Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Bit of problems with the site
Sorry for the delay in getting posts up, I'm having a few technical issues with the website!
Friday, 4 June 2010
Weireuth
2/6/10
Currently on the train from Weimar to Bayreuth, listening to Wagner!! Been listening to Das Rheingold as we've weaved our way between hills and rivers, but this train is going slowly so Die Walkure might speed it up!
I arrived in Weimar after what was a wonderful, if extremely full weekend in Leipzig. I was greeted by Marthe, a french horn player studying at the music school there. She took me to her flat, very close to the station, where I dumped my behemoth of a bag and had some tea while we chatted. She was a little quiet, possibly for lack of confidence in her English, but we did strike up some nice conversations and crack a few jokes, and she was always welcoming. It sounded to me like she'd rather been forced into music rather than coming into it of her own accord. There was a very good boarding school she wanted to go to, a musical one like Chethams, but they said only if she took up the french horn, the only vacancy they had at the time. She did, but didn't really enjoy it and wanted to change but the school wouldn't let her, and then her father took the stance of "We've spent a lot on your musical education, we want you to go to music college." It's really rather sad that she knows a lot of classical music and yet does not love it, nor even merely enjoy it. A lesson for the future, perhaps - I was hoping to get my children hooked from the start, but I shall just have to restrain myself!
Into town I went, with the Liszt museum in my sights. Going straight through the rather picturesque town, I collected a "Thuringer Rostbratwurst" - the region is supposed to be famous for their wurst, and after that one I could see why, it was fantastic!
I also stopped for eine kuchen at a bakery along the way. Getting to the Liszt museum, I went through the gate and opened the door to be met with two rather intimidating German women, who shouted "Geschlossen! Geschlossen!" whilst striding up to me. Asking when they'd be open, I was told to come back in March. And see you? Thank you, no. I left, knowing I was going to get nowhere with these troglodytes. Bitterly disappointed too, especially when I noticed the sign outside with some German on it but also the dates 31.5.2010 - 10.3.2011 so I must have missed it by just one day. I consoled myself by going into the park and sitting next to the Liszt memorial and listened to some of his work, pondering over what I'm going to do about my lack of piano skills, and generally how amazing it would be to actually have some :)
I then took myself rather aimlessly through the park, in the general direction of Goethe's Gartenhaus. I arrived to find a beautifully kept garden surrounding this little house nestled into the base of a hill, with loads of trees all around and the river nearby.
I thought €4.50 was pretty steep for a rather small museum but thought seeing as the Liszt museum was closed, I could afford to live a little!! And I made sure I got my money's worth, hanging around, doing things like listening to Schubert's Erlkonig whilst reading off Goethe's original copy and suchlike :) It was a lovely place, and they'd kept a lot of the original furniture, and replicated a lot more. The man certainly liked a good bust, there were several in each room, and a lot of portraiture. This place was, infact, where the majority of his poetry was written. Although the major works that influence music such as Faust, only portions of it. It did seem a lovely place in which one could meditate on one's surroundings, particularly the natural world, just as Goethe did so much. Very pleasing indeed was slowly walking around the paths in his garden that he himself must have trodden whilst either taking a break, or indeed searching for some inspiration.
And here's a little something I spotted when ambling back home a little later....
As I was leaving I was suddenly slapped in the face with an almighty sense of tiredness. I texted Marthe, knowing she was going to be coming into town for a rehearsal, asking when she'd be leaving so that I might come back and just relax a bit. A little later I met her in the market place and she gave me a key so I could go back and chill, so back I went and just collapsed on the sofa, did a bit of correspondance on the laptop and then tried my utmost to have a nap but I had been placed directly below a skylight so there was no chance! 
Just being horizontal for a bit did help though, so when Marthe returned and asked if I wanted to come out for a couple of beers with her friends, I thought well why not, and back into town we went.Trying my best to be sociable, it was rather difficult, but everyone was very sweet and patient and it wasn't at all awkward. Marthe had to get up in the morning and I was all knackered again so we went back, and I was asleep before she'd even come back from brushing her teeth, I was so tired. Originally having some vague plans to go to Eisenach, I thought I really should give myself a day to rest. I had realised how much I'd been doing for what period of time and that really I was just running myself ragged, and if I didn't give myself some time to recouperate then I just would not enjoy the places to come, the people I am yet to meet. I slept in rather late, and then stayed in bed while watching a film on the laptop and chatting on skype a little. My only trip into town was for some lunch and a (Germanically efficient) haircut before coming back and, feeling I should learn at least something during the day, I watched a documentary on sacred music by Fauré and Poulenc. The evening took me to a live jazz night, but again I left a little early owing to an early train to Bayreuth, where I find myself now!!
So really, it's not been the most exciting couple of days, but it has been generally pleasant and good for me! Bayreuth, I feel, is going to be another extremely busy period!
4/6/10
And now for a second installment - I'm travelling between Bayreuth and Karlovy Vary right now. Just embarked a train in the old fashioned compartment style, with a window wide open and it's just lovely! Should get to Karlovy Vary in just over an hour. And for the Czech Republic, I'm treating myself to some Dvorak :)
Bayreuth, well, what can I say.. It was a massive effort to get there, the journey took four hours longer than it should have. My train ran late so I had to wait an hour in the station for the next connection. I then boarded the wrong part of the train without realising, it split and took me off to a place called Hof, I realised we hadn't stopped in Bayreuth and so whimpered at the conductor who took pity and told me to get off at the next stop, go to the opposite platform and wait for 20min. This I did, I got back to the place where I went wrong, boarded another train, realised that this was infact wrong also - wondering why we hadn't started moving yet, I asked someone if it was the train to Bayreuth, they said nein, I leapt off the train to see the front half had disappeared (now realising why I never stopped in Bayreuth in the first place) and I now had to wait yet another hour to get there. Gahhhhhh, but my host was extremely patient with me, and very sweet, taking a lot of pity. She still picked me up from the station, we walked back to her flat where she gave me a mug of tea (a seemingly recurring theme now!) and also her homemade chocolate cake which was divine!!
It was now 5ish, so the museums were all going to be closed, but we went to the supermarket to get some ingredients for various foodie things for that day and the next, having a stroll through Bayreuth as we did.
Pretty town actually, nice bits of architecture from the late 18th, early 19th centuries, mostly put in place be Wilhemine, royalty who found the place so dull she decided she'd try and culture it a bit with nice buildings and an opera house.
Sandra and I got along extremely well, talking endlessly of all things musical, philosophical and social. Back at the flat, I freshened myself up a bit, her friend came over and a really nice evening was spent together. I went to bed a little early, still being rather tired, but next morning it was an earlish start and gogogo to try and do as much as possible with the next day. Alas, it was a Bavarian holiday - not even nationwide, but they still felt inclined to close a lot of places, but we went to the opera house, the Neueschloss, Wagner museum and the Festspiele. The opera house was what drew Wagner to Bayreuth, it was the largest stage in Europe at the time and he hoped it would be big enough for how he envisaged his operas. It wasn't, but seeing as he was already there he built another, bigger operahouse (the Festspiele). The former was just absolutely sublime, the most exquisite and intricate Rococo interior with painted ceilings, various things gilded all over the auditorium and I was agog at my surroundings! They didn't reaaaaally allow photos, so I had to subtly try and get a couple without flash, fingers crossed they'll be alright when I have a look a little later.
After the operahouse we took ourselves to the Neueschloss where Wilhemine had lived, and all the rooms had this extraordinarily OTT Rococo theme. Part of me loves it, I feel transported into a fairytale, and yet it also makes me feel a little uncomfortable that it is just such an overt display of wealth, and also that it feels so pretend and insincere, it's an extremely escapist way of decorating one's interior. But again, I do feel like I'm in a childhood fantasy..! Maybe just two or three rooms in my palace will be in such a style, but by no means all.
The palace gardens were lovely, with pretty ponds and lots of trees and it was all splendid. We also made friends with a little chick that must have fallen out of its nest, and then its parents came and started chatting to it so we thought we'd better move on to the Wagner museum, though not before a spot of tree climbing.
The Wagner museum looked great for a German person.. No information was provided in English, so while they had a huge amount there and it all looked fascinating, I hadn't a clue what was going on, but we admired his book collection, his conducting baton, and photos of some of the early performances, as well as the props! Again no photos allowed, but here's the exterior! 
Otherwise Sandra and I carried on chatting about music, she was really interested to learn a bit about it and so I gave up trying to restrain myself and just went on and on and on, but when I finished she said she was "breathless"!! Although on another occasion she used the term 'exhausted', so something might be getting lost in translation :)
We then wanted to go to the piano museum there, which sounded really interesting, but that was closed so we went home and I made lunch - that wonderful gnocchi dish with marscapone, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and the odd bit of gorgonzola! Sandra adored it, she absolutely adored it! Was lovely, so after letting that settle, we thought we'd walk through the park up to the Festspiele, just so I can say I've been there,
and carried on up into the fields and woods above Bayreuth, which were beautiful, and shut me up completely with the amount of birdsong piercing through the layers of canopy over our heads. After pacing around for a bit we ambled back, and I got childish along the way and rolled down a grassy hill for a bit. Wondering what other strange things we English get up to, I describe to her the delights of cheese rolling, nettle eating and tar barrel running. She was astounded that we should be so eccentric, with Germany apparently having absolutely no such silliness in their culture. Rather sad, in a way..
Nothing much left to try out or see, so we headed back to the flat and just had a really nice evening with a bottle of German wine, most palattable when ice cold, as I discovered. Sandra really is such a lovely lovely girl, extremely friendly and utterly selfless, taking care that I had everything that I needed and that I was happy at all times :)
Anywayyyy, this brings me to my train journey here and now. The Czech countryside is stunning, the train conductor bald and angry, the compartment quiet and pleasantly draughty on the first hot day since Lund! Maybe there really is a Central European Summer, we'll see.
Much love to everyone, sorry about the delay in getting this up!
xxx
Currently on the train from Weimar to Bayreuth, listening to Wagner!! Been listening to Das Rheingold as we've weaved our way between hills and rivers, but this train is going slowly so Die Walkure might speed it up!
I arrived in Weimar after what was a wonderful, if extremely full weekend in Leipzig. I was greeted by Marthe, a french horn player studying at the music school there. She took me to her flat, very close to the station, where I dumped my behemoth of a bag and had some tea while we chatted. She was a little quiet, possibly for lack of confidence in her English, but we did strike up some nice conversations and crack a few jokes, and she was always welcoming. It sounded to me like she'd rather been forced into music rather than coming into it of her own accord. There was a very good boarding school she wanted to go to, a musical one like Chethams, but they said only if she took up the french horn, the only vacancy they had at the time. She did, but didn't really enjoy it and wanted to change but the school wouldn't let her, and then her father took the stance of "We've spent a lot on your musical education, we want you to go to music college." It's really rather sad that she knows a lot of classical music and yet does not love it, nor even merely enjoy it. A lesson for the future, perhaps - I was hoping to get my children hooked from the start, but I shall just have to restrain myself!
Into town I went, with the Liszt museum in my sights. Going straight through the rather picturesque town, I collected a "Thuringer Rostbratwurst" - the region is supposed to be famous for their wurst, and after that one I could see why, it was fantastic!
I also stopped for eine kuchen at a bakery along the way. Getting to the Liszt museum, I went through the gate and opened the door to be met with two rather intimidating German women, who shouted "Geschlossen! Geschlossen!" whilst striding up to me. Asking when they'd be open, I was told to come back in March. And see you? Thank you, no. I left, knowing I was going to get nowhere with these troglodytes. Bitterly disappointed too, especially when I noticed the sign outside with some German on it but also the dates 31.5.2010 - 10.3.2011 so I must have missed it by just one day. I consoled myself by going into the park and sitting next to the Liszt memorial and listened to some of his work, pondering over what I'm going to do about my lack of piano skills, and generally how amazing it would be to actually have some :)
I then took myself rather aimlessly through the park, in the general direction of Goethe's Gartenhaus. I arrived to find a beautifully kept garden surrounding this little house nestled into the base of a hill, with loads of trees all around and the river nearby.
I thought €4.50 was pretty steep for a rather small museum but thought seeing as the Liszt museum was closed, I could afford to live a little!! And I made sure I got my money's worth, hanging around, doing things like listening to Schubert's Erlkonig whilst reading off Goethe's original copy and suchlike :) It was a lovely place, and they'd kept a lot of the original furniture, and replicated a lot more. The man certainly liked a good bust, there were several in each room, and a lot of portraiture. This place was, infact, where the majority of his poetry was written. Although the major works that influence music such as Faust, only portions of it. It did seem a lovely place in which one could meditate on one's surroundings, particularly the natural world, just as Goethe did so much. Very pleasing indeed was slowly walking around the paths in his garden that he himself must have trodden whilst either taking a break, or indeed searching for some inspiration.
And here's a little something I spotted when ambling back home a little later....
As I was leaving I was suddenly slapped in the face with an almighty sense of tiredness. I texted Marthe, knowing she was going to be coming into town for a rehearsal, asking when she'd be leaving so that I might come back and just relax a bit. A little later I met her in the market place and she gave me a key so I could go back and chill, so back I went and just collapsed on the sofa, did a bit of correspondance on the laptop and then tried my utmost to have a nap but I had been placed directly below a skylight so there was no chance! 
Just being horizontal for a bit did help though, so when Marthe returned and asked if I wanted to come out for a couple of beers with her friends, I thought well why not, and back into town we went.Trying my best to be sociable, it was rather difficult, but everyone was very sweet and patient and it wasn't at all awkward. Marthe had to get up in the morning and I was all knackered again so we went back, and I was asleep before she'd even come back from brushing her teeth, I was so tired. Originally having some vague plans to go to Eisenach, I thought I really should give myself a day to rest. I had realised how much I'd been doing for what period of time and that really I was just running myself ragged, and if I didn't give myself some time to recouperate then I just would not enjoy the places to come, the people I am yet to meet. I slept in rather late, and then stayed in bed while watching a film on the laptop and chatting on skype a little. My only trip into town was for some lunch and a (Germanically efficient) haircut before coming back and, feeling I should learn at least something during the day, I watched a documentary on sacred music by Fauré and Poulenc. The evening took me to a live jazz night, but again I left a little early owing to an early train to Bayreuth, where I find myself now!!So really, it's not been the most exciting couple of days, but it has been generally pleasant and good for me! Bayreuth, I feel, is going to be another extremely busy period!
4/6/10
And now for a second installment - I'm travelling between Bayreuth and Karlovy Vary right now. Just embarked a train in the old fashioned compartment style, with a window wide open and it's just lovely! Should get to Karlovy Vary in just over an hour. And for the Czech Republic, I'm treating myself to some Dvorak :)
Bayreuth, well, what can I say.. It was a massive effort to get there, the journey took four hours longer than it should have. My train ran late so I had to wait an hour in the station for the next connection. I then boarded the wrong part of the train without realising, it split and took me off to a place called Hof, I realised we hadn't stopped in Bayreuth and so whimpered at the conductor who took pity and told me to get off at the next stop, go to the opposite platform and wait for 20min. This I did, I got back to the place where I went wrong, boarded another train, realised that this was infact wrong also - wondering why we hadn't started moving yet, I asked someone if it was the train to Bayreuth, they said nein, I leapt off the train to see the front half had disappeared (now realising why I never stopped in Bayreuth in the first place) and I now had to wait yet another hour to get there. Gahhhhhh, but my host was extremely patient with me, and very sweet, taking a lot of pity. She still picked me up from the station, we walked back to her flat where she gave me a mug of tea (a seemingly recurring theme now!) and also her homemade chocolate cake which was divine!!
It was now 5ish, so the museums were all going to be closed, but we went to the supermarket to get some ingredients for various foodie things for that day and the next, having a stroll through Bayreuth as we did.
Pretty town actually, nice bits of architecture from the late 18th, early 19th centuries, mostly put in place be Wilhemine, royalty who found the place so dull she decided she'd try and culture it a bit with nice buildings and an opera house.
Sandra and I got along extremely well, talking endlessly of all things musical, philosophical and social. Back at the flat, I freshened myself up a bit, her friend came over and a really nice evening was spent together. I went to bed a little early, still being rather tired, but next morning it was an earlish start and gogogo to try and do as much as possible with the next day. Alas, it was a Bavarian holiday - not even nationwide, but they still felt inclined to close a lot of places, but we went to the opera house, the Neueschloss, Wagner museum and the Festspiele. The opera house was what drew Wagner to Bayreuth, it was the largest stage in Europe at the time and he hoped it would be big enough for how he envisaged his operas. It wasn't, but seeing as he was already there he built another, bigger operahouse (the Festspiele). The former was just absolutely sublime, the most exquisite and intricate Rococo interior with painted ceilings, various things gilded all over the auditorium and I was agog at my surroundings! They didn't reaaaaally allow photos, so I had to subtly try and get a couple without flash, fingers crossed they'll be alright when I have a look a little later.
After the operahouse we took ourselves to the Neueschloss where Wilhemine had lived, and all the rooms had this extraordinarily OTT Rococo theme. Part of me loves it, I feel transported into a fairytale, and yet it also makes me feel a little uncomfortable that it is just such an overt display of wealth, and also that it feels so pretend and insincere, it's an extremely escapist way of decorating one's interior. But again, I do feel like I'm in a childhood fantasy..! Maybe just two or three rooms in my palace will be in such a style, but by no means all.
The palace gardens were lovely, with pretty ponds and lots of trees and it was all splendid. We also made friends with a little chick that must have fallen out of its nest, and then its parents came and started chatting to it so we thought we'd better move on to the Wagner museum, though not before a spot of tree climbing.
The Wagner museum looked great for a German person.. No information was provided in English, so while they had a huge amount there and it all looked fascinating, I hadn't a clue what was going on, but we admired his book collection, his conducting baton, and photos of some of the early performances, as well as the props! Again no photos allowed, but here's the exterior! 
Otherwise Sandra and I carried on chatting about music, she was really interested to learn a bit about it and so I gave up trying to restrain myself and just went on and on and on, but when I finished she said she was "breathless"!! Although on another occasion she used the term 'exhausted', so something might be getting lost in translation :)We then wanted to go to the piano museum there, which sounded really interesting, but that was closed so we went home and I made lunch - that wonderful gnocchi dish with marscapone, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and the odd bit of gorgonzola! Sandra adored it, she absolutely adored it! Was lovely, so after letting that settle, we thought we'd walk through the park up to the Festspiele, just so I can say I've been there,
and carried on up into the fields and woods above Bayreuth, which were beautiful, and shut me up completely with the amount of birdsong piercing through the layers of canopy over our heads. After pacing around for a bit we ambled back, and I got childish along the way and rolled down a grassy hill for a bit. Wondering what other strange things we English get up to, I describe to her the delights of cheese rolling, nettle eating and tar barrel running. She was astounded that we should be so eccentric, with Germany apparently having absolutely no such silliness in their culture. Rather sad, in a way..Nothing much left to try out or see, so we headed back to the flat and just had a really nice evening with a bottle of German wine, most palattable when ice cold, as I discovered. Sandra really is such a lovely lovely girl, extremely friendly and utterly selfless, taking care that I had everything that I needed and that I was happy at all times :)
Anywayyyy, this brings me to my train journey here and now. The Czech countryside is stunning, the train conductor bald and angry, the compartment quiet and pleasantly draughty on the first hot day since Lund! Maybe there really is a Central European Summer, we'll see.
Much love to everyone, sorry about the delay in getting this up!
xxx
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