Album d'une Voyageuse

NY, NY

2011-10-17T14:16:00.003-04:00

It has been ages since my last post, but only because it's been ages since I last traveled.

I arrived in the city on 13 October. Before even leaving Detroit, I had an encounter worth sharing. After going through security, I noticed a man with a Yamaha trumpet case, so I struck up conversation. Turns out he's played with Wynton Marsalis/Jazz at Lincoln Center and Maynard Ferguson. Check out www.walterwhite.com

Fresh off the bus in the city, I did some light shopping on 125th St. Yes, in Harlem. From there, I ended up in a Columbia U building sipping coffee and eating a scone. Little did I know my friend, Phil, was working in the building directly across the street. Upon realization, I found him, waited until he was off work, and went to yet another coffeeshop to catch up with him. Still with time to kill before another friend returned home to where I would be staying the first few nights, I sat in on Phil's masters/doctoral education class at Columbia.

The evening was spent lounging at Betty's apartment until I heard from Karl, my reason for visiting before the LSO arrives, called me to meet up. We ended up with 2 friends of his in an Irish pub way up on 181st Street.

Friday, Karl and I met up, then walked through Central Park to the Neue Gallerie (German/Austrian Expressionist art gallery) for lunch. As one of Karl's zen locations in the city, I can see why special trips have been made - lovely room, tasty German food, and a nice atmosphere, to say the least. From there, we sauntered to the Metropolitan Club at 5th Ave./60th St. for drinks.

The best way for me to describe the beauty of this building - club founded and built by JP Morgan - is to ask you to look at the slideshow on their homepage: http://www.metropolitanclubnyc.org/

Back to the Met. Club for drinks Saturday at lunchtime. We had the entire penthouse bar to ourselves as we sat on the rooftop overlooking Central Park. Photos of the view will come after I'm home later in the week. Lunch followed at a restaurant next to Lincoln Center, where I had to make the difficult choice between bread pudding or cheesecake for dessert.

Karl was off to the airport Sat. afternoon, so I returned "home" and changed for a social dance at the 92nd St. Y. Once there, I joined the intermediate lesson (foxtrot/rhumba) before the dance began at 8. As the first tune began to play, I asked someone to dance. Turns out he is a dance instructor for the event and at the studio that hosts it. Over the course of the night, he taught me some tango moves, the marengue, some new swing steps, and some other tips. He also invited me to a tango class Tuesday night at his studio. Wine, cheese, dancing, company...why not?
NOTE: if you didn't know, I've been (mostly ballroom) dancing for 13 years.

After the dance, new friend Alex (introduced via Karl), who also came to the dance, and I made our way by foot from 92nd St. down 5th Ave. to 60th St. We popped into the Met. Club (he's also a member) at 1 AM as a wedding reception let out, with the intention of only using their restroom. While washing my hands, a woman complimented my shoes. Making small talk, she shared that she had put together the music for the reception. Upon giving me her card, she told me to give her a call and she'd give me a trumpet gig in the city.

It's now 3 PM and I'm yet to leave the apartment. All this walking/dancing has left my feet in quite a state. No matter, I'll soon be off to visit some 5th Ave. shops and Roxy's Deli for cheesecake before heading to 92nd St. (W, not E, this time) for some jazz and lovely company.

I could get used to this place.

Blood's a Pumpin'

2010-07-13T11:40:00.005-04:00

Disclaimer: I haven't realized how long it's been since my last post. Please forgive me, but as you read on you will see that my mind has not necessarily been around a computer recently.

I just returned home from lunch with Karl at The East India Club, a members-only gentlemen's club in St. James' Square. So many Victorian novels and stories suddenly breathed into life as I found myself not in Pall Mall, but the equally renowned St. James' Square. My elitist blood is pumping after lunching in the building shown above. I'm sure you don't have any difficulty in understanding why. Peeked into the window of the men-only smoking room and the beautiful library (both full of leather armchairs, but, as it was midday, decidedly few leather men).

I'm making a phone call to the airline/site through which I booked my flights to see if I can extend my stay by 2ish weeks tonight. Most likely will be returning as planned, but one can always hope. I cannot hear out of my left ear and currently feel that spending 8 hours in a pressurized environment wouldn't be all that good of an idea at this point. I'm off balance and feel like I have a fish tank in the left side of my head.

What have I been up to since I last updated, aside from being sick. Where to begin? What- you didn't think a nasty bout of illnesses would pin me down, did you?

Trying to remember back... On the 3rd, a Saturday, I saw Salome at the Royal Opera. I think it's required of my immune system to be shot when I go to the opera. My seat was 2 from the wall, stage right, as high as I could possibly get. In short, it was difficult to see anything that wasn't happening within 15 feet of the front of the stage (unless I rested my chin on the ledge in front of me).

Breakfast with Jonathan the next morning (Sunday) in St. Christopher's Place. We had intending on going elsewhere, but everything in the entire area was closed. Lovely. I figured out that morning that Bond Street is incredibly long. Spent the rest of the day wandering around all of the extravagantly elegant men's tailors and sellers of accessories in Savile Row and Jermyn Street as well as other pretty bits of Picadilly/St. James'. I told myself I needed to go back. Funny I should end up there today...

Monday...don't remember.

Tuesday- bedridden all day until I joined the hashers for post-run socializing near Baker Street.

Wednesday found me on a train to/in Tonbridge for a massage by Alain, an occasional LSO extra violin. Our hellos had been cut short, so we finally had a chance to chat over tea and an attempt to assist me along the road to recovery.

Thursday- City of London Festival concert at St. Paul's Cathedral (sold out). You may remember my recount of last summer's performance of Bruckner 9 by the LSO. This summer was a very powerful Beethoven 9 with John Eliot Gardiner. Seat was a the foot of the stage-right steps, so I was given some surprised faces as the players were taking their places. Actually, they were probably thinking, "Why are you still here?"

I had every intention of spending Friday in recovery mode. I was mistaken. Phone call from Ivor in the AM asking if I could turn pages for the evening's NLS concert- Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle. Of course, I said yes- and volunteered myself for the rehearsal, as well. At the interval of the performance, I sprinted to Pret for some fruit before what I'm sure would have been my first fainting spell. The stage light was shining directly at me, and I had no hair tie. That, accompanied with nerves and illness made for a shaky Ashley. Food was my saviour.

Saturday was Emily and Lucia's joint birthday party at Ivor's. Emily and Lucia are sisters I have known since last summer. We are all in both the choir and the running club together. Ivor's, of course, the choir conductor. His flat was beautiful...check out some photos of the garden on my facebook page. Adam and I departed at 3 AM. I heard of some hearty souls who remained until 6. By time we had left, we had stolen the dancefloor. A benefit, perhaps, of a duo of professional-training (since he was 4) and close-enough-to-professionally-training gave us plenty of reason to strut our stuff together.

Sunday- slept late, watched the British Grand Prix in the afternoon and the World Cup final in the evening.

Yesterday- watched 3 episodes of Top Gear, 1 of QI, baked cookies, ended up spending some time with Lex and Princess, met up with Adam to assist in the devouring of some leftovers.

Today has already been described, but I would once again like to remind you that I ate here today, and you didn't:

Soz.

2010-07-01T11:25:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the lack of writing, everyone. I believe my excuses are justifiable. Last week the worst case of allergies/hayfever/cold I've yet had. Not entirely sure what it was. Although I did still accomplish things, I really couldn't concentrate to write anything. Now, after singing Handel's Israel in Egypt through from start to finish 5 times (plus some rehearsing) in 3 days, my voice has painfully ripped itself to shreds and opening the door to exhaustion.

In my last post, I mentioned two American girls, Morgan and Sarah. I spent Monday showing them around after an orchestra rehearsal. We started by taking the tube to the Tower so they could take pictures of the bridge and the tower itself. Morgan wanted to see Somerset House, so we got off and Temple tube. From SH, we walked to Trafalgar Square and did a super-quick walk through the National Gallery. I showed them my 2 favorite rooms as well as the Impressionist rooms. From there we walked to Buckingham Palace. Morgan was brave enough to carry out a suggestion I was given a while ago from Gerry (Rader). He had run into a former B'ham Palace guard, who told him a sentence that would supposedly allow entry into the palace. Morgan tried on the friendly cop standing at an important-looking entrance. He was confused, so he asked the 3 other friendly cops who were standing nearby. One had heard of it, but had never been asked. They all determined it must either be for a different palace or applied decades ago and had since been abandoned. Sigh. Still, we took a picture with the cops so as to record our attempts.

I spent Tuesday morning in Spa Fields behind my flat reading Pygmalion (for you uncultured lot, My Fair Lady was based upon this play). I commandeered a bench at 7 AM and read for the next couple of hours until I finished. For some reason, I left inspired to do some art, so I went home and drew Karl's requested headshot, of which I'm quite proud. Spent the evening with Adam, who was just entering the heat of his heavy week of work.

Despite hayfever (or whatever it was) that had just kicked into full swing over the course of the next afternoon, I still went to see The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Opera House (Wednesday). My good intentions only survived the first half- my ticket was a standing seat at the back of the top balcony, i.e. not worth the exertion as the opera started at 7 and wasn't set to finish until past 10. So, at the 30-minute-long interval, I decided to nip into the chemist (pharmacy) behind the ROH for some sort of medication then walk home. Halfway home, I got a text message from Martin, one of the bassoonists in the ROH orchestra, asking how I was enjoying the show and inviting me to the pub afterwards. Feeling guilty, I hightailed it back to the hall...just in time for the show to have started 2 minutes before my arrival.

You may think I dejectedly (yet thankfully) returned home at this point, but you would be wrong! One of the workers in the lobby said, "You can't get to your seat, but we have an empty box, if that's ok." If that's OK?! Um, I can't complain about a private box upgrade from an £8 standing seat. [other worker], go ahead and take her up."

For the first 5 minutes or so, seated one box up and back from the stage, I attempted to figure out who was who onstage since faces were all blurs from the nosebleed section. My body then decided that it would rather sleep. 20 minutes later, I awoke in the middle of a plot twist. Opera finished (btw it was good), found my way to the pub, and enjoyed chatting with various musicians from the ROH, English National Opera, and a regular player (i.e. over 4000 of over 6000 performances) in Phantom of the Opera over the last 23 years.

Hmm... What did I do on Thursday? Ah, yes. I spent the entire day laying in bed attempting to recover. I watched 3 Top Gear specials and drank a lot of chocolate milk. Yes, I realize the latter wasn't the best for recovery, but it tasted maaahvelous.

Friday afternoon was installment 4 of payment for my drawing for Sean. This means we went for burritos at Chipotle on Charing Cross Rd. His was on the house as he'd been in every day for the last week and half. He's admitted that he has a problem.

Friday evening was reason to celebrate, as Adam had survived his busy work week. Champagne and a delicious/elegant dinner sufficed.

Saturday- wandered around some strange little town as Adam's car was serviced, then returned home for some more rest.

Sunday- LSO open rehearsal, horrific England/Germany World Cup game, and Haydn's The Seasons with Sir Colin. I was glad I decided to leave my flat relatively early, as the concert started at 7, not the usual 7:30. I picked up my ticket 2 minutes before showtime.

Monday- listened to flatemates' tales from Glastonbury Festival, then we all trekked up to Hampstead Heath to revel in yet another day of sunshine. From there, bus to choir rehearsal. I happened to look down as we were stopped. Ivor, our conductor, was sitting in his car with the top down right in front of us! I sprinted downstairs (from the top of the double-decker), and jumped into the back.

Tuesday- rehearsal at Cadogan Hall with orchestra and chorus. Approximately 200 people on stage, if not more. Right before the break, Ivor said, from the podium, "Ashley?" Of course I assumed he was just going to have me go sit in the hall to listen for balance or something. No. He had me come up to the podium and conduct the movement we'd just done. I am pleased to say I shook far less than last time, despite my knowing that the bass player in the orchestra in front of me is a member of the LSO!!!! Concert that night was amazing.

Wednesday- trumpet lesson with Gerry at the Barbican. 30 minutes of Halsey Stevens. Ran to Cadogan Hall from there. Rehearsal from 3. I was assigned to sit right next to the soloists, i.e. very near the audience, which apparently encouraged me to be a bit too enthusiastic.

I'm now, as I've mentioned previously, completely fatigued and shredded to bits. Spending the rest of the day resting before returning to the Barbican for the final concert of the season (the one at St. Paul's next week is actually part of the City of London Festival). One of my friends in the 2nd violins is retiring after this concert, so they're having drinks for him, and he invited me to join in the festivities! But until then- rest. Lots of rest. Alas, I only have about 2 hours...

Ascot, etc.

2010-06-20T11:27:00.002-04:00

I have been on my feet and GOING pretty much non-stop since Monday what with hashing, rehearsals, concerts, Ascot, World Cup, dinners, etc. etc. I'll try to give you the highlights, although too much has happened to write absolutely everything here. If I took 370 pictures in two days, you can imagine how much I could potentially say.

I got to Waterloo in plenty of time for the 11:05 train to Ascot. It was quite obvious that it was nearly everyone's final destination as there were top hats and feathers galore. Some old Irishman who worked at the station immediately helped me out (even though I didn't need it) with the ticket machine. He asked if I was Irish and seemed upset when I couldn't remember the county where my family lived at one point. A homeless woman walked by as we were talking and told me how beautiful I looked.

I somehow managed to snag a seat on the train. The aisles and ends of the cars were completely packed of people who had to stand for the duration of the hour-long journey. I was amongst a group of 6 guys who talked to me most of the way there and invited me to join them. When we got to Ascot, one of them bought me a rose for my jacket. They waited for me at the entrance to the Silver Ring (but I was in the Grandstand). By time I got my ticket, they had vanished.

I stood around in the parade ring until the royal procession so as to keep my wonderful place in the stands. If you check out my facebook, I have some wonderful photos of the Queen, Prince Philip, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. I eventually realized that I was more in shock that I had seen ALW than the Queen, as I hadn't expected him to be there.

I placed all of my bets at the beginning, horses chosen mostly because of their names. Won nothing on the first race and immediately thought the whole day would be like that. Then my horse won the next race. And the next one. And the next two after that- 4 consecutive winners and 2 placers, overall (i.e. I won on 5 of 6 races)!!! By the end of the day, I'd paid for my entire day out and still had £13 in my pocket.

On the ride home, I stood in an aisle and chatted with three guys who all used to work for Proctor and Gamble. One of them now owns an IT company based right behind Trafalgar Square. One of the others looked vaguely like Prince William. They invited me to watch the England/Algeria match, but I had plans to head up to Camden to meet up with some hashers. I made it to the pub minutes before halftime. Shoulder to shoulder in the place. Changed. Tie. Curry. Bed.

Woke up early enough to make it to 5-hour Bart's rehearsal 20 minutes late. In the last 5 minutes of rehearsal, Ivor had us all move around and sit next to someone we "liked the look of." In short, just to get us listening a different way. Two seconds after we shifted around, he got off the podium and shouted, "Ashley- get up here." Completely in shock, I ran up to the podium and kept on chugging. By time I found my place on the page, I realized I was conducting what was supposed to be in 4 in 2, fixed my error, then spent the rest of the movement just trying to keep my hands from flying off my arms! I had a sort of involuntary Gergiev twitch going. No matter, I survived! Very glad he hadn't warned me about it. I'm going to be on edge every rehearsal from now on. So long as it doesn't happen in the concert....

I ran to the pub straight from rehearsal so I could get changed for a formal dinner at a hash friend's house in north London. Second outing (in as many days) for the Ascot ensemble (sans hat). Did my hair without being able to see the back of it (so I kept shoving flowers into it at dinner). LOVELY meal cooked entirely from scratch- delicious smoothie-type freshly-juiced raspberry/apple concoction, harvest soup, asparagus with secret sauce, lasagne, salad, potato salad, and DIY Eton mess for dessert. Charades, made-up dictionary definition game, and additional fun was had by all.

Vaguely slept in this morning. On the walk back home from King's Cross, I heard two American girls behind me saying, "This is King's Cross Bridge...maybe it's down this way?" I immediately knew they were looking for the Clink Hostel where I stayed last summer. How did I know? Because I made the exact error of turning down that road. I helped them out, they put their bags in the luggage room, then I played tour guide for a while. We walked down to St. Paul's, across Millenium Bridge, back up Blackfriar's Bridge, had lunch with Adam across from the Royal Courts of Justice, then walked back up to the flat/hostel. Likely meeting up again later in the evening, as they are only here for 2 days and would like the guidance on what to do in such a short period of time.

Adam has a 5-day tribunal in Reading all this week. It'll take him about an hour to get to Reading and an additional 20 minutes to get to the courthouse. He has to be there by 9 AM every day, won't be able to head back to London until 4:30-5ish, then will have to go back to the office for a while before finally being able to head home. Repeat until Friday evening. My schedule is also quite full this week: Monday- LSO and choir rehearsals and meeting up with Karl, Tuesday- hashing, Wednesday- Marriage of Figaro (with Sir Colin, I believe!) at the Royal Opera House, Thursday- some sort of club thing. It's going to be a very long week.

If I've forgotten anything, expect another post.

Neat Stuff.

2010-06-14T06:02:00.003-04:00

I just tidied up the flat. Yesterday, I spent 6 hours painting- 9 doorways plus trim in a kitchen and hallway. Not pictures of them- the actual doorways and trim. Luckily someone else mopped, otherwise I'd seriously wonder what's wrong with me willingly doing all this stuff!

Dad sent me an email complaining that I'm not writing enough. Please forgive me, everyone back home, but I'm trying to wean myself off my internet addiction. So far, I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job. Sadly for you, that means less frequent news from Ashleyland.

Dad also pointed out that I'm not talking about music as much as usual. Perhaps I'm just failing to write about it. I'm still singing in Bart's- we have a concert on June 29 and 30 at Cadogan Hall (speak to me ASAP if you want tickets!). I'm currently only singing in the one on the 29th (which means I'm missing a hash), but will try to talk my way into both of them...although I'd *really* like to talk Ivor into letting me play trumpet on it... I'm not singing in the NLS, but I will still be going to their 2 remaining concerts.

Also will be going to most of the remaining LSO concerts. One of the reasons I haven't really been going to that many rehearsals is because they've been/will be gone, are doing sessions, etc. I DID go to the free lunchtime concert on Friday, though. The brass section gave a preview for last night's concert. Hot stuff. They did an arrangement of Ives' Variations on America. Of course some Brit had to ask the origins of the tune, as it's also "God Save the Queen." Patrick (tuba player. remember him from last summer?) said it was Beethoven's. It's actually older than that (I looked it up), but Beethoven and dozens of other composers have used it in their own compositions.

The hashers had 2 teams in a touch rugby tournament in West Dulwich (south London) on Saturday. I had NO clue how to play rugby until right before playing. After the tourney (a team dressed as Morris dancers won), we all watched the England v. US World Cup game. I painted a couple of George crosses on my cheeks and the other Ohio girl (from Dayton!) in the group was given a big ol' Union Jack right across her forehead.

Last night's World Cup game was much more exciting: 4-0 Germany! Poor Australia...

Strings 'n Things

2010-06-10T10:04:00.005-04:00

I realize that I failed to mention that I went 6 consecutive days of eating at least one meal of Indian food. It all ended with my first trip to Brick Lane with Jenny, one of my flatmates. After looking through the markets, we needed some grub. Although she can't really eat Indian, she said we had to to 1) keep up my pattern and 2) because we were in Brick Lane. It took us about half an hour to decide which place to go, as there were people outside of each harassing us with discounts.

We made a good choice: free bottle of wine AND 30% off our final bill. This equates to £10/each for main, rice, naan, and wine. Unfortunately I made the mistake of ordering Madras, aka the 2nd spiciest thing on the menu. I magically managed to eat half of it, but this required me drinking 2 pints of water (I could have easily done away with another 1 or 2).

I attempted to order my ticket for Royal Ascot yesterday but it didn't go through. I tried again today. It worked. I called in the middle of typing this just to make sure. The phone call also made me realize that I NEED to get a new higher-quality UK mobile. I had to ask the clear-speaking Englishman to repeat nearly everything he said because my phone doesn't have volume controls. But as for Ascot: You have my word that there will be many, many, many pictures. Many of them.

I'm meeting a friend for dinner at 5, then an exciting LSO concert at 7:30- Shostakovich Symphony 6, Dvorak Scherzo Capriccioso, and Britten's violin concerto (with a substitute soloist who stepped in only days ago to replace an ailing Janine Jansen). Highlight of today's LSO rehearsal: Sir Mark Elder calling Joost, "Toast." I didn't hear what he said after that, but the whole band was laughing.

I FINALLY went inside of the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday. It's nice and all, but I have to say I was a wee bit disappointed that the outside is much more decorative. There was very little color inside, the paintings were grimy....but there was a room full of historic costumes which vaguely made up for the aforementioned faults.

Squidgy.

2010-06-09T12:03:00.003-04:00

Last night was my 3rd hash. It took place at a pub near the Barbican, so not too far from home. You don't generally think of that area as residential, but some angry residents called the police on us for being too loud. When the cops showed up, I was in the process of being made to drink out of something that isn't made to be drunk out of (I'll leave it to your imagination) in front of the group. People were shouting, "They're coming up behind you!" This turned out to be nothing to be worried about. In fact, someone said, "No hats in the circle!" And the cops were pulled forward into the circle and made to chug a half pint (of water) each. In short, we didn't get in trouble.

Something I find interesting about UK vs. US English. I never thought I would have to explain what a "mini van" is to someone. Luckily we passed what's likely the only one in Britain in the process of my attempted explanation. I had more things like this to mention, but I've since forgotten them. I'm sure they'll come back to me.

I went to the National Portrait Gallery for the first time yesterday. I was incredibly upset with myself for not taking my sketchbook. Berlioz was playing in the shop, which made me happy.

Went to LSO rehearsal this morning for the first time in 2 weeks or so. The soloist for tomorrow's concert had to drop out due to illness, but was replaced, so she show goes on! They're playing Shotakovich

Sunshine and Water Guns

2010-06-04T07:03:00.003-04:00

-unfortunately not on the same day. Tuesday night was the "Cannonball Run" with the City Hash House Harriers. If I haven't already told you about "hashing," please allow me to elaborate. In short, it's a running club. The starting/ending point is some pub, previously determined by the "hare/s" who marked out the course. We all meet there, drop our things, run all over the place, then ideally all meet back at the pub at vaguely the same time.

The trail is kind of like a treasure hunt. If you're at the front of the pack, you are the first to come to checkpoints. They generally fall in the middle of an intersection with no indication of which way the trail goes from there. To let the slower people catch up to them, they have to spread out and find the next leg of the trail. Sometimes the trail they find is a huge loop. The slower people spot them towards the end of the loop and take the shortcut. It's crazy.

As for the Cannonball Run- it was a reenactment of the Siege of Badajoz from the War of 1812 with water gun/cannon arms. We even had uniforms with our names on them. The one major downfall of the night was that it was freezing cold and raining. The rain meant that no one cared if they were pummeled by water guns. The cold meant the last hurrah at the top of a manmade hill was quite bitter.

I was called on at the semi-last minute to turn pages for the Bart's Chamber Choir Brahms' Requiem concert at St. Martin's last night. I also sold programs and CDs. I was highly amused by all of the Americans in attendance who kept saying, "I don't know how your money works here."

I seem to have not written anything about the NLS party last week. Epic. I was not-really-self-designated Pimms overseer. There were more people at the party than the concert. I ballroom danced to 80s rock.

I also haven't mentioned the hash gathering last Sunday. 10 or so of us met up at Clapham Common (a park in South London) to enjoy an absolutely beautiful day. We played cards, Rounders, and other random games. During Rounders, I was hit in the ankle with a line drive.

The LSO just returned from Spain. I obviously didn't make it to the Håkan Hardenberger concert last night, and I also didn't make it to rehearsal this morning. I needed the rest!

Not sure what I'm going to do with myself today. Tomorrow is a hash gathering at Hyde Park.

Problem Solved

2010-05-28T06:21:00.002-04:00

I will be moving back to Exmouth for the rest of the summer as of Monday. This week's been quite an adventure. Sunday and Monday I stayed at Onslow Gardens with Iain from Bart's Choir. Tuesday and Wednesday I stayed at a hostel near Edgeware Rd. Thursday in Emperor's Gate, possibly tonight, too, otherwise Friday/Saturday/Sunday will be near King's Cross with Aziz.

Jonathan's flatmate is a concert pianist and professor, so I have a Steinway Model B at my fingertips. I spent the majority of yesterday playing it until I went to choir rehearsal. After rehearsal, the sun was setting and turning the tops of the Old Bailey (right across the street from the rehearsal church) and all the churches, including St. Paul's, a beautiful shade of pink against a very cloudy blue sky. And I didn't have my camera. I should have known to take it with me after Jonathan sent me text saying he'd just seen the Queen being driven down the street a block away from me.

Tonight is a New London Singer's concert two blocks from here. Gathering afterwards. It'll be nice to see some familiar faces for the first time since last July.

You can see I've not really been up to much recently. Trying to relax after sprinting around for two weeks. The LSO will be back from Spain on Wednesday for a concert with Håkan Hardenberger. Håkan shared some conductor tales at rehearsal the other day. Oh, how I love hearing conductor stories.

Righty-oh, off to practice.

What to Do...

2010-05-25T04:08:00.002-04:00

A friend from Bart's choir invited me to stay at his flat for an indefinite period of time. Another friend of his lives there 3 days a week, as she has a house in a suburb but works in the city, but he figured this wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately she fulfills the cold-hearted British woman stereotype. The first thing she said to me was, "So where are you going to stay until blah blah blah?" She continued by belittling every single one of my interests and potential professions. You can imagine the look on my and my friend's face at breakfast while she was saying all of this.

In short, I'm staying in a hostel tonight. I'm keeping most of my things there and at Exmouth Market. I'm going to try to see if I can find a hostel somewhere in South Kensington, as that's where I was the last 2 nights. I'll be staying at Jonathan's tomorrow night, which is about 2 blocks from where I've been evicted, and 2 blocks in the other direction from where I'll be Monday-Thursday, ish. There's an NLS concert at a church literally 2 buildings away on Friday night, too, which is just plain handy. But you may have noticed that this means I am homeless Fri/Sat/Sun nights. Will also be hosteling those nights, it looks.

In happier news, I went to a trumpet masterclass by Håkan Hardenberger, possibly the world's leading trumpet soloist, etc. 4 Guildhall students played for him over the course of 2 hours. When he wasn't standing up in front with the student, he was sitting next to me! Let's hope I picked something up through osmosis. He's rehearsing with the LSO this morning for concerts in Spain and London next week. You would be correct to guess I'm currently passing the time in the Barbican waiting for 10 AM.

I'm off to try to get rid of this worrisome feeling by booking a bed to finish out the week...

Phew.

2010-05-23T20:22:00.003-04:00

I haven't had internet for 3 days. It's been kinda nice. It's about 1:30 AM. I have to be awake at 7. I'm currently staying with a choir friend in South Kensington. He doesn't have spare keys, and it requires keys to leave the flat, so I have to leave at 8, too. Let's hope spare keys show up on the set soon, because this is going to get really old really quickly.

Stayed in Lucia's flat north of King's Cross last week. Watched too much QI and Top Gear. Played tour guide for Dr. Howes and his wife. Walked all the way from the flat to Trafalgar Square, all through the National Gallery, back and forth outside, all over Covent Garden, partway back. I can't even estimate how far I've walked in the last week and a half- especially this last week. All I can say is that I SURE can feel it. Not pain, but the endurance.

Thursday night was my London Symphony Chorus audition. In short, I didn't get in because my high notes sounded "too pinched." I was instructed to take 1 or 2 "more" voice lessons and go back to him. Funny how I've never been told that, before, huh? Oh, well- now I have many many open evenings in my schedule.

Still, I am/was pretty devastated by this idiotic failure, so I made my way to the post-Bart's pub at Covent Garden, the Lamb and Flag. Perhaps you recall this from my going away party last summer. Same place.

Of the 1000's of pubs in London, I ran into 2 people I knew. One was Martin, the principal contrabasoonist of the Royal Opera. He played with the LSO on tour in Granada last summer and Dublin last week. We hadn't ever formally met, but obviously recognized each other. He was still wearing his tails, as he'd come straight from the Barbican after he finished the first half of the final Gergiev concert. It appears as though I have a strange way of serendipitously running into bassoonists. Better than violists, I guess.

The other person was a girl from the New London Singers. She walked in with the gang that came in with Martin- they kind of knew each other somehow, too. We made that awkward "hold on- I know you..." eye contact, but didn't take long to realize how.

I had a balcony seat (ick) to tonight's LSO concert. Got to the door and was given a Circle ticket! If the concert isn't too popular and there are few people in the balcony, they give the extra Circle tickets and close off the top floor. An American guy sat down beside me. The rest of his group was at the end of the row in front of us. I asked where he was from. "America." "Well, yeah. Where?" "Ohio." "You're kidding me. I go to Bowling Green." "I go to Bluffton." "I'm from Findlay." "Some of those guys are from Findlay."

3 random coincidences in a matter of days. Let's see what's gonna happen this week...

Not Nothing, Apparently.

2010-05-19T14:22:00.003-04:00

Mother says I'm not allowed to say I don't have anything to write. I guess I have to write something, then.

I took my German professor, Dr. Howes, and his wife around yesterday. I had my first major London navigation fail of the trip, but forgetting that Tottenham Ct. Rd. and Charing Cross Rd. are in fact the same thing. Therefore, we had a little diversion via Regent's Street and Picadilly Circus on our way to Trafalgar Square. Once we finally saw Nelson, we headed into St. Martin's. The conductor of the evening's concert happened to be passing out fliers and came up to us. Dr. Howes said something about catching me in the act of networking. Just another example of my strange ability to be in the right place at the right time!

We had a bit of time before the National Gallery closed, so we headed there after tea in the crypt cafe of St. Martin's. A lot of the artwork has been moved around or sent off, so there were a lot of new things to see. My lover, M. de Norvins, is still there, though, so all is well.

Slept late this morning since I had nothing until LSO rehearsal at 4:30. Went to the city a bit beforehand so I could have my first proper pub grub. Toad-in-the-hole- one of my favo(u)rites!

Skipping out on tonight's LSO concert since I've heard them play 1/3 of the program(me) in 2 countries, 1/3 in 3 countries, and 1/3 last week. I think I'm going to call it an early night since I walked something like 12ish miles (19ish km.) yesterday. I could use some resting time.

Going to the Globe Theatre (Theater) on Friday evening to see Henry the 8th and Saturday to see Macbeth. London Symphony Chorus audition tomorrow evening and I have no idea what I'll be singing...

Green with Envy?

2010-05-16T14:02:00.002-04:00

Friday involved LSO rehearsal in the afternoon at St. Luke's, followed by a conducting masterclass in the evening with 3 lucky guys, one of whom was only 20!

---

I can't say that Dublin was or was not what I expected, as I didn't really know what to expect. It is not unlike English towns/cities. In fact, one of the percussionists behind me on the bus from the airport to the hotel said, "Do you even feel like you're in a different country?"

I woke up at 6 AM on Saturday morning, walked to Liverpool St. Station, took the Stansted Express to the airport. I only had a purse, no checked bags, but I still had to stand in line to get my passport checked. I was sent to the front as the line wasn't moving very quickly and they thought our flight should have priority for some reason.

While I was waiting at the gate, who should show up but Claire, a friend of mine in the first violin section! She decided to fly on her own since she lives much nearer Stansted than Heathrow. It was nice to have company on the flight.

We arrived at Dublin airport a little before the LSO flight, so we grabbed a bite near the arrivals gate. Took the first coach to the hotel. From there, I wandered around on my own from about noon until 5. I somehow ended up a block from the Jameson Whiskey Distillery at about 2, so I decided to do a tour. While waiting for my turn, I took a picture for a Dutch-speaking Belgian couple. We chatted for quite a while (in English) about their kids, who have studied abroad all over the place to become fluent in various languages.

I was selected to be one of the taste-testers at the end of the tour. The tour itself wasn't really that exciting. Afterwards, the 10 testers were given a bit of Jameson to compare to a bit of Johnnie Walker Black Label (a "premium" Scotch) and Jack Daniels (the best-selling American whisky). The smokiness of the Scotch was absolutely vile compared to the Jameson. JD is just awful, period. Only 1 of 10 said the Scotch was the best. We got a nice little certificate afterwards, names printed on them, even!

On the way to rehearsal, I decided to stop for coffee at a Starbuck's. Perhaps it was punishment for not going into a local place. No matter the reason, I somehow managed to get locked in the bathroom. Handily enough, there was a "pull for assistance" cord. Banging on the door wasn't getting anyone's attention, so I decided to pull the cord. I got a free coffee out of it!

Right before the rehearsal began, the orchestra was informed that the ash cloud forced them to move their flight to Frankfurt up 2 hours....meaning they had to leave the hotel at 5:15 AM, breakfast at 4:45. There was talk that the flights might be cancelled and that they'd have to take a ship to Liverpool, then a train to London, then a train to Hannover for the second of 3 Germany concerts, missing the one in Frankfurt. No worries- they made it!

The concert was sold out, but there were returns, so I managed to snag a Choir Balcony (i.e. behind the stage, above the orchestra) seat. A wee bit more expensive than I was hoping, but it was the cheapest in the house. General Admission allowed me to find my way to the front row. Sat next to an Irish guy who's my age, called Niall.

Back at the hotel after a quick bite, I sat in the lobby with Carmine, Ginette, and Jorg. Bought a half pint of Guinness, which I soon wished to have been a full pint. It's apparently a different recipe over there. MMMM!

Walked to the aircoach stop at something like 1:15. Bus didn't come until 2 something. I think I watched a marriage end in a fight on a Dublin street not far away from me while I was waiting. Almost called the police on the man. After a nap in a chair near the check-in point, finally was able to get my passport checked. No one else was there, as it was only about 3 AM. No one was in line at security. Once I was through security, no one was in the airport, ANYWHERE until an hour went by. Very surreal.

Back in London, all I had to do was show my boarding pass from Ireland due to some sort of lovely agreement! Looks like I'm going to be going back to Ireland since it's not at all a hectic trip!

Breakfast with Jonathan at 8:30 on the other side of London tomorrow morning. As I still feel vaguely like a zombie, I believe it's going to be an early night for me.

Don't Rain on My Parade.

2010-05-13T20:46:00.002-04:00

Very brief update today as it was a relaxed day.

Rehearsal in the morning. I think I accidentally fell asleep a couple of times due to jet lag kicking in. I could hardly even wake up in the morning. I went, though, so I could partake in the post-rehearsal festivities. Maxine, a first violin, has opened a makeshift shop of sorts in her sitting room to make way for new purchases. I found a hat for Royal Ascot!

I came back in the afternoon, rested, eventually decided to move up onto the roof. It was nice and warm, but large intimidating dark clouds were swiftly moving my way, encouraging me to move back to the kitchen.

Picked up a sandwich at Tesco, then went to the concert. The second half was made up of Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony, which involves the strangest instrument in the world: the ondes Martenot. I couldn't see it/didn't know of its existence during the rehearsal, which made it all the more confusing.

Back to the flat just in time for everyone to meet me on their way out. Joined them to go down the block for some reminiscing. I was challenged to speak as long as I could with my apparently-convincing Scottish accent. I was given permission to stop when they realized I could keep going :)

Tomorrow's the Gergiev conducting masterclass. Next days' the trip to Dublin, which I still dont' know if I'm going to do or not....

The Eagle Has Landed

2010-05-12T19:21:00.002-04:00

I won't bore you with every single detail of my trip, but will provide you with the highlights of my return to London.

Dayton's airport has free wireless. This is a very important fact that I had forgotten. Dallas does not have free wireless.

I sat in the 2nd to last row on the plane (which was a small one- only 3 seats in the middle, not 5, and did not have personal TVs), meaning I was between the toilets and behind the engines. Great sleeping sounds. There were 2 Australian guys behind me. We all had fun narrating the scene in the plane as everyone boarded. "Looks like the Crocodile Dundee's eyeing the seat beside you (me)!"

Thus was my introduction to my trans-atlantic flight neighbor, Tom aka "Standing Bear." No, he is not a Native American, but he is a NA spiritual practitioner. His teacher's name is "Rainbow Hawk." It took a lot to keep me from bursting into laughter when I heard that. Luckily (don't quite know if that's the proper word) the guy just goes by "Hawk." Tom/Bear and I spent about 3 hours (until dinner was served) talking. It didn't take long for him to realize that I am an "Old Soul." He said there are very few of them in the world. I completely see where he's coming from and agree. I'm sure everyone who's reading this also agrees. Tom/Bear is in England to visit "Whitewolf," his "soulmate," who lives in Cornwall.

I woke up just in time (and because of) to take part in the clamor of looking out the window as we flew DIRECTLY OVER the Icelandic volcano. It was neat to see the ash cloud from the sky. Alas, my camera was still asleep at the time.

Landed at Heathrow, in line at customs, realized I left my duty free purchases under the seat on the plane. Ran all the way back, had a trolly guy take me to the plane, found said purchases, ran back to customs, was the only person in line. The jerk who gave me a hard time the first time I ever came to the UK was one of my 3 choices of agents. Although it'd have been interesting to see if he'd changed his evil ways, I decided to try a new person. "Only 3 days? (since I'm going to Ireland Saturday- maybe)" "Yup." *stamp*

Boarded the tube. Picadilly Line closed halfway here. Transferred 3 times, dragged the suitcase up and down a billion flights of stairs. Finally made it to Exmouth at 3 PM sharp! Happy flatmate reunion. Shower, then immediately off to the Barbican! I sat backstage for the last 20 or so minutes of rehearsal, then went into the hall as the orchestra was getting off stage. Apparently mostly everyone didn't think I'd be here for another 2 weeks, so it was fun seeing everyone's faces- especially those who didn't know I was coming, at all!

Lovely dinner with Ginette, Jorg, and eventually Carmine. Concert, return home, visit with flatmates, BED!

Home on the Range

2009-08-20T16:01:00.003-04:00

I have been told that my posts are missed. If you really want to hear about my day-to-day happenings in Bowling Green, Ohio and the surrounding area, I guess I can fulfill your wishes. The other option is you donate so I can go back to England ASAP!

I do realize that I didn't tell you about the final night and my homecoming experience.

The night before my return, I went to the 2nd to last rehearsal of St. Bart's Choir before their concert (which was yesterday). It happened to be Ivor's birthday. There also happened to be a horrific gas leak somewhere in the area outside of the church (which is right on Covent Garden). Instead of evacuating us, the authorities locked us inside. No matter, my post-rehearsal plans of meeting the Exmouth Market gang at the choir's pub-of-choice was not disrupted. In fact, I'd say it was quite a success, although I have to admit that I cried the entire tube ride back to Gloucester Square. I know I've apologized a ton already, but: I'm sorry I was such a wreck, Jonathan!!!

I was luckily given a very sweet German Methodist minister as a seat neighbor for the cross-Atlantic flight. We chatted a bit on the plane (in English- he had to brush up for a conference in Tennessee). When we got to O'Hare, he helped me with my overhead bag. This is no small feat- it was stuffed of all of the programs from the summer concerts (i.e. VERY heavy).

At Immigration, the officer asked me how long I was out of the US. Slightly shocked at such a large number of days, he asked me if I was studying. I informed him that it wasn't- I was observing the LSO thanks to the help of some friends in the orchestra. "For 3 months (uh-oh)?" "I'm studying to be a conductor." "Well, that sounds like the best kind of lesson." FINALLY- someone who understands!

Holger (German friend) and I met again up at baggage claim. My bags were in the very last load off of the plane, but he patiently waited with me the entire time. Next was customs. All the officer did was take our filled-out cards. He didn't even look at them! As both of our connecting flights didn't leave until 4, we passed the time in one of the airport restaurants. Not that there was a load of time- it took us over 2 hours to go through immigration, baggage, customs, re-check baggage, and re-go-through security.

A bit after 3, I walked to the area Jordan where and I had decided to wait for each other. In case I failed to mention this earlier, Jordan and I both arrived in London the same day in May. We met on our first night at the hostel. We happened to be chatting online- when both of us were in Germany- when we discovered that we would both be flying home the same day with a layover at the same time in the same airport!!! Crazy, no? Jordan's final destination was home on the West Coast. I was afraid he wouldn't get there in time, but he had better luck in security/immigration/etc. We talked for about 20 minutes before I had to board the puddle-jumper to Toledo.

I move the rest of my things- and myself- to the apartment in BG Saturday morning. I still need to make a couple of phone calls, one of which will determine whether or not we get internet...I should get on that...

Part of the Exmouth Gang: Matty and Adam

Hostel Buddy, Jordan

And Now, the End is Near....

2009-08-10T07:08:00.003-04:00

I said I was going to write a new post yesterday. Sorry I've been slacking these last few weeks. It is with deepest sadness that I announce that this will be the last post of this life-changing trip. My plane leaves Heathrow at 10:25 AM tomorrow morning from Heathrow. I have yet to fit all of my things into my luggage. I wish I'd have listened to everyone before I left and put a smaller suitcase inside of the bigger one. I insisted that I'd have enough room. I now find myself going home with my friend's fold-up suitcase so as to avoid overweight luggage.

I was going to go out and do some last-minute touristy things, but have decided against it. It would have been a visit to Westminster Abbey to do the audio tour just because it's said by Jeremy Irons. Instead, I'm staying in and packing, playing piano, and practicing trumpet. Yesterday was the first time I played piano in a VERY long time...well, more than my short attempt at Michel and Monir's. That doesn't count. Yesterday, I sat down with music I've played before and struggled more than I ever have to get through simple pieces. I'll be playing my trumpet at some point later today, too.

Germany was wonderful- except for the sunburn part. I find it interesting that I got a worse burn in Germany than I did in Spain. The Spanish sunburn was gone by the next morning. The German one's still sticking around. As for the flight- if you ever fly on one of the cheap European airlines, choose in this order: 1) Easyjet 2) Aer Lingus Lastresort) Ryanair. The flight to Munich was one of the smoothest I've yet had. On the way back, the pilot informed us where we were when we were flying over something exciting thanks to the incredibly clear night. He pointed out our flying over the Dutch coast and when we got to the southern coast of Britain. Pretty neat. Sadly, the pictures out the window didn't turn out too well. I wish I'd not have slept the entire ride there, as it was during the day.

The border agent back at Stanstead (i.e. London) gave me probably the 2nd worst time I've had entering the country. I had forgotten to bring my itinerary back to the US with me. Here is a paraphrase of our retarded conversation:

"You've been here enough times you know you need to have it with you. Why were you here for almost 4 months?"

"Um...it was less than 3....I was here to observe the London Symphony Orchestra."

"And you really needed 3 months to do that?"

"Um....yes....*thinks: Yes. If you were cultured, you'd understand.*"

"What address is this?"

"The flat at which I've been staying."

"Whose address is it, then?"

"Well, I guess it's my flatmate's..."

"Why did you need a flat if you were only here 3 months?"

*thinks: Where the hell am I supposed to stay for 3 months? Do YOU want to pay 3 months of hotel fees?* "Um...yes...."

She then asked about my money situation, quizzed me on when my flight leaves Tuesday, interrogated me about my being at university, and informed me that she'd be taking note of my not having my itinerary. Thank God the guy on my first trip here didn't write down the same, even though it happened then, too.

Oh, and I'm not staying in the *entire* day- I'm going to the 2nd to last rehearsal before St. Bart's Hospital Choir concert next Tuesday. Today's Ivor's birthday, so it's either going to be great or horrible....After, I'm meeting up with the Exmouth Market gang at the choir's pub of choice. It's going to be a sad night of festivities....

This summer has been beyond words. If you've been reading up on all of my adventures, you'll understand how overwhelmingly perfect it's gone, for the most part. There are a billion things I couldn't fit into this blog, but I've been keeping a separate and more-detailed journal saved on my computer. Perhaps you can read it in my memoirs at some point down the road...it is about the length of a book.....

See you all on the other side of the pond tomorrow.

Prost!

2009-08-05T04:18:00.004-04:00

All of my bookmarked websites have translated themselves into German. This can only mean one thing...well, two...either my computer has some awesome virus, or (more likely) I'm in Germany. The answer is: I'm in Munich! I'm visiting Julia, who was an exchange student my sophomore year of high school.

The 2 Berlioz proms were fantastique. The first night was the Te Deum, a new work, and Beethoven 4. Afterwards, a friend of mine drove me to a Heathrow hotel to visit Dr. Papanikolaou, my Music History 2 professor. She was in London for a whole 20 hours. I'm glad we were able to have a little chat! The second night was Beethoven 3, the overture to Les Francs Juges and Symphonie Funebre et Triumphale. The latter was written for a band, so there were zero strings, 9 bassoons, 14 clarinets, 10 trumpets, 4 cornets, 12 (!) French horns, 8 snareish/field drum things, 3 bass drums, 4 sets of crash cymbals, 8 or so trombones, 2 tubas, and a smattering of whatever else I forgot...oboes...whatever, there were a whole bunch of not strings. I would love band if we played music like that. Sadly, we don't, so I am an orchestra girl. I met Michel and Monir before hand and had a little picnic in Hyde Park.

I woke up at 5 AM yesterday morning, walked to a bus stop, went to Liverpool St. Station, got no the Stanstead Express, had my bag searched at the airport, and eventually boarded the plane which was 40 minutes late. Julia met me at the Munich airport. An S-Bahn took us to Marienplatz. We walked partway back to her place and took another train partway (it's not very far, though- I'm going to walk back down there as soon as I get myself together). I threw my stuff down, then we went for a traditional Bavarian meal. I had Pfannkuchensuppe and Leberkäse, which is kind of like a processed meat thing with a fried egg and potato salad. It was oddly tasty. The menu added another crazy-long word in front of it. Julia made me practice saying it before ordering. I managed! Wonder what I'll eat today.....

Oh, by the way....6 days, and I'm back in Findlay. :/

On the Road, Again

2009-08-03T08:58:00.002-04:00

In the last 2 weeks, I've spent about 12 hours on trains. I don't really have much time right now, but thought I should let you know I'm still alive. I'm back in London...until tomorrow morning when I head to Munich to visit Julia. I had a wonderful time in the Lake District...beautiful weather, beautiful sights, and great company! I need to run off and do some packing before meeting Michel and Monir for dinner before the second Berlioz prom.......hope to update from Germany.

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race

2009-07-29T16:10:00.004-04:00

hotel @ St. Andrew's golf course
Sorry for the long delay, but I have been having a very eventful last few days that have kept me from being able to sit down and organize my thoughts/events in a comprehensive manner. As it's been forever since my last good post, I give myself permission to make this one extra long.

I left Norwich by train at 8 PM Sunday night, arriving at London Liverpool Street 2 hours later. A 20ish minute tube ride took me to Victoria. A walk of 10-15 more took me to Victoria coach station, where I waited for my bus for about half an hour. It arrived at about 20 past 11 in the form of a gigantic purple double-decker with a trailer behind. Megabus was, indeed, MEGA. I was all excited when it seemed that I would have my own seat until some guy sat down just as we were about to depart. This meant any sleeping to be done would require window-leaning. I awoke at 2 AM to an announcement of our arrival in Birmingham. I immediately fell back asleep. At 7 AM, I opened my eyes, wide awake, and had no clue where we were. A sign reading, "Lanarkshire county" or somesuch did not help. I simply thought someone violently misspelled Lancashire. And so, I had entered Scotland.

At 8 AM, I found myself in Glasgow, where we had about half an hour to stretch our legs. Therefore, I can say that I've legitimately been to Glasgow. Many people alighted here, so I left with my own seat. A while later, we made a stop in Perth, then Dundee a few minutes past schedule at about 10:28. I saw Michel and Monir waiting for me on the platform. For those of you who are unaware, we met through their website- www.hberlioz.com. Look back at my post from 12 or 13 Dec 2007 and you can read about our first encounter.

The three of us waited for a few minutes until a bus came to take us to very near their house. We spent the evening talking about Berlioz at sporadic instances (of course, what else would we do?!), me being shown the house, and me drooling over all things Berlioz-related. At 8, their neighbors, Kaye and Len (real Scots!), joined us for a tasty supper. Monir made rice to Iranian specifications, and Michel made a casserole (US: "stew") to go over top. We all had a nice little chat about many things.

Wednesday was spent touring seaside fishing villages. Michel chauffeured us to Anstruther, Crail, Pittenweem, and Elie before heading back to St. Andrew's. We visited the harbours of the first 3 and a beautiful old (built by 1370) church in the last. At lunch, I consumed the tastiest hot chocolate of my life next door to where we ate dinner tonight. Hold on a moment for that tale! Michel dropped Monir and I off in town upon our return. I happened upon a local bakery called, "Fisher and Donaldson's!" They apparently have delicious cakes, which I believe. I had the best doughnut of my life there. It was fudgey-mapeley frosted with vanillaish pudding inside. Unlike anything I have ever tasted. The late-night supper concluded with a fruity-puddingy concoction that I do believe will be gracing the table at the Givens dinner in the spring.

Today, Monir and I headed to Edinburgh. She had to pick up a paper from her flat there (I just took a brief pause to run upstairs to the loft and take pictures of a beautiful Scottish sunset!), so I tagged along. After some sauntering, we made it to the Tartan Mill where I finally acquired a Clan MacDonald ladies' kilt. The handy cafe above the mill happened to have haggis, so no further sauntering was required except that of making our way to the bus station to head back.

After a short rest and bit of tea back at the wh'oooose (US: noun: "house"), Chauffeur Michel took us back to Pittenweem for this super-hyped fish and chips bar's wares. They were everything I had been hoping and MORE! To explain just how good they were: I am that person who doesn't eat the little crispy chips (US: "fries") because they're too crispy, flavourless, and dry. I also don't tend to eat the breading on my fish for the same reasons. Below, you will find before and afters of my vinegar-and-salt covered newspaper-wrapped fish and chips.

In short, Scotland= 1) the best food, ever: Haggis, fish and chips, doughnuts, desserts, and more! 2) it's awesome to see businesses that include your name, not to mention two in one day, when you're accustomed to never seeing it anywhere 3) it's strange to blend in so well. My hair, skin, eyes, etc. hide me quite well. 4) I don't want to leave- it's won me over. Scottish food is delicious, Scottish clouds are beautiful, Scottish skies are beautiful, Scottish people are lovely, Scottish (highland) cattle are awesome-looking (do a google search), no one's in a rush- I love how laid back it feels here, etc. etc. Come here if you think I'm just waxing poetic. Oh, there's also the point that I've spent my time here being as nerdy as possible by talking about Hector every waking moment and looking at memorabilia, etc. And so, the truth comes out.

a harbour, haggis, before/after fish and chips

Zooooooom

2009-07-22T14:15:00.003-04:00

And thus begins my whirlwind tour of Europe. It is day 2 in Norwich. 2 Evensongs have been evensung. I haven't been too horrible about my page-turning, stop-pulling, and button-pushing. I will be doing the same until Sunday. That, and romping around this nice town taking peeks into shops and the like.

I don't know when I will next be on, but I actually have to run back to the cathedral and attend an organ rectial. Sorry this was so short, but I've been running around for the last 2 days! I'm off....

End with a Bang

2009-07-20T17:55:00.005-04:00

Oh, Mahler, how draining you are. Before I get into the concert, I'll tell you about the rest of my day.

I woke up a bit late...I knew I'd need the extra energy tonight. Eventually, I packed for Norwich/Scotland/the Lake District. After that, I dawdled, then hopped on the tube to wander around Kensington. My wandering began with a saunter through the Victoria & Albert Museum. Last time I was there, I spent 3 hours in the musical instruments room (I pulled out every single cabinet, none of which I looked at this trip). Dragonetti's bass still impresses me with it's enormity. You could fit a modern bass inside it quite easily.

From there, I headed towards Royal Albert Hall/the Royal College of Music/Hyde Park. While walking past RCM, I noticed a sign announcing a pre-concert talk. Huzzah! Photos were snapped, then I went to Hyde Park for the first time. On my way back to the talk, I happened upon a few people gathered around something that seemed exciting. Then I saw what it was. A man had his 5 tiny puppies romping around! I happily sat down in the grass and played with them. The talk was entertaining and informative. After it finished, I walked downstairs. On the way, I almost started crying...it was very powerful to be in a building for the first time that I have thought about so much for the last 2 years.

Now onto the concert: The Royal Albert Hall was very nearly sold-out (there were a few empty seats and a couple of empty boxes). I got to my seat while the (huge) building was still relatively empty. Eventually an older couple sat on my right. I was highly confused, as I thought I could understand them, then I couldn't. I had an idea of what was going on, so I asked the woman what language they were speaking. Aha! It was Dutch! Thus it's sounding like German and messing with my head. We proceeded to talk for the next 20 minutes until the concert began. Both of them play viola in an amateur orchestra in Amsterdam. She is studying music. They were on holiday to London for a few days after she completed a little course in music at Cambridge. She told me about several historical concerts she'd witnessed with Haitink, Bernstein, and the Concertgebouw. The husband's viola teacher was in the Concertgebouw. Right before the concert began, she gave me her email address saying, "We can help you out if you ever come to Holland! We live only 45 minutes from Amsterdam and go to the Concertgebouw usually once a week." I have been very lucky with my concert-going neighbors this summer...many very interesting people. I will miss it!

I can only imagine how the players must have felt before, during, and after the performance. Carmine said it was very powerful to see the audience members' faces- some crying, some listening intently with closed eyes, all moved. Not long into the 1st movement, I already had tears streaming down my face. They let up for 2 and 3, but came back in 4. The worst, though, was saying a "final" "goodbye" (hopefully for only 3-months) to Carmine at the tube station. It was a very emotional ride home, as I kept thinking of different highlights from my time with them. I couldn't have chosen a better ending note for the summer. I'll see you all in October, if the powers that be approve.

Installation at the V&A, RCM, RAH and Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, puppies, RAH

Off to Norwich tomorrow morning until Sunday, then to Scotland. I don't know if I will be online between now and then...

Dali would be Proud.

2009-07-19T20:53:00.002-04:00

...for today felt relatively surreal. It began with Carmine giving me a little gift to remember him. He wanted me to guess what it was, but I had no clue. He said it was perfect for me. The clue was "Christmas." I gave up. He proceeded to pull out a pristine set of LPs of Berlioz' sacred works performed by Sir Colin and the LSO. He bought it at a boot sale the day after we drove up to Coventry, which is when we started to get to know each other. In other words, it IS the perfect gift to remember him by.

Rehearsal began with Haitink saying, "Let's run the first three movements and be done at 5. If we go a few minutes over, don't be mad." They ended up running all 4 movements, which I did not complain about. I was actually hoping they would play it, as it's the most emotional of the 4. The waterworks almost opened up, but I forced them back. Tomorrow, though, they will flow freely.

Many semi-farewell hugs were had. It wasn't quiet as difficult as I thought. I will be seeing them all again for a week in October if everything's on my side. Hopefully I can catch some of them as they leave the hall tomorrow night, as well.

I also caught Maestro Haitink before he escaped. It was a very odd encounter. It was almost as if he couldn't understand me, even though he's entirely fluent at English. He seemed like an entirely different person off the podium.

I met up with a friend from the New London Singers at 8 for drinks/some food. We had a very nice long chat about many things. It turns out he is a friend of John Rutter. I told him to check and see if my drawing of Nick is still there next time he goes to their house. We had some interesting Asian (well, it's Oriental here) cuisine unlike any I had ever had. Tasty!

It is now past 2 AM. I should have been asleep hours ago.

I don't know why the violin drawing is sideways.

Your Answers, Please.

2009-07-17T12:04:00.004-04:00

Obviously, many amazing things have happened in the world since, well, ever. If you had the chance to go back and experience something from history, what would it be? Why? Would you want to sit down and have a chat with Ben Franklin, watch the Wright Bros. first flight, witness Lincoln reciting the Gettysburg Address, or do you just like the clothing? I have been thinking about this for the past few days for no reason in particular. It's surely crossed your mind, as well, whether or not you were asked, daydreaming, or consciously thinking about it. By the way, this has nothing to do with my trip.

It's very difficult to limit yourself to just 5. At first, I was going to say 3, but I kept thinking of things. Perhaps that just comes with my extreme interest in history. Here are mine:

1) I'm sure you can all guess: Berlioz, in general. I want to hear him sing, I want to see him conduct, I want to experience his wit first-hand, and I want to see the beak for myself. Oh, and I'd marry him.

2) Give Beethoven a hug.

3) Talk to my great-great-great grandfather Donaldson. He and his brother came over from Ireland (their parents moved there from Scotland...I have decided, therefore, that I'm half Scottish, not Irish) and started an iron foundry. It existed from 1862 until he died in 1937 (at age 93). As a first-generation American, he started that company, became mayor of his town in Michigan, possibly ran into Thomas Edison while TE was a kid working on the railway in said town, and started a bank. Also, I think it's neat that 2 of his other brothers started a merchant shipping line in Chicago in the 1850s. The first British merchant ship that was sunk by a German U-boat was one of theirs. Grandpa, if you are reading this and can remember, did he have an accent? Surely he did...

4) Live in upper-class Victorian England for wee bit. I'd like to be able to take a trip to my rich cousins in the country, go to a fancy ball (corset and all), disguise myself and explore the lowly worlds of Dickens' books, ride in a horse-drawn hack, and experience the atmosphere of the Sherlock Holmes tales- walk down the street at night in the rain as a bobby twirls his bat on the corner, whistling to himself...

5) Live in 1930s Hollywood and, again, upper-class England. My original number 5 was to work in the studio of Constable, JMW Turner, or Ingres, but this one might relate to more people. I would want to get to know the big old-time movie stars. Well, at least the ones I personally see as stars- Basil Rathbone, mostly. I want to go to another ball, only in '30s attire. I'd like to go to some Jeeves and Wooster-ey events, a horse race, etc...

What are yours? Enlighten me. If you're one of the people who usually reads this but says nothing, PLEASE leave at least ONE of your answers. I'm interested to hear.

Friends, or Foe?

2009-07-16T11:45:00.003-04:00

The title has a double meaning. 1) Yesterday, I went to see the new Harry Potter film. I loved it, but it could have been more dramatic. It seemed like everything happened too quickly and just barreled forward. I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed. Go see it. Only if you've read the books, though...or at least watched all the other movies and remember what happened in them. If you know the plot, you get the meaning of the title.

2) After the movie (which, by the way, the cinema only had about 5 empty seats), I came back to the flat to get ready to head out yet again. At 7, there was an "LSO Friends and Patrons" event at the Barbican. I was invited via letter to my house in Ohio back in June. Dad sent me an email containing the info in the letter with the subject like, "Ashley: READ THIS NOW." The letter arrived 11 June. I had to respond by the 12th.

When I got to the Conservatory Terrace (see picture- stolen from the internet as I stupidly didn't take my camera- below, but pretend you're looking down upon the scene), I found out that the woman hadn't gotten my email response. No matter, she was happy I showed up! I was worried that I wouldn't really find someone to talk to, but I ended up having a great time. 2 women came over near me and we started chatting. 2 more eventually joined. The first two were both "Friends (people who pay money to get orchestral perks)," the second two both people like myself who'd bought a ton of tickets. I saw that Ginette, one of the 1st violins, was there, so I went and sat with her for the recital portion of the night. Patrick, tuba, and Rinat, bass, serenaded us for an hour.

After the recital, we all headed downstairs to the garden room (with a door leading into the, well, garden, seen in the picture below) for food, drinks, and talk. I talked with some people who work as stewards at LSO St. Luke's. One woman came up to me and asked if I was in the orchestra. She recognized me via my shoes...she complimented me on them at the first event I went to there! Everyone wished me well and said they could tell I will be going far....I can only hope their crystal balls weren't too cloudy. One woman asked my full name so she could look for it in the future. I think that's one of the most powerful things people have said to me.

Tomorrow is the first rehearsal for the last concert. Sigh.

Bastille Day!

2009-07-14T22:09:00.002-04:00

Well, I guess it's over now...at least in the UK. Still, it is a fitting title, as it was the title of tonight's choir concert program. Tonight was my second (and final) concert with the New London Singers at St. Martin's. The program consisted of the Durufle Requiem and motets, Poulenc motets, 2 Saint-Saens pieces, a short piece that's entirely hummed, and another piece in French. In other words, it was all composed by Frenchmen but was not, thankfully, all in French- Requiem/Motets=Latin, which is much easier to say/sing.

Sorry it's taken me so long to blog. Honestly, nothing much has happened since the last. The orchestra went to Germany for 2.5 days, so I stayed in and caught up on sleep, mostly. I did manage to go to my second RPO concert. It was interesting. Tchaikovsky 5 and the violin concerto, plus the premier of some relatively wretched Korean composition.

On Sunday, I went to an "Italian Procession." There's apparently a "Little Italy (VERY little)" about a 7 minute walk from here. Their church processes their statue of Mary around every year at the back of a long religious parade. It was interesting to see. They also had a lot of food vendors set up. Tasty!

Today, there was choir rehearsal at St. Martin's at 4, then the concert at 7:30. After, we went to the pub. A select few of us decided to move to another bar after being kicked out of that one...at 11 PM. It's on Whitehall in Westminster, so there's not really a demand to stay open any later. There was rehearsal for St. Bart's choir last night, as well. We also went to the pub after that. I had a great discussion about British cooking with one guy. The highlight of the conversation was when we were discussing Swedes, and how they're called "Rutabaga" in the states. "Isn't that a kind of car?" I was confused then said, "OH! You mean a Studebaker?"

That seems like a lot of stuff for having nothing to do...Tomorrow I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie. They have showings all day from 9 AM at a nearby cinema, so I'll hit up one of them. Then in the evening, I'll be heading to the Barbican for an LSO Friends/Patrons event. Patrick (tuba) and Rinat (bass) are giving a little recital and a light dinner/drinks are being served. I was invited via letter to my house in OHIO because I've bought so many tickets. I think I'll have been to 25 concerts (not just LSO) by time I get home.

Feed the Birds.

2009-07-09T13:16:00.005-04:00

Tonight's concert is Bruckner 9 at St. Paul's. It was a little more spine-tingling at the rehearsal hall yesterday, as it was a tiny space for big sound, but I'm sure tonight will be just as powerful when all of the idiotic tourists are gone. I showed up this morning prepared to pay the entrance fee to sit and listen to the rehearsal for 3 hours. The kind woman at the desk let me in for free, as I wasn't going to be going around looking at the stuff you have to pay to see.

After rehearsal, I decided to walk to Millennium Bridge to partake in some roasted nuts smothered in sugar. Tasty! Carmine accompanied me, as he had never been on the bridge. Tut tut! I was worried when I saw no vendor on the north side of the bridge. I decided to take the chance and see if there was one on the other side. I didn't see one, but we could smell it...he was hiding out underneath. I went up to him and said, "My day is complete! £2? He answered in the affirmative. He charged the next guy 3. Mwaha!

I mentioned yesterday's rehearsal. I'll take this chance to explain my trip to the hall. I've been there several times, but yesterday was the most adventurous. I was going to take the tube, but got to the station and realized my Oystercard was in my wallet, which was in the flat...along with my phone and my keys. It fell out of my bag as I shut it, but I didn't notice. Luckily I had my London map and had looked up the shortest route according to Google Maps. It said it'd take 45 minutes. I turned around and sprinted from a slightly farther starting point, and made it in 35. That's even including the chunk of time I spent relatively lost after taking a turn too early. I followed my nose and managed to arrive as Gergiev's car was pulling up! He has the habit of being violently late, though, so I guess that's not a good comparison. I was there 3 minutes before the scheduled downbeat.

I should have just waited until after the concert to post something, but I wanted to let Grandma D know that I took some oatmeal-choc-chip cookies to rehearsal last night. Several players said they were the best they've ever tasted! They went over quite well. I think I need to be hired as the LSO Principal Baker.

Drear.

2009-07-08T08:45:00.002-04:00

It has been storming in London the last few days- full on thunder and everything. Yesterday, Victoria station, perhaps the busiest train/underground station in the city, was closed due to flooding. It seems to rain hardest when I'm outside. The first day of this weather, it was just sprinkling...then I stepped outside to run to the tube station and the heavens opened up. I'm sure that's what's going to happen when I run to rehearsal in a few minutes. I'm planning on walking, and it's going to take at least 45 minutes. I'm sure I'll be drenched when I get there, even though it's dry right now.

I just booked a flight to Munich to visit my friend, Julia, who was an exchange student my sophomore year of HS. I promised I'd visit, and finally am living up to it! August 4-8. I also booked my trains to Scotland and the Lake District. Scotland to visit the professors who run hberlioz.com and the Lake District to visit some family friends. I have never been to either region, both of which I'm certain are absolutely beautiful.

Everyone (except one person) in this flat building has been or is going to another country recently. I started out by going to Spain, Adam's in Sweden/Denmark, Matty's in Slovakia, Giulio got back from Paris yesterday, and Jonty's going to Ireland on Friday. Paul visited his parents a couple hours away- does that count?

I should probably leave. Rehearsal is prepared to be delayed (I've already been warned), at least with the actual conductor- Gergiev has the habit of being late. The man WAY overbooks himself and owns 3 cell phones. The cell phones have nothing to do with his being late, just to prove how busy he is. There was a period not long ago where he had 4 concerts in 3 countries in 3 days. Not close countries, either- I know one was Russia and one was England.

I have no pictures of any value to post. Hopefully I'll be able to take some more once the weather improves.

Busy, Busy.

2009-07-04T18:45:00.003-04:00

It's been a few days. Much has happened that I should write about. I'll try to keep it short.

On Wednesday, there was an early-morning rehearsal at Henry Wood Hall on the south bank. I felt quite lousy, again, so I spent one of the four hours resting. Evening choir rehearsal was held at St. Vedast church. A Wren church, it was mostly destroyed in WWII, but rebuilt very very well. Breathtaking inside. At one point, Ivor had us sing the same 4 chords about 10 times because of a harmonic/overtone we could hear. Someone said it was angels. Someone else was quite convinced that a soprano was singing the top note. No one was.

Thursday, I did not go to a recording session at Abbey Road. I went to Abbey Road, but then left due to some technical difficulties. Hopefully I'll be at the remaining sessions until I go home. I lounged for a few hours at home, then headed off to St. Luke's for rehearsal and the evening concert. It was my first (and only) concert at St. Luke's. It was a beautifully relaxing evening with lovely music and a great setting. As the sun went down, the light through the trees outside of the windows grew more dramatic, as did the music and the lighting in the building.

Last night, I had my own concert in which I was a participant! The New London Singers had a concert of American music at St. Martin's-in-the-Field. It was my thundersheet debut. We sang some messy stuff decidedly unmessily (spellcheck wants to change that to unmusically, funnily enough). We sang Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah." The people watching our rehearsal clapped after it! We sang it as an encore, too. Fun one.

This evening, I decided to go to “Sweden Day” for the City of London Festival. It was held at Hampstead Heath (it's North). It ended being 15-or-so minutes from the nearest tube station (Kentish Town)- uphill. Ugh. When I got there, the Benny Anderson (from ABBA) Band was playing. As they played, I wandered around Parliament Hill a bit. Beautiful. I understand why Constable spent so much time there. I’d like to go back when it’s not so full of people. It doesn't look/feel/smell like you're in London. Perfect.

I'd write more, but my eyes are closing themselves. Pictures in the coming days.

Granada

2009-06-30T08:51:00.003-04:00

Aside from what was possibly the most horrible illness of my life (I spent the entire free day and evening in bed meaning I missed a rehearal and 2nd concert), I had a great time in Spain. My sunburn is no longer visible (it wasn't that bad), despite two days of sitting by the pool. I bought nothing, but took plenty of photos.

The concerts took place outside in an open air auditorium at the Alhambra, which was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. They both began at 10:30 PM. Very long nights.

Thanks to everyone being together pretty much the entire time, I now know about half of the orchestra (c. 50 of 96ish members). I went to dinner with some new acquaintances on the free evening (Sunday). I noted that all of us were from a different country, or at least a different heritage- Tom is English, Moritz- German, Laurant- French, Chi- English, but with a Chinese background, Evgeny- Russian, and me, the token American. We apparently spent so much money that the server had the owner of the restaurant stand with us when I asked him to take our photo. We were also give a free drink and chocolate truffles.

The orchestra has a concert tonight at the Barbican. Yes, they just arrived back to London this morning. The concert is the same as last night's in Granada- Prokofiev PC 3, Firebird, and a couple Ives things. As I'm still recovering from my horrible whatever-it-was, I think I'm going to go back to bed for a while before rehearsal.

No Rain in Spain, Please.

2009-06-26T12:26:00.002-04:00

My flight leaves at 6 AM from Gatwick. The last Gatwick Express train leaves at 12:30 AM. I could come home and sit around before taking the 3:30 AM train, but I would have to take a taxi to Victoria, which would be expensive. Therefore, I think I'm going to take the 12:30 one and just sit around at the airport forever.

I will take many pcitures, no worries there. I also will probably get sunburned.

Well...I am off to go to a concert at St. Martin's (Ivor is conducting part of it), then wasting time until the train leaves. Adios, amigos!

MTT

2009-06-24T19:12:00.002-04:00

Yesterday began far too early with 9:30 rehearsal at St. Luke’s. Today was Day 1 with Michael Tilson Thomas. I was a bit surprised to find myself right behind him as I got to the church. He was with his man, Josh, and donning blue Phil Glasses. A Spanish woman (currently living in Switzerland) was also sitting up in the balcony. At the break, she asked if I’m a conductor, too. My note-taking must have given me away. Her name is Gloria. We individually introduced ourselves to MTT after rehearsal. He couldn't have cared less about either of us.

I had some delicious Italian food for lunch. Pasta mixed with some eggplant-wrapped mozzarella from a vendor on Whitecross Street. I've walked past his booth many times and thought how delicious it looked. Soooo tasty. I’m going to be heading back down there some day soon with my fingers crossed that the same dish will still be available.

I only stayed for the first hour and ten minutes of rehearsal for the evening concert. I skipped out on the concert, too, so I could go to my first rehearsal with the New London Singers. I took a bus to get there. During the bus ride, I was in the company of two completely idiotic old American men. They had stupid comments for everthing out the windows. I wanted to say something to them like, "Thanks for helping to maintain our national sterotypes."

Part way through rehearsal, Ivor asked for a volunteer to sit at the piano so the woman who previously was could sing for a bit. I idiotically stood up. Another guy did the same at the same time. Ivor wanted me to. He asked me to play downbeats occasionally, told me to play the organ part at one point, and along with one line…I never knew when he wanted me to continue and he never gave me enough time to find my place or think. He had the other woman come back. I felt completely worthless. After rehearsal (which was 3 hours with no break), he apologized for his brashness. He was stressed (concert is next week) and sick and admitted that I wasn't 100%. Completely understandable.

Day 2 at St. Luke’s with MTT didn’t begin until 2:30. It was an open rehearsal today, meaning people had to buy tickets. When I took to my perch upstairs, a girl came up to me saying, “I have to ask for tickets today. Or are you with the orchestra?” We began chatting about conductorly things. She studied in Canada and asked where I study/who with. I said, “Oh, it’s just a small school…BGSU.” “A friend of mine graduated from there a year or two ago. Cathy O’Shaughessy?” It’s a small world! She caught me later and said she’d give me her contact info at rehearsal tomorrow morning. When I got home, she had written on Cathy’s wall, so I just took the initiative and friended her then and there.

At dinner break, the orchestra had a meeting. I went next door to the Central Café for a bite. One wall was completely covered in LSO pictures. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that on the Brahms Discovery Day when I had lunch there.

Some BG-ers are going to be passing through London in the next few days. I’m going to try and swing by Covent Garden Friday night on the way to Gatwick in hopes of finding them. I can’t wait to see Moss’s face.

Mountains und Bergs

2009-06-20T18:20:00.003-04:00

I have finally been to my first professional opera! Chris Williams caught me at the perfect time today to talk me into going to the Royal Opera at Covent Garden to see Alban Berg's Lulu. 3:40 of German (with English surtitles and including 2 25-minute intervals). I survived.

This morning was a 3-hour rehearsal with Sir Colin. I went up and spoke to him during the break. He had me come up on stage and sit and talk until the orchestra came back. We had a nice little discussion about score preparation, Berlioz, and Mozart 40 (which the orchestra was rehearsing/is playing tomorrow night). I need to snag a picture tomorrow since I stupidly didn't today.

Last night, I went along to a recording session at Lyndhurst (much prettier than Abbey Road- it's a converted church). I sat in the box with the sound guys and the composer for 6 hours. The session was made exponentially more interesting by being able to actually hear and follow what was going on.

The next 2 weeks are going to be insane. I'm going to Granada with the LSO (!!!) on Friday, back the 30th. There's a concert that night. There's also a concert on the 25th, plus rehearsals, an LSO On Track concert, etc. etc. I will post as I am able.

L: Abbey Rd R: Lyndhurst. Others were taking pictures, so don't shoot me.

Quavers, quavers, quavers.....

2009-06-17T18:51:00.004-04:00

Sir Colin Davis is, if he remembers me into the future, forever going to associate me with the quavers in the first violins at "E" in Brahms' Symphony 3, movement 1 all because I asked him about them at rehearsal on Monday. Yesterday during the break, he walked past me and asked if I heard them that time. I honestly wasn't paying attention to the violins at that point, so I just kind of made a face and he kept walking. Today, he walked past me before rehearsal and said that he'd make sure my quavers would be heard today. When he announced break time at the completion of the Brahms, he turned around and asked me how they were- while the entire orchestra was still sitting there. I heard them! I need to get a picture with him at the next rehearsal....until then, here is a picture of me with Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor of the concert last Thursday.

And a picture of me eating the best meal I have ever had, ever. And a picture of LSO St. Luke's- a church the LSO owns about 5 minutes down the road from the Barbican:

Post-rehearsal shopping led me to buy a shirt and a dress (which the lady working the fitting room said looked better on me than anyone she had yet see try it on :). It's a bit too dressy to just up and wear, so I'll have to wait and see when a semi-formal occasion pops up (there are a couple of upcoming possibilities). I also stopped and bought some drawing paper.

While walking back to the flat with my goodies, there was a huge gust of wind. I paid attention to nothing but holding on to the huge sheet of paper. I proceeded to walk into low-hanging branches which beat me repeatedly. What mis-tree-tment, Mother Nature!!

I cooked a quick dinner that I am still unsure about. I just kind of dumped some stuff on a chicken breast, stuck it on the stove, and ate it when it seemed to be done clucking.

I am now contemplating what I should do tomorrow. There's a super long recording session, but I'm not entirely sure I want to sit through the whole thing (7 hours including a 1-hour dinner break). I shouldn't be saying that. I pretty much know I'm going to be there.

There were other things I wanted to mention, but I have since forgotten. Oh, I do know one- I never said that when hostel-friend, Brian, and I were heading somewhere on the tube, he was stopped by a security guard and search by a yellow lab named Buster. He was given Buster's business card for being a good sport when all was over. I think the cop chose him because I smiled at the dog. Sorry, Brian.

What a Day.

2009-06-15T19:08:00.002-04:00

I got to rehearsal half an hour early this morning (i.e. 9:30). Nigel asked me if I wanted him to introduce me to Sir Colin. Not being an idiot, I took up on his offer. "This is Ashley. She's studying to become a conductor because of you." He pretty much said, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that" with a smile on his face. Nigel left us to talk. Sir Colin was interested to hear what "studying conducting/class/lessons" implied, as he doesn't give lessons. I was given permission to go up to him after rehearsal to ask "why the hell did you do that there?" or anything.

After rehearsal, I had a 45-minute lesson with Gerry, one of the trumpets. We pretty much played the entire time. I magically didn't get too tired, despite my not being able to play without a practice mute but once in the last month. We played a few duets and worked on some excerpts. He's going to get some music to me, let me look it over, then we'll get together again.

I went along to a recording session at Abbey Road....with my Beatles bag. I felt like a complete moron. I made sure to keep my jacket strategically placed over the the front of the bag so as to not look like an idiotic tourist or whatnot.

At 6, I bolted to Covent Garden for a 6:45 rehearsal with St. Bart's Choir (the one I sang with last week). I went to the pub with some friends from the choir after. Some random psychic from NY came up and started talking to us...it was odd. But she noted that I belong in this city. The fact that things are going as amazingly as they are and my ability to fit in perfectly when coming from such a small town helped her realized this obvious fact.

I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed now so I can wake early for full English breakfast, hopefully.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2009-06-12T19:16:00.004-04:00

I spent thirteen consecutive hours in/backstage at the Barbican Hall today. There was a rehearsal at 9:15, 2 children'a concerts, a 2-hours lunch break (I guess I was out of the building for 2 hours- and it was the best lunch I have EVER eaten...no joke), rehearsal at 3, concert at 7:30. I am exhausted, and I didn't have to play!

This morning minutes before the children's concert rehearsal began, I sat down in the second row right near the violins, 3 of whom could see me I consider good friends. Some Barbican employee came over to me and started asking me questions. The 3 of them looked at him and glared. He asked, "Are you a student of one of the members of the orchestra?" I said, "No...I'm observing the orchestra for the summer..." He didn't like that answer, apparently. All 3 of the guys said, "She's with us." That /had/ to be good enough for him. He asked if I was planning on staying for the concerts, or just the rehearsal. I was staying, so he took my name down and had the coordinator of the event give me a seat. I love special treatment. And I love feeling loved.

4 or 5 members have now asked me if I'm going on tour to Grenada with them. I actually emailed the tour coordinator a month or two ago. His response wasn't very convincing, but he said no. 2 of my violin friends have made some realizations and, with their forces combined (as well as some other key players), I might manage to wrangle my way along with them at the end of the month!!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I have to go to sleep, now. I need to get up at 6:45 for a road trip to Coventry.

Great Expectations

2009-06-09T17:23:00.004-04:00

I did not leave tonight's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra feeling very satisfied. Before I say anything about their playing, I will say that someone needs to donate some tuxes. Their off-white dinner jackets are absolutely hideous...especially when combined with white tux shirts, black bow ties, and black trousers. Not very attractive.

The concert began with the Barber of Seville Overture. It wasn't all that thrilling of a ride. Next was the Elgar Cello Concerto with none other than Julian Lloyd Webber, Andrew's little brother. He hit his head on a low part of the ceiling on his way onstage, adding to the impressiveness of his playing. The sounds that came out of his 1690 Stradivarius made up for his horrid outfit (he's not really known for his formal concert dress)- black trousers, a baggy mandarin-collared white shirt, and a black sweatband. I forgave him the second he began playing. The final piece was the Mendelssohn Symphony 3 ("Scottish"). The farther on in the piece they went, the better it became. Each time I listen to another orchestra, I realize that my love for the LSO will most likely not be surpassed by another band.

So that was my evening. Let me tell you about the rest of my day. While I'm at it, why don't I just give you an update of everything that's happened since my last post? Why yes, Ashley, why don't you? Ok, I will:

The rest of Saturday:
- Chris Williams, one of my professor/friends back at BG put me in contact with a friend of his here in London. She happens to be a music critic, novelist, biographer, and her husband plays in the London Philharmonic. We will be meeting up at some point in the coming week. The LSO sends out "thank you" emails to people who buy tickets online. The emails include reviews of the concerts. Said friend of Chris was the author of the included review for last Thursday's gypsy band concert!
- I introduced myself to Carmine, (the leader- i.e. concertmaster) telling him hello from the man who was sitting next to me at the gypsy concert. Yesterday, he took me on a little tour around the Barbican. Today, we grabbed a quick lunch after the rehearsal, as it finished a bit early.
- After dinner, I went to a housewarming party for a friend of a hostel friend. It was quite classy and much tasty cheese was to be had. I met many lovely people. I spoke some German with her downstairs Danish neighbor, whose French wife was incredibly sweet. The hostess, Lucia, kept saying that many of the guests sang in a choir with her. When people learned that I want to be a conductor, they all told me to go talk to the conductor of their choir. Apparently he's a big shot of sorts: Ivor Setterfield. I eventually introduced myself, and we spoke for quite a while. It turns out that he studied at RAM with none other than Sir Colin. He invited me to go to a rehearsal for one of the choirs he conducts. At the rehearsal, he would give me some music to prepare and give me 30 minutes or so to rehearse them at the next rehearsal while he observes and gives comments!

Sunday:
- LSO concert with George Fenton, a film/TV composer.
- Monopoly and socializing with flatmate and friends.

Yesterday:
- My alarm failed to go off at 8:30 as set. Luckily, my friend's phone was still set for work the day before. It was half an hour later than I wanted to get up, but at least I made it to rehearsal on time. That is saying quite a lot as I got violently lots backstage on the way. The door I had always used wasn't accessible. The other door led to many more doors, none of which wer marked. An employee walked through and saved me. I was told my many members that they've all been lost backstage at some point. After rehearsal, Carmine took me on a mini-tour of the Barbican.
- After rehearsal, I met Irene (BG friend) for lunch. I FINALLY found a pub that has Toad-in-the-hole! The waitress even commented on how delicious it looked when it was brought to me.
- In the evening, I went to a rehearsal for the choir with the people from the party- St. Bartholomew's Hospital Choir. I spoke to Ivor before it began...He meant for me to go to a different choir rehearsal- The New London Singers, a professional group. He invited me to join for my time here! Their website says they are not looking for new members. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Despite my being at the wrong rehearsal, he said I was welcome to sing that night. It was their second rehearsal for a Shakespeare-themed concert (lots of Vaughan Williams)that will sadly be happening the week after I go back to the states. It felt fantastic to sing, again!
- After the rehearsal, I went to the pub next door with the woman whose music I shared and Lucia and friends I met at her party. I zoomed across town to meet Jerry, a BG friend, at Heathrow. I underestimated the insanely long transit time and thus arrived 20 minutes past his arrival time. I sprinted to the terminal from the tube stop. He was at the top of the steps as I reached them! Perfect timing, or what?

Today:
- My alarm didn't go off, again, but Matt's did, again. Saved two days in a row. This time, though, I did not get lost backstage.
- After rehearsal, which finished early, Carmine and I grabbed a quick lunch at the Waterside Cafe in the Barbican.
- After food, I met up with Jerry. We walked to my favorite tea shop, Tea, behind St. Paul's. I had some time before the RPO concert, so I took him on a lightning tour- walked to Trafalgar Square, ran through the National Gallery, and then to last night's rehearsal venue- St. Giles-in-the-Fields.

Tomorrow consists of 2 rehearsals, one of which is quite far away and not over until late....and there's a tube strike that isn't going to be resolved until Friday morning. This will be interesting.....Between rehearsals, I'll be meeting up with Jerry, again, for some grub and probably more playing tour guide.

Stupid Mistakes, but Great Outcomes!

2009-06-06T14:13:00.000-04:00

I had to check out of the hostel by 10 AM this morning, so I set my alarm for 8:53 (I can’t stand waking up at a proper time). Finnish people apparently don’t know how to whisper, so I was rudely awakened at 7:30 by the two girls in the bunks above me. I awoke, ate breakfast, checked out, came to Adam’s flat, and putzed around until I decided to head off to the Barbican (what I thought was) a bit early. This is only the beginning of the story……..

I had a completely idiotic misunderstanding of today's rehearsal time. Matt told me 10 AM for all of them except today’s. For some reason, he decided to say “10 AM, 10 AM, ten to one.” I took this as meaning 12:50, as he only said the starting time for the others. I got to the hall at 12:25 and heard music through the closed doors which started the wheels turning. He still meant 10-1. I caught half an hour of it. Luckily they’re having another rehearsal for the same concert tomorrow.

I didn’t completely waste my day. Patrick, the tuba player with whom I rode to a rehearsal a few days ago, caught me backstage and asked me how I was going to spend my Saturday. I told him I figured I’d just sit around doing whatever after my idiotic mistake wasted away my morning. He informed me that a horn player in the past had once made the same mistake. I still feel like an idiot. Patrick asked if I would be interested in going with him to a conducting class-of-sorts outside of the city (that he would be teaching). Of course I said yes! Rehearsal was out at 1. The class began at 2:10. Plenty of time. We got all of the way to the borough listed on his sheet of paper before he remembered the sheet was wrong. We rerouted ourselves and would have been on time had all of the roads to get to the school not been closed for repairs. Still, we were only about 3 or so minutes late.

On the car ride there, we discussed the personality needed to be a great conductor or soloist, his past experience in orchestras (he has played with the LSO for 21 years and was chairman at one point, plus many other gigs). He tied the personality bit into the class, as all of the 5 young music teachers were incredibly shy and nervous. This was their second meeting with Patrick, who was there to help them become more confident in basic time-beating. Aside from that, they had zero previous conducting experience. I ended up taking as many, if not more, notes on Partick’s workshop as I have at full orchestra rehearsals.

After the almost three-hours class was complete, we headed back towards London. I’m going to return to this borough next Saturday with Patrick and 3 other LSO musicians to see them work with the college’s youth orchestra. I’ve been told to bring my trumpet. I’m going to look at the schedule and see what other education events I would be able sit in on. As a music education major, I figure it’s not going to hurt anything- and it’s fun! I completely understand how draining it could be, though. I now see why Joost is constantly running around.

I was dropped me off at the train station near his house in South London. The train to London Bridge station arrived as I was buying a ticket (no, I didn’t miss it- it was perfect timing!). The ride wasn’t but 15 minutes long…then I hopped onto the tube, got off at the nearest stop to the flat, and walked the rest of the way. I’m finally resting up before I return to the hostel. Not to stay- Amelia offered to cook me dinner. Yay!

So, despite missing the 3-hour rehearsal, 5:45 of my day were still spent at LSO-related events (Patrick’s class was through the LSO).

I am now devouring some cheddar and my new quasi-flat mate’s basil plant. He gave me permission, but I still feel a bit guilty.

I will NOT miss tomorrow’s rehearsal! I have the PROPER time engraved into my brain. There’ll be another rehearsal the next morning. Jerry arrives at Heathrow at 10:40 PM. I’m meeting him at the airport, then taking him to his hostel…I don’t anticipate bed before 2 AM. Then another rehearsal the next morning…and the next morning.

Off to dinner!

Oi Vey!

2009-06-04T18:03:00.003-04:00

I told myself- I promised myself- that I wouldn't buy and more internet on this trip. I get free wifi at the Barbican and at the flat to which I will be moving tomorrow afternoon.

But I couldn't wait.

Tonight's LSO concert was unlike any I had yet seen. Two hours and fifty-five minutes of LSO+a gypsy band. It was spectacularly entertaining and energetic. After sitting through 2 and playing one encore after an intially long concert to begin with, I'm sure the orchestra members will all sleep well tonight. Many extended solos were added tonight- amazing. The cembalom player snapped a string in one of the encores. The audience wasn't alone in its reaction to the solos- Joost (bassoon) walked past me in the lobby during the interval. He said nothing, but looked at me and violently scrated away at an air violin. I responded with some mean air cembalom.

I ended up sitting next to a man who happens to be a friend of the leader (i.e. concertmaster). We had a lovely conversation about many music-related topics. He told a story about when Carmine (said leader/concertmaster) played the Tchaik concerto at the last minute for another English orchestra but was not nervous in the least, yet he played solo for fun at a party thrown by my concert-neighbor and was nervous out of his mind. It is funny how nerves work that way. We compared tales of our meetings with Sir Colin, he asked me about what I've done and will be doing on my trip, and, at the end of the concert, wished me well for the future and asked my name so as to look for it in the coming years. It turns out that he was sitting right behind me at the Brahms concert on the 24th. Perhaps I'll run into him again sometime this summer.

Tomorrow will be spent taking a few of my belongings down the street to my new address. I'll move the rest of the things in Saturday morning, most likely...or perhaps I'll just take it all tomorrow and get out of the hostel a day early (yay!). Tomorrow night, I will be going to see the King's Singers at a hall with which I am not familiar. I need to take a peek at a map.

Tasty Pasty

2009-06-01T11:18:00.003-04:00

I could feel a sore throat coming on last night. Why has this been happening so much over that last month or so? Not fun. It's feeling a bit better, now, but I think it's just because I slept until noon, drank a pot of tea, and listened to Brahms. I had no intentions of doing anything today- just sleeping off my new illness before it could get any worse. Instead, I did quite a bit of something. The adventure began around 1 when I trekked across town to the only music store I could find online that said they had trumpet practice mutes in stock. I really didn't want to go to Oxford Street AGAIN, but I had no choice.

To reward myself for a successful hunt, I bought my first Cornish pasty. It wasn't too bad. Steak, potatoes, onions, and grease encased in a flaky tastiness. I had to get on the Central Line to go back to King's Cross, so I decided to go a bit out of my way and reward myself a bit more. I headed to Tea, the tea shop I <3 behind St. Paul's (Amici, this is where your mug will be coming from!). Since it's a beautiful day, the shop was empty and all of the customers were sitting outside. I sat inside, pulled out my iPod, and listened to/followed along with the Brahms piano concerto the LSO will be playing in a few weeks. I happily realized that the recording I have is of the soloist I will be hearing with them (thanks, Chris!).

On the journey back to the hostel, many interesting things went through my head. Bear with me as I reveal my stream of conciousness: On tube out today, I noticed a girl wearing an outfit many girls wear that I find to be hideous- leggings and a baggy tshirt. She was sitting in a car with me. After tea-ing and hopping back on the tube to return to the hostel, she got into the same car as me, again! How strange is it, that in a city of so many millions of people, you see the same random person twice in one day? This led me to think about another odd thing: I have the habit of taking pictures of things and accidentally taking an awesome candid shot of a random person who happened to get into the frame as I pressed the button. One of my favorite pictures from my January trip was a result of this incident (below left). I took a picture of a student in Oxford last week only because I thought it cool that he was wearing a robe. It has become one of my favorite shots from my trip, thus far (partially because he resembles Prince Harry-below right). I also think it's interesting that both of them happen to be of "gingers." Is it because I am a ginger, as well?

Immediately upon leaving Tea, I looked up at the sky and realized that today was my favorite sort of London day: the sky gets dark and cloudy, but then the sun comes out and illuminates the North Bank....It's the most beautiful thing. Perhaps that's because it reminds me of my first day in the city back in 2007. No, I think it's just because it's absolutely stunning. See just how stunning in a picture I took on that first day:

I'm going to do some more sleeping, as I'm still not feeling quite up to par. If it's still daylight when I wake up, I'll practice in the park around the corner.

Magical Musical Tour

2009-05-31T17:16:00.004-04:00

Last night, hostel friend Will and I went to a concert at St. Martins-in-the-field. I had looked at the wrong day, so I thought we were going to hear the Haydn trumpet concerto and other things. Instead, it was the Creation. It was alright- nothing to rave about, but not a loss of £6. There was a guy playing alto trombone, though, which was pretty cool.

Today was my hostel friend Brian's last day in London. We met for breakfast downstairs, but the line was insanely long. Instead of waiting around for cereal and tea, we wandered down the street and found a full English breakfast for £5. Much tastier. After a little walking around, we both headed to the tube station. He went to Heathrow, and I went to the Barbican. At 2:30, there was an LSO Discovery Family Concert entitled "Global Express." I felt relatively awkward, as I was not with children ages 7-12 or, well, with anyone, for that matter. I just sat and read my Berlioz book until concert time. I ended up sitting next to a woman, her son, daughter-in-law from America, and 4 grandchildren. She told me I wasn't alone- "Look at all the people here with you!"

As the orchestra began to come onto the stage, I saw Matt, the bassist I ran into in Chicago. I caught him afterwards. He had me go backstage, where he found a schedule and told me when the next few rehearsals are. Starting Wednesday, I have 9 straight days of LSO-related events. I am not complaining.

On my way out of the backstage area, I introduced myself to two of the trumpet. I asked if I could possibly get a lesson sometime this summer (they asked which...I'm not picky). "Well, since you're giving us such a long time frame, I think it would be cruel of us to say no." We'll talk sometime later in the week to discuss further details. I told them where I was from. One of them actually had been to Bowling Green to teach some workshops several years ago! He is the only person I have yet spoken to who knows of BG.

The concert itself was quite fun. The orchestra played several pieces written by famous composers about/from different parts of the world. One piece included was the Ode to Joy...with words written specially for the occasion by the presenter. The audience was invited to sing along.

I realize that it is sickeningly lame to say, but hearing the LSO play music from Harry Potter is quite a magical experience.

Cambridge

2009-05-30T18:02:00.008-04:00

My friend, Adam, graduated from Robinson College, Cambridge, a few years ago. Since he lived in and loves the town, he offered to take me around. At the last minute, we decided to leave 2 hours earlier than originally planned. This was a very good idea, as many things were closed by 3:30.

We walked nonstop for 3.5 hours. We hit King's College chapel, walked through Clare's beautiful gardens (Nick Rutter goes to Clare), the gardens of his college, Trinity's Wren Library (where we saw a handwritten Winnie the Pooh, Newton's notebook, and other old books that had to do with Trinity) walked past the university library, and wandered through town. In the afternoon, we met up with his friend, Paul (who went to Trinity), and sat by the river for a bit. After the brief rest, we all went punting. We ended up on one of the bigger punts with a bunch of random people. The guys ended up exchanging stories with the punter or telling the versions of his stories they had heard. Let me tell you a couple of the fun ones:

- Trinity College was founded by Henry VIII. A statue of him appears above the main gate. In his left hand, he holds the royal orb. In his right, he holds....a wooden chair leg. Students stole the scepter and replaced it with what is still there today.
<-- Henry
- Some students somehow managed to climb to the top of King's College chapel and placed an orange traffic cone on one of the corner spires. The school brought in a scaffold company. Once the scaffolding had been set up, the students climbed up, again, and moved the cone to the other side of the building.
<-- King's College chapel R, Clare L
- There is a wooden mallard up high in the dining hall of Trinity College. Students attempt to sneak into the room after it's locked up, steal the mallard, take a picture of it with them as far away from Cambridge as possible, and return it without being seen. If successful, they take the picture to the dean and are admitted to the exclusive Mallard Club. They're invited to the Dean's summer garden parties. The mallard was never there when Paul went hunting for it.

- Porters are the first level of discipline. They stand around and wear bowlers. They can only enforce things if they are wearing their hats. Adam once had a porter walk up to him before realizing he wasn't wearing his hat. He walked all the way back to the porter place, fetched his hat, then returned to tell him off.

-Adam heard that this took place at Trinity. I think Paul said he heard that it happened at St. John's: Two students dressed up- one as a porter, one as an American tourist. The only people allowed to walk on the grass at the colleges are Fellows (i.e. profs/researchers, etc). The "American" began walking on the grass. The "porter" ran up to him, pulled a gun out of his belt, and shot a blank at the "American," who then dropped "dead." The "porter turned around, stuck the gun back in his belt, and said, "Damned tourists."
<- nonporter & American tourist
I am quite proud to announce the fact that I managed to stay out of the river when I volunteered to attempt to punt. I almost ran us head on into a bridge and another punt, but we all survived and kept dry.

After our wandering was complete, the 3 of us resumed our places underneath the beautiful weeping willow outside of Trinity and talked for a while. It was a picturesque way to end a perfect day (I don't know how I'm not sunburned) in an beautiful town.

For those of you on Facebook, my computer isn't letting me upload any of the 350 pictures I took during the day. Hopefully it will let me do so soon.

Epic.

2009-05-28T17:52:00.003-04:00

That word doesn't begin to describe the concert I attended tonight. I wouldn't say that I was completely floored by the orchestra itself, but several factors strongly came into play with my intense reaction. Please allow me to explain myself.

Tonight, the Philharmonia Orchestra played the Berg Violin Concerto and Mahler 6 at the Royal Festival Hall with Esa-Pekka Solonen. Before hand, there was a pre-concert talk with Julian Johnson, a Mahler scholar. I sat in the front row for said talk. He discussed the 6th Symphony, how it's often incorrectly mistaken as being autobiographical and classical, compared it to R. Strauss and Beethoven, and how the 3rd hammer blow was eventually done away with. At the end, there was time for questions. I didn't get the chance to raise mine before he had to end it. He remained onstage, though, so I asked him. I wondered if, because Mahler's conversion to Christianity, the hammer blows had any sort of religous overtones. The 2 existing blows, for instance, might represent Jesus falling twice while carrying the cross. He emphasized how the 3rd could be felt even when it wasn't played. This, perhaps, could represent the crucifixion, no? He said he had never seen my idea talked about, but that it could surely be drawn.

Note: I despise creating nonexisting stories behind artists' work. I only asked this question to see if it actually was an idea of Mahler's, not to make up some sort of second reason for them.

As for the concert itself... The concerto was the first half. I absolutely hated it. I do believe it is the ugliest piece of music I have ever heard professionally performed. Sorry if you're a Berg fan. 6 was the second half. I don't know why, but they played the movements out of order (I could read the 8th horn part)- 1, 3, 2, 4. I jotted down some things that happened during the performance (jotting occurred after the conclusion, of course). If you're interested, feel free to ask to see my notebook when I you next see me, or something. Oh, and another thing that was going through my head was that Solonen looks and kind of acts exactly like Gary Oldman.

When the 4th movement began, I was immediately overcome with intense feelings of fear. The fact that the cybals (eventually FOUR sets of them) were about 6 feet from my right ear, as was the hammer. The bass drum was directly below me. The EIGHT horns were aimed DIRECTLY at my head. As all of the instruments I just mentioned are incredibly important to the piece (i.e. loud), I was in the best possible seat, I do believe.

By the conclusion of the work, I was shaking ever-s0-slightly and my cheek was slightly dampened with a single trail of tearage. I'm not going to lie- it was quite moving.

The man next to me immediately asked me if I enjoyed it. Apparently the tear trail didn't announce my answer to him. He wondered where I was from and why I was in London. I can hardly imagine what my reaction would be if I could hear the LSO play Mahler 6 live...Until that day comes, I look forward to the other upcoming concerts: a children's concert at 2:30 and chamber concert at 7:30 on Sunday. Another LSO on Thursday, the King's Singers Friday.

Bring it.

Oxford

2009-05-27T21:21:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, my new friend, Brian, and I decided to head to Oxford (I say "new" in the normal definition. We met a week ago. In the hostel world, we're old friends).

We awoke to a dreary London day- the first rainy day of my trip. Once in Oxford, things cleared up. Brian and I went our separate ways for a while. I shopped, he got some information on the colleges. We met up at 2, then visited a couple of the colleges together- Christ's Church and New (ironically, New is the oldest of the 35 Oxford colleges). The Great Hall in Harry Potter was filmed at Christ's Church's dining hall.

As it was a beautiful day, I ended up taking 130 pictures. We'll see how that compares to Friday after I spend another beautiful day in Cambridge.

On Tuesday, I went to Regent's Park with Brian and Chris, another hostel friend. We took a stroll through the Queen Mary's Garden where there were many beautiful flowers. We did a bit of shopping, as well. It was a nice leisurely day.

Tomorrow will be spent doing laundry and lounging until the evening. I'm going to see the Philharmonia do Mahler 6 with Icky Picky Salami....I mean Esa Pekka Solonen.

Bed

The Reason I'm Here.

2009-05-24T17:37:00.002-04:00

Today was Day 1 with the LSO. It consisted of "Brahms Discovery Day" and a concert at 7:30. I woke up at 8, got to the Barbican at 9:45ish AM. The concert finished around 9:45 PM.

The Discovery Day schedule began at 10 AM with an LSO open rehearsal. I'm quite glad it worked out this way, as I am yet to hear from my contact about getting into rehearsals. I arrived a few minutes early, so Gareth Davies, the principal flute, and I talked for a bit. It was nice to see him again after a quick meeting in Chicago. The rehearsal was supposed to be finished at 1:30, but got out an hour early. Right after it finished up, I went up to David Alberman, the principal 2nd violin. I never thanked him for escorting me backstage to meet Sir Colin in '07 when the Keeper of the Curtain wouldn't listen to me. We talked for a few minutes. He asked me some questions, etc. etc.

With nothing else to do until the next event at 2:30, I walked the 8 minutes to the LSO St. Luke's, a church that has been transformed into a concert hall. I sat on a bench in the park for a couple of minutes before I realized that I was absolutely starving. To fix this, I walked out the gate and to the nearest cafe. As I sat there chowing down on my panini and sipping away at my Earl Grey, I saw someone walk in with two instrument cases on his back. It was Chi, one of the LSO clarinets. He was going to be playing at the Discovery event. I introduced myself and we chatted as he waited for his take-away (that's take out for you all back home).

The Discovery event began at 2:30 with a talk about Brahms the Progressive. I don't have the program beside me, so I can't give the official title. The professor who gave the lecture said he was suffering from the "piglet flu," but he gave a good talk. At 3:40, there was a little break. Things continued at 4 with a BBC Radio 3 personality discussing Brahms' Clarinet Trio (+piano and cello). After they played, there was another question and answer. When everything was finished, I asked the cellist (the only of the 3 playing in the evening's concert) if she could possibly get Joost, the 2nd bassoonist I met in Chicago, to wait at a stage door for me. He ran off quickly after the rehearsal. She said she would.

When I returned to the Barbican Centre, I had another hour and a half to kill. For half an hour, I sat at a Costa in the Centre and ate some fruit and drank another cup of tea. After the rehearsal, Gareth warned me not to fall asleep during the concert. This second cup of tea helped me to not do that. Tea finished, a little over another hour to go. I decided to go upstairs and switch my seat from the balcony to the lower level. That didn't take long. Still had an hour. I then went up to a walkie-talkie-wearer and asked what I had to do to speak to a player (Joost) after the concert. He told me to ask to be put on the backstage list at the advace tickets counter.

About 5 steps after turning to walk to the counter, who should be walking towards me, but Joost! I waved, and he smiled, stopped to talk, and shook my hand. He said, "Hello, Ashley!" and introduced me to his mother, who happened to be with him. He told her that we met in Chicago. His mother asked me how long I am going to be here. He admitted that he had been running around quite a bit. He asked, "So will you be playing trumpet, or only conducting?" I was very surprised that he remembered what instrument I play- I had only mentioned it in passing in March. "You are so talented...you play trumpet, conduct, and do art..." At that, I pulled out a small gift I had thrown together the night before I left for the UK- a tiny painting of part of a bassoon (Gareth got part of a flute, as well!). We then departed and I sat until the concert began.

I didn't realize that the seat for which I exchanged my old ticket happened to be in the FIRST row on the end nearest one of the stage doors. I'll tell you that my neck was not happy with me for watching Sir Colin most of the time. Almost 90 degrees to the right for an hour and a half. While waiting for the concert to begin, I was shocked to hear someone shout my name from the next level up. It was Brian, my hostel friend! I was happy to see someone actually came after I told them about it. While we were standing around during the interval (that's intermission for those of you back home), Sharon, the piccolo player went running past- but not without saying, "hello! Sorry, I'm in a hurry...we'll catch up later!"

I am pleased to say that the energy of the evening's performance, several chance meetings, and the added help of the tea kept me on the edge of my seat (not literally...that would have hurt my neck even more). The Brahms Violin Concerto soloist and the orchestra definitely deserved the applause they received.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday. This means either everything will be closed or everything will be packed. Perhaps I will go to the concert at St. Martin's....

I believe this post is long enough. Questions? Ask!

The Weekend, Already?

2009-05-23T12:05:00.003-04:00

I think my new hostel-friend, Brian, and I deserve medals for how far we walked last night. We started out walking from the hostel to St. Paul's with Rusty, from Australia. We walked up the steps to the 2nd highest level (highest is closed, still), back down, and back to the hostel. We rested up for a bit, then took the tube to Picadilly (where I bought some comfy £10 trainers), tube to Trafalgar Square (well, Charing Cross), ate dinner, walked to Buckingham Palace, through St. James' Park to Parliament, then took the tube back to the hostel.

I was going to go to the Tate Britain with Jochim, a German staying in the hostel. We met up for breakfast, said we'd leave in an hour, but he didn't show up. I eventually headed off on a trek to Oxford Street to do some shopping. My intention was to walk there and take the tube back. I ended up taking one wrong turn, so I gave up and just took the tube to Oxford Street. I don't know why the heck I decided to go there on a weekend. I mean, yes, it's always busy, but today seemed slightly more so. I'll eventually get around to uploading pictures in a day or two. I guess the drowning in people was worth it- I bought a nifty dress at H&M. When I got back to the hostel, I had a much-needed and quite wonderful hour-long nap.

Tomorrow is the first LSO concert. There is a rehearsal from 10-1:30, a chamber music event 2:30-5:30, and the concert at 7:30. I'll be going to bed early (for real) tonight to rest up.

On Monday, I'm going to meet up with Adam, the 'tour guide' from the Wednesday night adventure. It's a bank holiday, so we're not sure what will or will not be open or completely packed.

Sleep? What's that?

2009-05-21T16:10:00.006-04:00

I did not get to bed at a decent hour as I had planned last night. I was checking my email in the basement lounge area before going to bed. A group of people seemed to be having a good time, so I asked to join them. Not long after, we had joined 2 tables together and had a group of about 15 people playing games. The hostel lounge closed, so we decided to go out and look for a place to hang. Everything seemed closed. We eventually ran into a British guy. Someone in our group decided to ask him if he knew of any open places. He was going to give us directions to an area that might have some open clubs, but we convinced him to come with us.

After walking for an eternity, we ended up in Angel, where we found what seemed to be the only open business remaining. It was packed. No matter, we took the giant group inside and had a blast!

When we finally got back to the hostel, I'd imagine it was about 2:30. I felt energetic due to the cold, noise, and walking allover, so I was not ready to sleep. Adam invited me to go up on his roof, which has a breathtaking view of the city. It might be better than St. Paul's view in that you can see St. Paul's.

Today I woke up at 9, had breakfast, and then wandered to Trafalgar Square with Brian, a new friend from Illinois/Pennsylvania. We started out at Trafalgar Square/National Gallery. After a quick lunch at Pret, I returned to the hostel for a nap. We met up later to go to Evensong at Westminster Abbey with the Archbishop of Canterbury presiding. The choir was beyond words.... I shook the Archbishop's hand after the service! If you are unfamiliar, he's kind of like the pope of England...except without the whole Catholic thing.

I'm FOR REAL going to sleep, now, with no intentions of waking before 9 AM.

No tourists here!

2009-05-20T15:40:00.004-04:00

Day 1 and I have already been asked for directions. I was able to successfully help her, as well! I also made it the whole day without taking a nap, which impresses myself.

When I walked into my hostel room (after dragging my suitcase up a couple small and one very large flight of stairs), my neighbor immediately introduced herself. Her name is Amelia, and she is from Portugal. We ended up walking down to Fleet St. where I bought myself a pay-as-you-go T-Mobile phone. We finished up there just in time to get to St. Paul's for choral evensong. They just so happened to be installing the new Bishop of Kensington.

While leaving the cathedral, Amelia said that she would cook dinner for us both. She made a very tasty, yet simple, vegetarian spaghetti with tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, and some sort of healthier-than-white-flour pasta. Tasty. I will buy her a meal some day in exchange. She'll be here longer than I will, as she (and everyone else in my hostel room- an Italian, a German, and a girl from New Jersey) is job hunting. She introduced me to traditional Portuguese music, as well, which was quite spiffy.

When I get enough pictures to make it worth the effort to put them on my computer, you will see some of them here.

Tomorrow, I think Amelia wants to go to some galleries in Camden in the afternoon. Before that, I might hop to the other side of the city and get some trumpet-practicing in. I need to buy a pair of comfy walking shoes, too...(you were right, dad...)

Correction: The Archbishop of Canterbury is presiding at the Ascension service at Westminster Abbey tomorrow. New plans.

Horton Hört ein Hu!

2009-05-20T08:24:00.004-04:00

14 hours after my initial departure, I have finally arrived at the hostel that will be my "home" for the first 2 weeks of my trip. Check-in isn't for another hour. And they don't have a lift. Despite this minor flaw, this was, by far, the most positive trip across the pond I have yet taken! Please allow me to recount some of the highlights.

There was no one in line at check-in or security at Toledo (perhaps because it's, well, Toledo). Of course, I just had to set the alarms off at security. I don't really mind, as I know it's the gold bracelet that cannot comfortably be removed from my right wrist. In other words, I'm eternally going to set off metal detectors, because it's not coming off. Anyhow. I spent however long Brahms 2nd Symphony is listening to Brahms 2nd Symphony while making some marks in my score of the same. As I took my headphones off, who should walk through the gate through which I would soon be departing, but Mr. Reece. We chatted for a bit, then he went on his way.
The puddle jumper to Chicago was an unexpectedly smooth flight with very few passengers.

During the 45 minute flight, I ready a fair amount of the first volume of Cairn's Berlioz autobiography. I spent most of my THREE hour layover at O'Hare doing the same. I sat at my departure gate the entire time, despite another flight preparing to leave as I arrived. Nonetheless, I arrived at the right time: some of the American Airlines people were passing out free (tasty) cake for customer appreciation!

On one of the walls in Gate K12 is a large collection of payphones. One of them rang while waiting for my plane. One passenger wondered if it was James Bond. Alas, he did not answer, so we do not know. He eventually struck up a conversation with me when he saw that I had a trumpet. He does not "play" an instrument, but he "practices" violin. Interesting concept.

My neighbors on the plane were a friendly couple from Omaha. The husband is in the US military and is currently stationed in the middle of nowhere slightly west of Cambridge. She played horn for 14 years (she said through high school, but that would mean she started when she was 3...). My neighbors across the aisle were speaking German. Hearing them talk inspired me to switch my TV to German. One of the movie options was the title of this blog post. I thought it was amusing.

I have saved the most surprising for last: The UK border agent was NICE! I still don't understand. Perhaps it was because I was visibly excited to be here. For a millisecond, I was vaguely disappointed that she didn't ask me for any of the paperwork I had brought to prove myself to her. Instead, she just said, "So what do you study, then?" Musicians are apparently not suspicious at all.

I will most likely spend the rest of the day lounging around. My feet hurt from the trek down King's Cross Road, etc. etc. During the ride from Heathrow to the City, I decided that I'm going to take a few random daytrips; perhaps a couple before the first LSO concert on Sunday. I really want to go to Salisbury Cathedral, as I love all of Constables paintings...We shall see.

I have no idea what world my computer is in. It is 1:41 here. My computer says that it is 7:55.

My Kind of Town!

2009-05-10T20:32:00.003-04:00

I realize it has been nearly 2 months since this trip, but the story must be told!

On March 22, the LSO made a stop in Chicago during their tour of America. I happened to be free, so Marita, Clint, and I made the trip. We left BG at 6 AM, getting us to Chicago at approximately 9:30 AM their time (i.e. 30 minutes before anything opened). We decided to start the morning out right with a cup of coffee from a locally-owned shop on Michigan Ave. After that, we made our way down Michigan towards H&M and other various shopping wonderlands. The sidewalk kept randomly being closed, so we had to keep walking from one side to the other. About 10 seconds after one of these many crossings, two men walked past us on the sidewalk going the opposite direction. I recognized one of them as the 2nd bassoon player in the orchestra and exclaimed, "that was HIM!" At that, I turned around and bolted down to catch up with them.

I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hello! This is incredibly awkward, but you look familiar to me. Are you by any chance in the London Symphony Orchestra?" He was immediately taken aback. He looked at the other man then back at me and said, "Yes!" Conversation ensued. The other man introduced himself as Matthew Gibson, a bass player in the orchestra. I told them that I would be in London for the summer to see the orchestra and had emailed the administration about rehearsals. Matthew said, "Well, I happen to be the vice-chairman of the orchestra. I can get you into rehearsals!" and gave me his card.

I had been in contact with the CSO Symphony Center's stage manager, who was going to try to let me meet Gergiev. I mentioned that she was unsure if it would happen or not. Matthew told me he could introduce me. When we got to the Symphony Center later, I metioned this run-in to the stage manager. She told us to meet her in the lobby after the concert. When this moment came, she ran us downstairs, unlocked the backstage door, and let us go! The 3 of us stood near the stage door as the orchestra members exited the stage. A few moments later, I heard someone say, "Hello, Ashley!" It was Gareth Davies, the principal flutist/my facebook friend who knew I was going to be there. After he ran off (they had 45 minutes to get their things together and leave for the airport to fly to NYC), I saw Nikita, who was a piano student and friend of mine at BG last year! Eventually Matthew came down and took us into the conductor's green room to introduce us to Gergiev.

It is handy that this happened 2 days before my meeting to discuss my budget for the Givens Fellowship! I am still incapable of comprehending the fact that I ran into the one (of 96) player I most wanted to meet. Let alone, on the busiest street in one of the biggest cities in the country! And what were the chances that he would be with one of the people who could help finalize my plans for my trip?

Since I'm talking about things from so long ago, I'll take this time to mention that I saw the NY Phil play in Ann Arbor on my birthday. I was told what door the players would be using to leave the building. I eventually was able to meet maestro Lorin Maazel and principal trumpet, Phil Smith! I didn't realize until I got back that my birthday also happened to be Maazel's birthday.

Nearly 8 days until I leave! You can count on many exciting stories and pictures....just check in every few days! Please leave comments, as well- I'd love to hear from you (I believe you can post without an account...just sign your name so I know who it's from)!

P.S. For those of you who have followed this for my past travels, you may have noticed the change in title. I thought this one a bit more fitting. It is c/o Franz Liszt.

Monday, Monday

2009-01-06T04:16:00.006-05:00

Cassie and I spent all of yesterday in London with Gwyn, a friend from BG who is now teaching in Reading. The 3 of us spent about 3 hours in the Tower, wandered around in search of food, then did the Jack the Ripper London Walk. Quite impressive. Pictures later. I have to pack and get ready to go back into the city. We met a guy from Chicago currently studying in Madrid. We are going to meet him and some friends from his hostel at St. Paul's today. I'm meeting Ophelie at 5! I can't wait!!!

I received an invite to visit a friend for the evening (Jan, whom I met in NY last summer...see the Rutter entry), but it would be about a 35 minute train ride. I'm not sure if I'm going to be up for that tonight or not :/

Gotta pack.

Castles and Manors

2009-01-04T15:50:00.005-05:00

We spent most of yesterday afternoon at Tonbridge Castle in Tonbridge, Kent. All that remains of the castle is the gatehouse, but it still kept us busy for over an hour.

Cassie, her brother, her dad, and I walked to Langshott Manor, the manor house of the land that is now their housing development. The manor house is a hotel, now, so one of the workers let us into one of the "four-poster" suites. Both the bed and bathtub were 4-posters.

We're going into London again tomorrow and Tuesday. I'll be meeting up wtih Ophelia Tuesday afternoon and staying with her in Notting Hill Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

London

2009-01-03T06:27:00.006-05:00

Cassie and I spent yesterday in London. It was a pretty full day. We left Horley on the 9:45 train, took a bus from Victoria to Piccadilly, then walked to Trafalgar Square. We spent just enough time in the National Gallery to look at only the paintings we wanted to see. There was a college-aged string quartet playing pretty stuff in St. Martins in the Field. The second one sounded like something BG would have been proud of....nasty screechy stuff that sounded vaguely of death, so we left. When we walked out the door, there was a dead baby sculpture at the front entrance. Pretty much as disturbing as the music. Pret was full, so we took our food and ate it on the steps of St. Martins. While sitting there, someone walked by and said, "ASHLEY?" What were the chances of Gwyn walking by while we were sitting there?

Took the tube to St. Paul's, walked inside, left. Walked to Millenium Bridge. Took picture. Walked across to the Globe. Took a tour. Got cold. Walked to Tower Bridge. Became happy. I <3 Tower Bridge. Walked across to Tower of London. Left. Will go back when more time can be had at said Tower.

While passing under London Bridge, some dude in a creepy outfit gave us 25% tickets to "THE UK'S SCARIEST ATTRACTION! THE LONDON BRIDGE EXPERIENCE!!!1!" The queue to the London Dungeons was really long, so we decided to go to the shady place. Said scary dude, "Wayne" told us to tell the ticket chick to let us in for £10 instead of £20. The first part was pretty tame and very kid-oriented. The viking guy was our favorite. He taught Cassie how to poke people's eyes out and I told him all about my killing rampages. The head-defroster dude named Cassie Mary Von Somethinggerman and me "Ugg AAAHH" or something. The Monk decided to just call me Bob. I didn't understand why this happened. Then we got to this room with this little creeper man with pointy eyebrows warning us of the fear which lied ahead. We decided to brave the "scariest place in the UK," thus forcing us to don the bright yellow hardhats and hig-viz vests. It was pretty much like a haunted house that left us wondering where the heck we were. It went on forever....London Bridge isn't that big. Were we under the river? r Under buildings? The world may never know. Oh, and there were heads hanging from the cieling.

We're now going to Tonbridge Castle and eating ham sandwiches.

Strictly Come Smallfield

2009-01-01T12:00:00.005-05:00

We went to a party with Cassie's little brother's schoolmates' parents. The theme was Strictly Come Dancing. Her brother and I ended up tying for first! I don't really feel like writing a bunch right now as I'm still tired and am pretty hungry. Here are a couple pictures.
Cassie

SO much better than watching the ball drop in Times Square.

Ring in the New

2008-12-31T23:44:00.003-05:00

We went to the mall in Crawley today where I spent a mere £15 on 2 tops and a pair of jeans! That translates just over $20 for all of you who are wondering. It's nearly impossible to find a pair of jeans alone for that price, let along 2 shirts plus!

Watch for this post to be edited "tomorrow" with pictures from the party with Cassie's little brother's schoolmates' parents. If it wasn't *the* best time of my life, it was quite close. It's nearly 5 AM here........beyond time for bed.

Happy 10-minutes-til the new year to all of you in the states!

Day 1

2008-12-30T18:17:00.008-05:00

(click on the pictures to enlarge them)
I wasn't going to post again today, but then I realized that I had left out one of the more important bits at the airport. I think it's immigration officers' job to give me a hard time. I must be in their system with a footnote *heckle this one. I made sure to get an official copy of my flight itinerary and have all of the information for Cassie's dad's address etc. While waiting in line, I saw a girl I thought looked like she wouldn't give me a hard time. Ended up I was wrong. She proceeded to interrogate me in extreme detail as to why I am here, who it is I'm visiting, why I decided to visit them, how I know them, how long I've known them, how much money I have, how much more I have access to, what I would do if I run out, what my job is, why am I a student, and who is paying for my college education. I was waiting for her to ask me to share my hobbies and pet's name, as well. Immigration officers alllllmost make traveling not fun. But then I get over it.

While I'm at it, I might as well tell you about the rest of the day. Cassie's dad drove us around their town, their old town, and places between. We visited an 800-year-old church in which he and his wife were married. The churchyard is complete with an old (looking) cemetery. Most of the stones I saw read 1950s-70s. One read 2006, although it looked a good 100 years old, at least. We then headed to a windmill that was sold for £900,000 (including the attached house) not long ago. On the way back, we drove down Dame Judy Dench's road. They aren't sure which house is hers, but know she has a lime green car. They run into her at the grocery every once-in-a-while.

Oh...I must include a story Cassie's dad told me. He was at a conference in Portugal that allowed wives to join their husbands a few days into the conference. When his wife flew to meet him, she was on the same flight as Prince William! He helped her with her bags! When they flew back the next week, he was on their flight, again! The Prince was the last passenger to leave the plane, waiting in the front row with his buddies. When he saw them walk past, he said hello to her and asked her how she was doing. I am beyond jealous.

Tomorrow= going to a nearby city to shop, then back here to get ready for the New Year's Eve party. I prepared for it today by watching the Christmas episode of Strictly Come Dancing (the party theme). It's so much more entertaining than Dancing with the Stars. I also watched about 30 of the top 40 Funniest Moments in the Vicar of Dibley, most of a long Wallace and Gromit film and all of a short one. An exciting moment today that doesn't really fit anywhere in this post: while wandering around Horley with Cassie and her dad, we saw a couple kids walking suspicously away from a shop. Moments later, one of the workers came out and asked where they headed. They had stolen something, as indicated by their suspicousness.

And So It Begins

2008-12-30T04:18:00.003-05:00

I was going to post something from the Detroit Airport, but one wireless source cost and the other wasn't working. So here is the summary for the entirety of my flight:

No problem checking in. Petra, the Dutch worker was very nice. We're off to a great start. Security check: I went off. It wasn't my watch, so I had to be searched. The woman was nice and I knew I'd go off (My bracelet cannot be removed), so I wasn't too worried. The flight was incredibly smooth, the food was FANTASTIC, my neighbors were fun, and the entertainment was ridiculous. I watched Jeremy Irons in Eragon, listened to part of a Bach partita and the entirety of the LSO Live recording of Mahler 7 (on the in-flight music channel!), took a 1.5 hour nap, then woke up and watched Little Miss Sunshine. I can't get over the tastiness of the manicotti and how the entertainment system!

Breakfast was horrible.

I sat on the aisle in the 4-seat middle section of the plane. The couple next to me was from Sheffield. They had been in Daytona Beach for a week. The guy on the other end was from New Zealand. The British man was venting to the NZ man about how he didn't get to find out why in the world Americans eat "Chicken 'n Biscuits" at Popeye's. For those of you who aren't hip to the Britspeak, buscuit=cookie. He thought it was so hilarious that he took a picture to show all his friends back home. His wife had seen my US passport, so she said, "Perhaps you can explain it to him?"

I'm currently sitting on Cassie's dad's couch in Horley. I love being in a HOUSE and not a hostel.

Not sure what all we'll be doing, but it sounds like there are many many many possibilities. All I know is that we're leaving at 2 pm tomorrow to go somewhere for a New Year's party. The theme is the UK version of Dancing With The Stars.

I just ate my first mince pie. Second breakfast>first breakfast.

Ann Arbor

2008-07-20T21:42:00.003-04:00

Nancy and I spent (I'm guessing here) about 7 hours playing guitar and singing on the streets at the Ann Arbor art fair on Friday and Saturday. I will provide you with the highlights of the adventure that brought about nasty nasty blisterycalluses on the fingertips of my right hand, making it very painful to type, play trumpet and piano, and anything else that involves pressure there.

We started Friday out with a little photoshoot in a graffiti-bedecked alley. 'Twas fun. The cop who walked by was probably really confused. Nancy jumped higher than I did. I blame my choice of footwear.

In location number 2 (sitting on a curb) on Day 1 of our experiment, a mother, father, and young daughter stood and listened for a while. Eventually, the mother came up to us with her arm around her daughter. "She has a request....you'll never guess what it is." "Whatever it is, we most likely can't play it." "Hannah Montana." Nancy: "No...but I've seen her brother in concert!" Mother: "She doesn't like boys, she's 6!" So we told her we'd just play a happy song for her. Mama stood there smiling a huge smile, bouncing and singing along with the chords.

In Location 3, which proved to be the hot spot, a guy and his daughter stood and listened for a while as we played a Bob Dylan song. "You know who wrote that?" "Bob Dylan..." "You know what her name is?" "....Dylan?" Then he said yes, stood there for a second, and walked away without giving us a tip. Jerk. While playing the same song in the same spot at a different time, an old guy informed us that "That song was played in that very spot in the 60s to protest the war."

On Day 2, an email forward rolled up in front of us in his motor scooter to listen for a while. Then he smiled and pulled a laminated sheet with the alphabet and some words on it (no, yes, thank you, etc). He gave that to Nancy to hold, then pulled out another with his life story on it. He was a Vietnam vet who had a bunch of lousy things happen to him, eventually causing him to not be able to speak. He told us (by pointing to letters on the sheet) that he could hear our singing. I think he was trying to convert us to Christianity or something, as he made us read a big long prayer, too.

Also on Day 2, a creepy blues musician guy sat down on the other end of the step thing as Nancy and I played behind her mom's booth in our own little amphitheater. He listed to several songs, then told us how great we were- that we sounded like the Everly Brothers with our great harmonies. "But can I give you a quick free lesson?" Then told us to be loud. When he finally left, he shouted at us to keep being good or something. Creeper. Another toothless creeper gave us a couple dollars. I told Nancy perhaps he should keep it to buy teeth.

A friend of mine from BG was wandering around town playing in a New Orleansy jazz band. I happened to see another BG friend between 2 tents, causing me to throw my guitar and Nancy and go running before he disappeared. A professor walked by and listened, as well.

I bought art for the first time, ever, yesterday! It was a wonderful way to start out the day. I felt like I had really contributed to my past choice of future profession. It's super super super nerdy. It's a little etching of a wooden boat alone on water. Words above and below read, "A Picture of a Dory in Gray." The title is "Literary Punishment." Emphasis on the PUNishment. I'd have gotten a different one had I not just finished reading the book 2 days before.

I helped 3 people take down and load up their tents yesterday. I'm STILL exhausted, even though I slept for 11 hours. I'm sure I'm missing something in this story, but you get the picture. It was a great weekend!

Last Day in NYC.

2008-06-30T22:56:00.003-04:00

The Rutter concert was unbelievable. Carnegie Hall is ridiculous, especially with one choir of 175 and a second of at least 250. For once I had NO PROBLEMS getting backstage! The ushers were friendly in pointing me in the right direction and the house manager walked me to the elevator, called it for me, and told me how to get to his suite. When he saw me still standing there a bit later, he realized the elevator had been locked before as they were taking Rutter up, so he called it again and told the worker inside that I was to meet with the conductor. She knocked for me and waited around to see that all was well. When the door finally opened, a little old woman had wandered to the door. Mr. Rutter made a *hold on* face at me and talked with the woman for a while in the suite.

As I waited outside, a boy from one of the choirs came up and asked the stagehands if he was allowed to ask for an autograph. I told him he could go ahead of me. "Do you know Mr. Rutter personally?" Ugh. Little boy had to run off, though, so I resumed my 2nd in line position.

The door eventually opened again. A transcription of the conversation as I remember it will follow. I was going to ask to record it, as I want to remember the advice he gave me, but he was so easy to talk to I didn't find a moment to turn my camera on!

R: That was Virginia, the orchestra's director.
A: I'm Ashley Donaldson. I met Nick in Chicago, but for some reason he's not speaking to me now.
R: I'm sure Nick will speak to you again. He's just very busy right now. He's thinking about starting college in October. And he's going on an orchestra tour this summer in Greece. *sits at table and picks up a pen, so I get my drawing out. He stands up and takes it to look at it* Oh, you drew a picture of Nick! Is this me?
A: Yes; could you please sign it for me?
R: *sits back down*
A: I've never been to a concert here, before. The hall is amazing!
R: Oh, I'll write where we are. It's the 29th, right? So do you go to school?
A: Yes, I actually want to be a conductor.
R: Is that so? I find it to be very time consuming. Not nearly as much as composing, but I don't do too much of it. *by this time, he's wandering around the room packing*
A: Do you have any advice?
R: Study the music to get it just how you want it.
A: That's just what Colin Davis said.
R: You met Colin Davis? At school or a masterclass?
A: No, I actually went backstage at the Barbican. I was in London in December.
R: (something like:) He's a definitive conductor.
A: Nick and I both went backstage at the Chicago Symphony.
R: Oh, yes. Nick mentioned that. You met John Eliot Gardiner. He's a very temperamental man. But I guess you can be that way when you have your own group. He has the Monteverdi Choir.
A: Actually, he was with the Chicago Symphony that night.
R: Oh, then I'm sure that he was on his best behavior....which is still bad. He's been known to make sopranos cry, which I don't recommend. So, are you interested in choir or...
A: Orchestra.
R: What instruments do you play:
A: Trumpet and piano.
R: I recommend a string instrument. After all, they are the largest group in the orchestra. You have to know enough about each instrument to understand how to get them to play what you want. I'd also recommend singing with a choir. Well, I wouldn't be too worried about Nick.
A: Could I please get a quick picture?
R: Oh, yes! *walks towards door, stops suddenly* Actually, I'm not allowed picture back here. *pulls out phone* I'll have to find someone who's not official.
A: I can take it myself.
R: That would be wonderful. *walks to corner of the room in which there was a piano at one side and a bust in the corner* This'll be fun. That's Toscanini! 1, 2, 3...

I thanked him, asked him to at least say hi to his son for me, and left in the rain, only to walk by Radio City to see that Eddie Izzard was sold out for the night. Back to Kier's to shower, eat, and get my things. And that was that. In short, the trip I dreaded beyond all others was a success.

Deja vu?

2008-06-28T17:50:00.004-04:00

While sitting at this computer, a tall blonde British guy (named Jan, I later learned) asked me to watch his things for him. My first contact with Nick Rutter was when he asked me to watch his things in the hostel for him. In London, the only person I wandered around with was a girl named Shelly from Australia. Today I ended up wandering around with Jan and a girl named Sally from Australia. Strange, no?

The 3 of us hunted all over the place for "Central Perk" cafe from Friends, but to no avail. It was quite enjoyable to watch Jan ask virtually every type of person to help us on our journey. Sally eventually went off to meet a friend, so Jan and I headed towards Liberty Island. The line was far too long, so we continued on to Little Italy via Chinatown. From there, we walked to Times Square to get "cheap" tickets to Curtains. Boo for (still) expensive tickets, but yay for seeing David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Fraiser)!

I need to leave here pretty soon to head down to the West Village to drop my bag off at Kier's. Time is going to be tight. I'm supposed to meet him at 7 and the show starts at 8. I'm supposed to be meeting Jan back here at the hostel soon, but if he's not here before 6:30, I'm going to have to just meet him at the theatre.

I don't expect internet time again until I get home. The Rutter concert is tomorrow at 2 at Carnegie. A very interesting conversation will surely follow the music...I'll let you in on it ASAP.

sittin'.

2008-06-28T10:23:00.003-04:00

Kier had to be in to work 2 hours earlier than he thought, so I'm sitting back in the lounge of the hostel, again. I don't really want to wander around too much as my feet still hurt quite a lot. I'm probably just going to sit around in here where it's cool for a while. I had the most amazing plain bagel with cream cheese this morning.

Yup. Going to surf the web for 9 minutes and 24 seconds now.

Come and Meet...

2008-06-27T22:13:00.002-04:00

those aching feet. I walked about 120 blocks today, which is about 12 miles. 110th to 103rd to Central Park, through part of the park up to the south end of it, where I walked over to 5th Ave, all the way to 45th, up Times Square to the 50th St. Subway which I took to 86th St., walked across the park on 81st St., walked around in the Met., met Kier at 91st St., walked to 70somethingth to eat, to the subway, to the hostel. Then I stood in line to check in for 40 minutes. You do the math.

As for the bus ride....it left 40 minutes late, arrived at Cleveland in time for us to run directly to the next bus when we got there, left Pittsburgh an hour late, and the bus driver was 20 minutes late on another stop. Still, we *somehow* managed to make it to NYC only 10 minutes past the scheduled time of 8:50 AM. Oh, how I wish I'd have gotten an earlier train back (11:15 PM Sunday night...ugh).

Now for the happier side of things. I took some nice pictures in Central Park. There were rose petals in the shape of a peace sign on the mosaic at Strawberry Fields. Exciting.

I walked down a street of piano shops where I played a pretty nifty Steinway. Got my picture taken with the Naked Cowboy! "You're alone? Well, that changes things!" Then I walked up to the Hello, Deli and gave Rupert a drawing. I told him I'd send him one when I had him sign one for me in March of 2007. He wasn't in there when I first went in, but the co-owner woman cooed all over it (but pointed out things that were slightly different in him from when the pic was taken and had me change them).

Before going into the Met, I sat outside and drew for a while. It was nice to get off my feet. Kier just happened to be at a museum a few blocks away from me when I called him from the Met, so I walked down and met him. The National Design Museum (they had a big Rococo exhibit). It's pride weekend...and I'm staying with Kier in the West Village...this will be interesting!

I feel like I'm forgetting important things. I guess I'll just have to mention them in my next post.

New Year's

2008-06-03T14:13:00.002-04:00

I have tickets to London for New Year's. Leaving Detroit on December 29, arriving at Heathrow on the 30th. Returning on the 8th. Thanks to Ophelie, I have a free place to stay for most of the trip. The LSO won't be playing while I'm there, so I'm partially depressed. But since I won't be living in the Barbican this time, I'll be able to wander around town and do all the things I didn't/forgot about before. Hopefully I'll get to see Emma (coming down from Manchester) for the first time! Nick will hopefully come down from Cambridge at some point, too. I have a job now, so I'll even have spending money.

Chicago

2008-03-08T14:36:00.002-05:00

It's not Europe, but it's also not Ohio, so no complaints. The complaint would be that spring break is over before spring even starts.

The bus left Toledo at 1:50 AM. Including the driver the total number of people on the double decker bus came to a whopping 6. We arrived in Chicago an hour less than it should have taken. The driver spent the ride boogieing to Bob Marley. Nancy's aunt let us crash at her downtown apartment at 5 AM.

Upon our eventual awakening, we hit Water Tower Place, then met back up with Nancy's aunt at Puck's in the Museum of Contemporary Art for lunch (thank you, Nancy's aunt!). Wander wander, checked into hostel. Room 1n for Nancy and myself= full of French girls who never checked out. Room 2= full of little kids. Room 3= 2 bunk beds, a "normal" bed, and a tiny TV. Yay for mistakes. But then we had to move again the next day back into the first room they gave us (with room for us, this time).

Wednesday night, while we were sitting in the lobby of the hostel, I joined a British boy in a game of pool. We eventually introduced ourselves, leading to his informing me of the fact that he is an English composer's son. We played what felt like 50 games of pool until the clock struck midnight, when I was presented with a little birthday postcard. More pool and 'foosball', doubles against other British people.

The next day, Nancy, Ryan, Nick (said Brit), and I went to the Field Museum, Art Institute, and Chicago Symphony. After the symphony, Nick and I managed to get backstage after some slight difficulties (I was on the list, but the guard was given the wrong list. A guy eventually came and told her we were all allowed). A man standing outside John Eliot Gardiner's closed reception room door jokingly gave me an unfunnily hard time. I finally made it inside, got a picture, got my picture signed, and was told "good girl, good girl." Nick said, "Hello, I'm Nick Rutter." "Should I know you?" "No, but you probably know my father." etc etc, "You should sing for me sometime." So we both left the backstage area with amusing little comments from John Eliot. A homeless man followed us down the sidewalk, but gave up in confusion after Nick started rattling off German at him.

Another quick game of pool, a goodbye to Nick as he had to leave the hostel (there wasn't a single free bed) for another, bed, wake up, check out, 12 block walk to the bus stop, waiting in the cold, packed ride home. I'd post pictures, but I think I left my memory card converter at school.

I am now sitting in my kitchen with no signs of being able to leave. There is a level 3 snow emergency and a foot of snow. Driving back to BG tomorrow will be exciting.

Testing, testing.

2008-01-15T23:27:00.000-05:00

I bet no one will see this until my next trip, but I just wanted to say that I miss keeping up with my travel journal. Any takers on donating to the fund for my next adventure? If you pay for your own ticket, you can come, too!

In case someone does happen to stumble upon this random post, and you haven't had the opportunity to see my scrapbook or pictures, I have included two of my favorites with this post. The first is from the first day in London. It had just stormed seconds before. I love the way the subjects in the photo are the only things highlighted by the sun, just peeking out from behind the dispersing clouds. The other could get a certain member of the Horse Guards fired...dun dun dun! Nonetheless, it's a sweet photo.

Perhaps France is next? Or Austria if I do the summer program in Austria with the German department?

No Time

2007-12-20T04:34:00.000-05:00

I don't have enough time to elaborate, nor money to buy more internet, so all I can say is: I went to bed at 8, but couldn't get to sleep until 11. Crazy old woman. Hugh Grant. Bank Manager.

11:23PM, Dayton...

Arrivederci, Londra :'(

2007-12-19T12:12:00.000-05:00

I spent the majority of the day with Michelle, my Australian roommate. We went to the National Gallery (go figure...she hadn't been there, yet, though) and took the most touristy pictures possible in phonebooths and at Trafalgar Square. While we were eating lunch (I had a chicken, bacon, and mayo jacket potato), her friend, Ned, also from Australia, met up with us. Strangely, Ned bears a great resemblance to fellow Aussie, Hugh Jackman. When he asked me where I was from, he asked if it was near any big cities. He has actually heard of Toledo. How? The John Denver song, which probably will give him zero desire to visit when he comes to the states in February. After all, Saturday nights in Toledo, Ohio are like being nowhere at all.

The pictures turned out wonderfully, which is good. I had forgotten that the first couple of days are no longer on my camera. I will have to burn them to a CD or order them online when I get back.

I went back to Tea for the third and final time a bit ago. The same 3 people were working every time I stopped in. Every time you have tea and scones with cream and jam it tastes better. This means I will miss that place, a LOT. Panera will not cut it. Panera is also as close to EAT as I will get back home. Too bad.

I don't understand: everything seems to fit in my suitcase better now that it did on the way here. I'm afraid to pick it up, though...Not looking forward to the 45ish minute tube ride all the way over to Heathrow.

It is only a bit past 5, but I am exhausted from all of this walking. It would probably be a good idea for me to go to bed early, anyhow. Maybe if I get up early enough, I can go to St. Paul's again or walk down to the Tower. Whatever, I will have to use my debit card. The only money I have left are the £10 Scottish note I want to keep, money for the tube, and a couple coins to keep. Oh, and 7P. That's it. I guess I did a pretty decent job guessing how much to convert, huh (although I did go out and buy some candy this afternoon. those curly-whirly squirrelies are amazing)?

Again, not sure if I will post tomorrow morning. I will write something a few days after I get back, though- the remaining pictures, etc.

Next trip? Well, Sir Colin will be in Boston on MLKJr weekend...

Last Full Day Here

2007-12-19T05:44:00.000-05:00

I may or may not post something tomorrow morning. As I won't have much time and would have to buy more internet time, I most likely won't. I will later tonight, though.

It's 10:45 and I haven't left yet. I can't pick up my pictures until 11:35. I lost my confirmation slip, so this will be interesting...hopefully the same woman is working.

The only thing I can think of that I haven't done yet, aside from the Tower (which I won't be doing, as it costs £22) and the British Museum, is hunting down Paul, Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Gary Oldman. I'll probably just end up back at the V&A or National Gallery...again. Yes, I've spent a lot of time there, but I still don't believe I've seen half of either.

Skipping Down the Sidewalk

2007-12-18T17:45:00.000-05:00

I would have, but I thought the people behind me might start talking about me behind my back.

You guessed it: I was able to talk to him again...and THIS time, my camera actually worked!!! I started shaking with happiness when I saw that the video works and is audible upon leaving the conductor's green room. Is it possible to have two best days ever? There was no problem getting backstage, which was nice, as the man who gave me trouble last week was the one at the door I was told to use. Also, I realized tonight that the violinist who claimed me last week is the principal 2nd. He introduced the composer of the suprise piece that started off tonight's concert- a brand new piece composed especially for the LSO by Scottish Martin Suckling, who was seated at the opposite end of the row I occupied for the 15th and 16th concerts. I was jealous, for I had to crane my neck for 3 hours to see over the balcony ledge.

At a particularly exciting point of A Child of Our Time I was intently watching Sir Colin, when a quick sequence of events took place: There was a click, Sir Colin's hands were magically empty, the first violin made a quick leap to the floor, and, in one fell swoop, the baton was handed off, and the race continued without a single bump! This ordeal answered a question that had been floating around in my head: yes, it is has been known for the baton to be dropped. That was far too many commas.

Thanks to the Australian girl in my room who I had been talking with for a couple hours before the concert, I had a nice black bag that was large enough to house my camera and the 4" x 6" I printed of the picture of Sir Colin and me (he signed it). We might be doing the Jack the Ripper walk tomorrow. I'm glad she wanted to do it, too, for I would be much too freaked out to go alone, I'm sure.

*inhale*

I Don't Understand...

2007-12-18T11:33:00.000-05:00

There is a man walking around St. Paul's with his face and shoes painted I-don't-know-how, draped in a flag from I-don't-know-where, and posing for pictures while shouting, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite." I don't know why.

I hung out at the National Gallery for 4 hours today and sketched. I was very disappointed that the painting I stood in front of most of the time didn't have a postcard for sale in the shop although it informed me one was available. Monsieur de Norvins by Ingres. Luckily the cashier man who looked at my sketch so as to look around for the picture was impressed, making me content enough with that, I guess.

I went to Boots and discovered that you can get digital prints for 6p/each if you order at least 150 and wait for 24 hours. I can pick them up tomorrow at noon. I believe they're 19 cents/each at Walgreens (maybe 15, but still...), so I decided to just do it now. This way I'll be mostly all set for Xmas eve, as well. What would be nice is if I could get them all into a scrapbook before then so I don't have to explain each picture to everyone. Unfortunately I don't have an empty scrapbook. Perhaps they will be on sale at Hobby Lobby on the 23rd.

Concert tonight. I am armed and ready for the fight to get backstage.

Angel of Music

2007-12-17T18:08:00.000-05:00

He's haunting me...while absentmindedly whistlingish down the stairs to Charing Cross Station, I paused to fish my ticket out of my bag. What was playing on the PA system besides The Ball from Symphonie Fantastique? And what was I whistling? Yup, you guessed it; and I started well before I was within earshot of the speakers, mind you.

I sat in the complete and total back row of Her Majesty's Theatre, but it was worth it. I don't have a guess as to how much one individual performance of Phantom costs to put on. So much fire...It was interesting from my perspective, though: I could see the 136 trapdoors. I am very happy I have the entire show memorized word-for-word (minus the parts that are only in the actual production and not on the complete cast recording), for it was difficult to hear a couple of characters.

The man who was sitting next to me and I started talking. It's funny, what with starting small talk out with the topic of bottled water (he was from Fiji. He started it.). He was here for a conference at Cambridge. We were both in Edinburgh at the same time, as well. This was his first live stage production. Fun, fun.

On the way up the escalator I must have looked terribly depressed, for a very happy Andy-Haines-looking stylish British man descending on the escalator next to me said, "SMILE!!!" and continued on his merry way.

I wish I would have kept track of how many stairs I ascended and descended today. It's definitely well over 1000 1-way.

Whatever I do tomorrow will involve NOT spending money. Back to the National Gallery or V&A to sketch, I believe. I would have tonight, except I left my sketchbook here. Then concert...then no more Sir Colin for me :(

Besides Delicious,

2007-12-17T08:29:00.000-05:00

I'm not entirely sure what "clotted cream" is. I decided to stop at a restaurant named, "Tea," after going through St. Paul's for a scone with jam and clotted cream. Wonderful.

As for St. Paul's, I ascended all 600ish stairs to the very tip top (you feel my pain if you have done this, as well). I'm not afraid of heights, but walking around the Whispering Gallery takes one's breath away. Perhaps that is why it is the "Whispering Gallery." I have pictures of the scary see-through iron spiral staircases to the Golden Gallery or whatever it's called. Scary. Scary, scary scary. I think the wooden stairs on the way down are worse, though, as they creak and are who knows how old...

I am not entirely sure why, but I have the urge to go see Les Miz tonight. I should try Phantom first, though. I could always see the other Wednesday night. I do have an idea why I want to see it: As St. Paul's was Hector's favo(u)rite building here, I believe he has gotten to me. Oh well, both of the musicals are Frenchish, so I should be perfectly content no matter which I see. Honestly, why Les Miz? I should be dying to see Phantom. Maybe if MC or Hugh Panaro were playing right now...

Yes, back to Hector- my eyes teared up while staring in awe at the ceiling of the cathedral. You have never lived until you have stood beneath the Dome. Hector, I agree: it is nearly enough to make me want to move here.

If you were wondering, I have a new favorite big city. NYC has been bumped to numero 2. But then again, I've never really been able to explore there as much as I have here. Someday. What is there to compare with St. Paul's in New York?

Also, I have just been informed that I can try to see Sir Colin again after tomorrow's concert and that I should have yesterday, instead. Darn it... I had a feeling I should have...I was in such a perfect seat and could have easily asked the violinist who took me back with him on Wednesday...I have been told that he will be very tired and might leave early to go home for Christmas, but does anyone have an idea of a question to ask? I have two more (favorite Berlioz piece to conduct and any advice for an aspiring conductor), but don't want to fight to get backstage again for 2 seconds of talking with him.

5:15 and no comments?

2007-12-16T17:15:00.000-05:00

What is this, USA?

Tonight was the Tippett concert: piano concerto, A Child of Our Time. No complaints that I get to hear the latter again on Tuesday. What's more: one of the two performances of it will be released on an LSO Live CD. If it was tonight's you'll be able to hear Sir Colin cough and hear him hit his heels on the podium quite noisily after an exceptionally energetic entrance after a short moment of silence. Yet another exciting thing: during the concerto, I was in the very last seat on the right, second row. After the interval, I had my choice of 13 nearby empty seats. Thus, I moved one row up and sat in the middle of 5 empties. I was directly to his left. Perfect seat. I lie. Wednesday was perfect. Even more excitingness: as my things were still in my actual seat, I moved back during the clapping at the end. This meant that all the performers walked about 6 feet in front of me. Sir Colin just happened to look directly at me the last time he walked past. Like the loser I am, I waved, which caused him to do a double-take. I was mouthed, "hello!" Yay!!!! My evening was complete.

I must describe the pianist, though. Lang Lang: 25-year-old Chinese man, first public recital when he was 5, last minute sub for a world-premier piece with the Chicago Symphony when he was 17. Anyhow...when he was doing his curtain calls, Sir Colin attempted to let Lang Lang up on stage first, obviously. Each time he did this, Lang would try to grab his hand and pull him up. Much of Sir-Colin-doing-arm-circles ensued. When someone took Lang a rose, he gave it to the back row violin woman as he walked off of the stage. I found this amusing.

Yes. So I definitely have a cold, and it is very annoying, especially since I don't have any decent tissues. At least there isn't a blizzard here. Speaking of which, Aunt Wendy, what is the weather like/going to be like on Thursday?

Tomorrow: St. Paul's, maybe Tower...V&A yet again...something. I'd go see another musical if Gavin would be there to help me find a tube station (it's confusing in the West End in the dark, as I've never really walked through in the daytime to figure out my way around).

What to do, what to do.

2007-12-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

It's only 3:15, but it's too cold to want to do anything. The concert is in 4 hours. I don't think I'm going to want to get dinner before, as I had a large lunch (fish and chips...again. Slightly less good this time, though). I believe I've only taken 6 pictures today.

I allowed myself to sleep past breakfast this morning. I planned on going straight over to V&A, but stopped at St. Paul's on the way to sit in on part of a service. I definitely see how that cathedral almost persuaded Berlioz to stay here. I walked in in the middle of the choir singing, too...wow. I will have to go back, pay the however-too-much it is to walk through, and actually look around (as today was Sunday, you couldn't wander around). Also, Anglican pretty much = Catholic.

Afterwards, I did go back to V&A for a little bit, then lunch, then Buckingham Palace (not worth the walk at all), then back here. I want to take a nap.

I could walk to Millenium Bridge, but as I said before, it's cold. I might wait until tomorrow and just hit the Tower and all, as well. Oh, how I wish I could go see Phantom tomorrow. I'd like to go for tea, still, but don't want to pay that much. Le Sigh.

Why I Want to be a Conductor

2007-12-15T17:16:00.001-05:00

1) My standards are too high. Why is that? Tonight was the BBC SO under the baton of Alexander Vedernikov. He made the same "Oh! You're supposed to come in now, violins: I almost forgot to cue you!!!" facial expression as Hirokami. There were several points that made me wonder where the video camera was. You shouldn't look like you're acting. Yes, I know I have only seen 3 professional orchestras, but it pains me to watch anyone other than Sir Colin Davis conduct. When he gives the cellos an approving smile, he MEANS it. I wish I could have talked to him more. And that my camera would have worked. It would be very reassuring to be able to hear him encourage me over and over (I will eventually post a transcription of our brief conversation). Thus, my standards are too high. Either that, or I know what's good.

2) I would get to have my back to the audience. The man a few seats down from me was conducting along (off beat) quite ferociously. After the first piece, his friend took him out (sure, he was a bit mental, but then why would you even let him in if you knew he was going to or if there was the slightest chance of him doing that?)

3) The obvious reasons.

Not exactly a reason, but the woman next to me said to her friend, "We must have pretty good seats, huh?" She apparently didn't see the "restricted view" at the botton of her £8 ticket. She thought the piano was staying in the back corner for the piano concert. Whatever. At least she wasn't chattering on in French through the entire concert like the people behind me. Also, the LSO is better looking. Their audience is about 50 times better, as well. "Due to unforseen circumstances," BBC did not provide programs. We were given 1-page computer print-outs instead.

In short, I was not impressed. Oh, well. I get to see Sir Colin 2 more times. Hopefully 4 seats down from where I was today doesn't block my view.

P.S. Don't die, Findlay!

From Blinding Sun to Opaque Fog

2007-12-15T08:40:00.001-05:00

It is slightly less opaque now, for I just saw a wild pheasant running through a field.

I have discovered why it takes so long for my laptop to charge. When the adapter gets too warm, it turns itself off (that's something different here: some outlets have on/off switches).

Some of you should be happy: I traded in my kilt for Christmas presents this morning. Actually, I wanted to trade it in for a fleece jacket I found yesterday, but neither of the shops had it. I had to settle with something slightly more expensive. Ryan, it's proving far too difficult to find you a present. Nancy, it's far too easy for you.

I shall miss Edinburgh's prices, but not the smell.

Farewell, Bonnie Wee Scotia

2007-12-15T06:35:00.000-05:00

I finally realized that it's much easier to send links to my pictures than I thought: let me know if these links do or do not work.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

I chose the wrong side of the train to sit on. Far too sunny.

The Trick to Eating Haggis

2007-12-14T10:52:00.001-05:00

The deli owner man here is very nice. He informed me that he plans on visiting all 50 states next year. My answer: wow. That would take forever, would it not?

My battery has been taking forever to charge, so I'm living on 17% right now.

For all of you who are wondering: yes, I'm still alive. As I said, my laptop's been giving me trouble and I don't want to lug it around in search of places with free wi-fi.

I had the first two taxi rides of my life yesterday. One was to King's Cross. I was going to wait for the tube to open, but I was impatient (it hadn't opened yet). The other was to the B&B from Waverley (I couldn't find the #10 train). Far too expensive, but I was cold and impatient and didn't have a map.

I ate lunch at The Elephant House yesterday. That just happens to be where JK started writing Harry Potter (it's owned by her brother). Here is where the title comes into play: as I refused to go home without trying it, I ordered haggis, neeps, and tatties. Now, I have no clue what neeps are (actually, are they mashed turnips?), but all together the 3 were good. The trick is to not think about what you're actually eating, for it doesn't taste half bad. Actually, it was quite good. Afterwards, I spent some time in the Scottish Museum...or whatever it's called. I don't have my map or the map of the museum on me to be sure.

I think I spent about 45 minutes in an old bookshop in search of Berlioz-related books this morning. I left with Barzun's 2-vol Berlioz and the Romantic Century (I think that's the title) and Damnation of Faust condensed to 4 voices and piano (I bought it for the piano transcription of the Hungarian March). Also, I found some MacCowan's toffee, so all is right with the world.

I went to bed at 6 last night and woke up at 8:30 this morning. I think I have a cold or something. Ugh.

Faulty Electronics (and some pictures)

2007-12-13T02:10:00.000-05:00

I don't have a video of Sir Colin. For some reason, although it was on video I thought, it only took a picture: and not a good one, either.

Now I have 3% power left on my laptop. Hopefully it will actually charge now (there are outlets and free wireless on the train!). We shall see.

A Wonderful kNight

2007-12-12T17:35:00.000-05:00

Words cannot express my current emotions. So let me just tell you about my day...

Woke up really early to eat before hunting for the Barbican Centre. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to find, though, so I showed up 45 minutes before the rehearsal started. Doors didn't open until 10 minutes `til. I asked, and was allowed to take pictures "before the program starts." No matter, that didn't stop me from taking a couple action shots...Oh, how I wish my computer worked so I could post them...maybe in Scotland.

After eating lunch, I came back here and slept for 3 hours. I still don't understand why I'm so tired. No matter, I awoke in time to take 30 minutes to decide what to wear and, again, arrive to Barbican Hall 30 minutes before I was supposed to get there (that's even after taking 2 wrong turns and having to backtrack).

It was not difficult at all to find Monir and Michel (creators of hberlioz.com). Dinner was lovely (thank you!). Conversation flowed from Berlioz to the States to Berlioz to politics to Berlioz. Nothing to complain about, at all! I'm happy to have heard that Monir also thinks Sir Colin looks like Berlioz- I knew I wasn't all crazy.

Concert. To give you a picture of how close to the stage I was (aside from the illegal one I took): when I crossed my legs, my feet touched the stage. I could reach out and touch it with my back against the chair. I could tell that Mr. Oboe's socks were actually navy blue. I heard the clank when Sir Colin accidentally hit his baton on the metal guard (but then, I'm sure everyone could). I contemplated taking 1 or 2 of the 4 hairs Mr. First Violin lost during Harold in Italy for my scrapbook, but restrained myself.

I made my way to the backstage artists' entrance door as the players did the same. Mr. Security Guard blocked the door and wouldn't let me through. Some nice violin player said, "she's with me," and I was taken through by him. "Now, you're not a terrorist, right? That's his dressing room. If you go through that door now, you can avoid the crowd." And, thus, I entered the Conductor's Green Room.

There He was, sitting in his chair, smiling and talking away to a couple. When they left, I approached, drawing and baton in hand. "I spoke to Miss Glaister...." "You must be Ashley." *shocked* "You're from the states and you love music." "...yes!"

I presented him with the gifts, he was smiley and thanked me.

After two people butted in and started chatting with him nonstop, I stood to the side and waited. But then his son, granddaughter, and wife came in, so I waited some more.

Peace, at last. I stepped forward, camera in hand, and inquired as to whether or not I could ask some questions. I asked if I could record them, and he replied with something witty about not going anywhere. And so I did. Again, how I wish my computer would pick up the internet. A quick picture, and then....I got lost backstage. Luckily, a violinist was on his way out. "Pardon me, but how do I get out of here?" "You have to practice a lot." Darn witty musicians.

Monir and Michel were waiting outside the door (also had a run-in with Mr. Security Guard: apparently he almost didn't let Lady Davis and the son/granddaughter duo backstage, either).

Summary: ---

I will be waking up at about 4:30/5 tomorrow morning to find King's Cross and head up to Scotland. I don't know how the internet thing will go there, so no promises until Saturday. Check, though, just in case.

I'm going to go attempt to sleep, now.

Happy 204th Birthday, Hector!

2007-12-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

I didn't get out of the hostel til 10 this morning. It was beautiful today: not warm, but crazy sunny. Walked to Trafalgar again, went to National Gallery to see the 6 Constable paintings again. I stopped at a Twinings shop on the way, Ryan, but they didn't have anything all that exciting. After NG, I headed down the street to Parlaiment and Westminster Abbey. On the way, I noticed a horse standing on the sidewalk with a large group of people gathered around. How is it that I'm just happening upon everything? Anyhow, I therefore decided to stop at the Horse Guard Parade and watch the proceedings. I do believe I caught a picture of a guard being bad. Again, can't post yet.

Ate lunch at a pub on the way back. They had the exact same menu as the Three Greyhounds last night. The only difference was what they were "famous for" on the front. Although I apparently ate Yorkshire pudding with my meal, I still have no clue what it is.

I was very tired after lunch, so I decided to come back and take a nap. I woke up two hours later (not long ago). As it is now dark outside, I think I'll just stay here and go to sleep early again. Tomorrow is the big day: rehearsal at 9:30, concert at 7:30. *shiver*

Speaking of the concert...I wish I could upload my pictures and show you what I didn't mention that I walked past yesterday...it will just have to wait, I guess. I will just say it had something to do with the title of this post. I almost forgot about it, but pulled out my map to check where the street was AT the corner I needed to turn at...*someone* seems to have wanted me to visit.

Oh, fine. Here are pictures not taken by myself, but of where I went today. While he was in London, he saw Jenny Lind at Her Majesty's Theatre, which happens to be where Phantom is: yet another reason to go see it next week. The theatre Mary Poppins is in was the residence of Mozart at one point. EDIT: Nevermind...I think Phantom must either be sold out or not playing the days I'm free :(

Speaking of which, I need to charge my camera battery...

All is Well

2007-12-10T20:40:00.000-05:00

Except my lips hurt a lot. It's crazy windy, more so than I thought, so they're chapped like none other.

Yes, Ryan. I went to Trafalgar today. The pictures use my camera to the fullest, as you will eventually see. For all of you who have Facebook and noticed that all my pictures loaded, as it was faster than this, I won't be able to anymore until I find a way to charge my laptop.

So. Today, I started off with a terribly breakfast that consisted of beans and some strange sausage. Day made better by friendly tube man who told me to wait 3 minutes and get cheaper tickets. I can now say I have seen the flags at the Marble Arch. Hunted and hunted, found Baker Street, vistited Sherlock (I didn't tell him anything, Phil, as he was about 70 and short), which was lovely, Beatles shop (where I bought my xmas gift...I needed it, though: a £35 messenger bag). Then I went to Trafalgar and the National Gallery. Found Victoria and Albert: Dear Lord. I want to live there. I thought I was going to have a heart attack at the NG: 6 Constable works in one room. I was wrong. There were 38 more at V&A. In one room there were 75 paintings from floor to cieling.

Then, after asking 7 people how to get there, as it isn't on the map Jerry gave me (which I would literally be lost without), I found Prince Edward Theatre and bought tickets to Mary Poppins. So as to not get lost, I ate fish and chips at the pub across the street. Afterwards, I was the only person not related to any of the cast waiting at the stage door, where Gavin eventually came out. I suprised him like none other when he asked where I was from: "You're American..." He didn't remember me from any of out several past meetings (nor did he remember the email I sent him a week ago), but he walked me to the nearest tube station and told me that going to a high tea at the...oh, no...I can't remember the hotel....was the best thing he's done here, although it's expensive. If he weren't swamped with the last 5 weeks here, he'd go with me.

Tomorrow: I might very well go back to V&A...

I need to go visit with my new French friends now.

Brrr.

2007-12-10T03:57:00.002-05:00

The room is freezing.

The laptop won't charge.

I'm going to Baker Street, I think...

I was a block away from Trafalgar Square yesterday but didn't realize it. Ugh. Today, perhaps.

P.S. Uploading all my pictures to the site takes too long, so you'll have to wait til I get back.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

2007-12-09T11:24:00.000-05:00

I said I was going to figure out the money. Instead, I decided to wander around. I ended up walking along the Thames. I read "Tate" on the side of a funky building, so decided to check out the museum. It wasn't all that exciting...

All was well until it started raining: I didn't have my umbrella. The rain did make for some exciting pictures, though. I seriously regret not bringing my gloves (I bet I'd have lost them, anyhow). I ended up buying some "cheap" ones today, as my hands were freezing. I ate at Eat., which is like Panera, only not. Kier told me about it. They really are everywhere. The Starbucks of the food world.

I'm having some troubles with the voltage converter: it doesn't keep a steady flow of electricity. I tried plugging my laptop in, as it needs charged terribly, but it kept flashing on and off.

I think I'll be going to bed soon. It's only 4:30, but, again: exhausted.

Here are today's pictures.

P.S. St. Paul's bells ring a tri-tone. This bothers me horribly.

Whitewater Rafting

2007-12-09T07:21:00.000-05:00

...without any of the above.

This title does fit what has happened thus far, though (I have been on the ground for a whopping 2 hours).

1) flight from Dayton to DC= bumpiest flight I've yet been on. It's a good thing it was so short.
2) airplane food...come on.
3) maybe 4 hours of sleep?
4) immigration....NEVER get electronic tickets: they didn't give me the return flight tickets and I didn't know the postcode of the hostel so he wasn't going to let me through. The tears in my eyes, student status, and knowing people in the UK must have gotten to his heart.
5) I stood for the majority of the 22 underground stops between Heathrow and St. Paul's. NOT fun.
6) There ISN'T free wireless, after all...3 pounds/1 hour cards, instead. Whatever. I don't plan on being on too long.

Oh, well. When I was taking pictures that I'll post later when I can get into my suitcase, some construction guy in a hole in the road saw my luggage and asked if I was going to the hostel. He gave me directions, so that was nice.

Back to the plane: around 1 AM UK time, one of the flight attendants called over the PA, "If there is a doctor among the passengers, please come to the *wherever* immediately." A woman in the middle aisle of the row in front of me had passed out out of nowhere. There were at least 3 doctors and most of the flight attendants standing around her. It reminded me of that episode of House. Not that exciting, but the guy behind me in line to exchange money was on my flight, as well; I had noticed him earlier. Why? Because he looks exactly like Gary Oldman. Perhaps I'll see the real thing while I'm here...

I have no idea where to start. It's only 12:30 here. I need to figure out the money. That's where I'll start...

At the Airport...

2007-12-08T16:36:00.001-05:00

...for 3 hours. At least it has wireless.

Almost time...

2007-12-07T23:53:00.000-05:00

I am currently doing laundry and packing like a crazy woman. I just ate dinner (it is 11:54 PM), as I had solid class/exams/driving/Q&A with Rene Auberjonois (a lovely last evening before my departure!).

I hope I don't forget anything...

P.S. If you don't know who Rene is, he has been in Boston Legal, Benson, M*A*S*H the movie (Father Mulcahy), King Kong, was Odo in Star Trek, Chef Louis in the Little Mermaid, and won a Tony in the 80s for the musical, Coco, starring Katharine Hepburn. I saw him in Dance of the Vampires with Michael Crawford on Broadway 5 years ago.

Flight Itinerary and the plan so far:

2007-12-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

Flight Itinerary
9-11: wander, museums, etc
12: 9:30-noon: LSO Pure Berlioz open rehearsal (w/ Sir Colin Davis); 6:00: dinner at Barbican; 7:30: Berlioz concert; explode
13: 6:15 AM: Kings Cross-> Edinburgh Waverly
15: return to London, back in time for BBC Symphony at Barbican, 7:30
16: 7:30: LSO Pure Tippett (w/ Sir Colin again)
17: 7:30: Mary Poppins (to see Gavin!) maybe??
18: 7:30: LSO Belief: A Child of Our Time (Sir Colin)
19: who knows? another show? Phantom?
20: Return, arrive at Dayton 11:23 PM

There will be plenty of time for the touristy things, of course.
Youth Hostel in London
B & B in Edinburgh

Excited? You bet.

Just something to read before my journey begins...

2007-11-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

My goal was to have all of Berlioz' Memoirs, Evenings with the Orchestra, and David Cairn's biography of Berlioz finished before my trip, but that definitely is not going to happen. EwtO is done, but I just received an overdue notification for Memoirs.

The title of this blog comes from a compilation of Berlioz' essays. It has a witty double meaning in French, but it's one of those things that doesn't make sense in English. Yes, that means I don't entirely understand it myself, but I like it. So there.

Oh...approximately 12 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes until takeoff. (exactly 8 days 19 hr, 25 min at edit time!)