar on New Zealand music in Ljubljana, but my schedule is failing me on this point, so I'm afraid I can't be sure. We are also doing some sightseeing and a concert in the Postojana Caves. How cool is that? We'll be part of the Slovenian Underground... (my goodness, my jokes are lame).
Thursday 1 July: We depart by coach for Sopron, Hungary!
And... I'm sure you'll agree that's really enough for one post. So, I'll give you a synopsis - who am I kidding? I'll give you some headlines and no details for the rest of the schedule, and add more detail as things unfold. Yes, you're right, this is my shameless attempt to try and string you along with the promise of saucy and horrifying details to come. I hope it works! So, here's the brief-as list:
Sopron, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Goriza, Italy
Day trip to Venice, Italy
St. Petersburg, Russia
Moscow, Russia
Then, of course, the choir returns home, but my own adventures will be only just beginning!
Reality Check: I am currently typing at Roshan's laptop, hunched over because the laptop is on a dining chair and I am on another opposite it. Roshan and Lottie are so lovely, they are the best billets I have ever had! Seriously though, it's so good to see them again, and it seems as if marriage has made them even more awesome than ever, if that's possible. I am sleeping in one of the Maxim offices for the weekend, and there is an ensuite containing an interesting toilet. The toilet seat and cover are made of sponge covered with yellow-and-white-striped vinyl. It's like a crazy seventies (what were those people thinking?) dream come true.
Monday 21 June: We fly to Singapore, and spend most of the next day sightseeing, buying cheap watches because we left our expensive one at home to keep it safe, and trying some of the weird and wonderful (and allegedly smelly) fruits that you just can't buy (or imagine) in New Zealand. We do a concert, too, at some point. The Singapore Youth Choir are also competing in Italy at the same competition as us; they will be in the audience at our Singapore concert, but they're not performing themselves... hmmm can you say "choral espionage"?
Wednesday 23: We fly, via Frankfurt, to Maribor, Slovenia. So, who knew that place existed, huh? Apparently Slovenia is very beautiful. It's part of the former Yugoslavia, so it has a lot of historical appeal. The war in Yugoslavia seemed like a fairly constant fact of childhood, so I'm looking forward to putting a landscape and some faces to the old news items. We get another free day in Maribor.
Sunday 27 After some concerts and a festival we catch a coach to Ljubljana. I love these Eastern European countries, they use so many consonants! I think we are doing a seminar on New Zealand music in Ljubljana, but my schedule is failing me on this point, so I'm afraid I can't be sure. We are also doing some sightseeing and a concert in the Postojana Caves. How cool is that? We'll be part of the Slovenian Underground... (my goodness, my jokes are lame).
Thursday 1 July: We depart by coach for Sopron, Hungary!
And... I'm sure you'll agree that's really enough for one post. So, I'll give you a synopsis - who am I kidding? I'll give you some headlines and no details for the rest of the schedule, and add more detail as things unfold. Yes, you're right, this is my shameless attempt to try and string you along with the promise of saucy and horrifying details to come. I hope it works! So, here's the brief-as list:
Sopron, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Goriza, Italy
Day trip to Venice, Italy
St. Petersburg, Russia
Moscow, Russia
Then, of course, the choir returns home, but my own adventures will be only just beginning!
Reality Check: I am currently typing at Roshan's laptop, hunched over because the laptop is on a dining chair and I am on another opposite it. Roshan and Lottie are so lovely, they are the best billets I have ever had! Seriously though, it's so good to see them again, and it seems as if marriage has made them even more awesome than ever, if that's possible. I am sleeping in one of the Maxim offices for the weekend, and there is an ensuite containing an interesting toilet. The toilet seat and cover are made of sponge covered with yellow-and-white-striped vinyl. It's like a crazy seventies (what were those people thinking?) dream come true.
# posted by Doug @ 08:33 
