Day 19: Stuttgart, Germany

Our last full day in Europe! :( Tomorrow we leave Stuttgart early in the morning to catch our flight in Frankfurt to head back to Iceland. We have a small layover at Keflavik before flying to Minneapolis.

Today was kind of a fun day for the boys. We started the day off by going up into the television tower, here, in Stuttgart. It was sprinkling, windy, and a little chilly but the experience was pretty sweet!

From the tower, we went to the Porsche car factory and museum to take a look around. We ended up spending about two and a half hours in the museum! The boys loved it!! We were given self-guided tour headsets for the boys to use...but most just tried to find the sportiest looking car in the museum.

Afterwards we went to the plaza in town to eat lunch and hopefully find some souvenir shops. We were very unlucky--there weren't many stores that sold Deutschland souvenirs. We found a small shop that sold a few things the boys were looking for so we brought the boys in six at a time to look around. We then gave up on shopping and went back to the bus to get a rest period in before tonight's concert.

We arrived at the church around 4:30 (7:30 concert) and warmed up/rehearsed with the Knabenchor collegium iuvenum Stuttgart. The boys got a small bite to eat before the concert (more bratwurst) and began preparing for the concert. They sang one song outside the front door of the church to lure some more people into the church and then finished the remainder of the concert indoors. The boys sang beautifully and so did the Knabenchor collegium iuvenum! They were magnificent! We're all hoping that they can come visit us in Minnesota sometime soon!

The boys went home with their host homes after the concert. Most of the boys are sad tour comes to an end tomorrow, but they're still eager to get home. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I want a cheeseburger!" in the past few days...haha Well they'll get one soon enough!! ;) See you all tomorrow!

Day 18: Stuttgart, Germany

We had an early morning breakfast with our host families today and then met to leave for Stuttgart. The trip would only be about 2-2.5 hours, but we had something like 7 hours to get there. We made two stops: one to buy lunches for some boys who forgot to pack one and a second for lunch. After lunch we let the boys lay low and play soccer for about an hour. (The soccer game quickly turned into a game of full-tackle Rugby.)

We arrived in Stuttgart a little early and decided to find an ice cream shop. We walked around downtown Stuttgart and found a little Italian Ice Cream shop. The boys had authentic "Italian Ice" and enjoyed every bit of it--including the homemade sugar cone.

We then went into the church where we would be giving our final concert (sacred repertoire only) tomorrow night. We were amazed to see that from the outside, it looked like a modern building--almost like a mall! It was rather odd...

Our hosts, here, in Stuttgart are the Collegium Iuvenum Boy's Choir. We met up with them and rehearsed the joint pieces for the concert tomorrow. They were very good, just like the St. Florianer boys. This is always a nice experience for our boys--to see what other choirs sound like! Once the rehearsal was over, the boys were split into host homes and left for the night.

Tomorrow we are sightseeing in the morning (going into the Television Tower and visiting the Porsche Museum), and performing a concert in the evening with the Collegium Iuvenum Boy's Choir. It should be a fun way to end the tour--hopefully the weather will cooperate!!

Day 17: Eichenau, Germany

Today we departed St. Florian, Austria for Eichenau, Germany. We made a 'souvenir shopping' stop in Salzburg so the boys could get some things from Austria. They were all happy to spend their money on the little trinkets around town. Some boys bought beer steins, others bought shot glasses, and who can forget, of course, Mozart Balls! We walked through the city and made a quick stop at Mozart's birth-house and snapped a picture. We only had a couple of hours to walk around and shop because we had to arrive in Eichenau by 4:00.

One of the things I noticed is that the boys are very easily amused by street performers--mimes. Everytime we passed one we had to stop, take pictures, and pose with him/her. It gets pretty comical, really. Anyway...there was one man who was levitating and was convincing quite a few people (including Andy)! He was sitting cross-legged, holding a wooden cane, and was 'levitating' over the rug. But the boys, being their typical mischievous selves, decided to go pick up the rug and expose the metal plate below the rug... Boys will be boys, right?

Back on the bus, we had another journal check to make sure they'd all be caught up by the time we get home. When we finally arrived in Eichenau, we split into host homes to settle in and eat some dinner. The boys reconvened around 6:30 at the church to warm up for the 7:30 p.m. concert (last full concert of the tour)! The boys sang very well and received a rating of "10" from Francis. The boys keep reminding the staff that we owe them Ice Cream--hopefully we can find a spot in Stuttgart to get some for the boys. They've been working very hard this whole tour, and they really deserve it!

Day 16: St. Florian, Austria

Day Two in St. Florian! This place is so awesome! There has been a monastery here for almost 1,000 years…built around 1071. The current monastery (building) was only built about 250 years ago, but is built upon the original foundation. This is the same for the Basilika… In fact, you’d be interested to know that the walls of the Basilika, at its foundation, are 5 METERS thick!! (Yes, that’s right; meters…that’s around 15 feet!) The walls get thinner near the top of the church to about two meters in depth.

Today will be a really easy day for the boys—basically a free day. We had a tour around 11:00 this morning which brought us through the monastery (which has basically been turned into a museum—a tourist trap of sorts. There are still monks in St. Florian—but not in the monastery. They are dispersed among the area parishes. On the tour, we saw the library, the Imperial and Papal Rooms, including Anton Bruckner’s deathbed. Anton Bruckner was the organist at St. Florian for many years—he is a famous composer known to most worldwide. In fact, the boys sang a song this year composed by him called “Locus Iste” with the Schola Cantorum. On the tour we also saw the Basilika, and toured the crypt and Bone House. Anton Bruckner is buried in the crypt directly below the organ (now called the Bruckner Organ)...His sarcophagus is pictured below with the bone house in the background--YES! Those are real bones. There are about 6,000 human remains stored in the bone house. All in all...It was AWESOME!!! The boys were a little creeped out at the time, but said they loved it afterwards...

The boys then ate lunch, and had free time until 2:45 when we all went swimming! We did some gift shopping in the gift store around 4:00—and warmed up shortly after five o’clock for the 6:00 ‘concert’. The concert in the evening was just an informal private performance for the host families. The St. Florianer Sängerknaben sang a song for us and then we sang a set of songs for about 45 minutes. There was a barbeque fit for a king to follow the concert at which time the boys gorged themselves on pork chops, bratwurst, Kaiser Rolls, Potatoes, Kraut, Fanta, and Sprite.

After dinner, the boys set up a friendly game of Rugby with the St. Florianer boys and played until their host homes had to leave. The boys have long deserved a day off like this, and I think they really enjoyed it. Our stay here in St. Florian has been such an amazing experience. These people are just so nice to us!

Tomorrow we have some shopping time in the morning in Salzburg before we have to be on the road to Eichenau, Germany (near Munich). But it really is too bad we couldn’t spend more time in Austria, but I’m sure we have a lot of fun awaiting us back in Germany!

Day 15: Ellwangen, Germany - St. Florian, Austria

The boys came to the Ellwangen Basilika at 9:00 this morning to sing at the 9:30 church service. They sang BEAUTIFULLY! They pleasantly surprised the priest—he was smiling at the altar as he was preparing for communion. In fact, the boys even received a standing ovation from the congregation DURING the service (that has to be a first)!! It was quite incredible!

Following the concert, we had a spaghetti lunch with a blackberry ice cream for dessert. We said our goodbyes to our gracious host and we hit the road!

We made one twenty minute rest stop near the Germany-Austria border. We had authentic Bavarian Pretzels that were given to us by the families in Ellwangen, and let me tell you—they were SO good! We loaded the bus and continued on to St. Florian—we even drove through the city of Salzburg (birthplace of Mozart). We are hoping to have some time on Tuesday to stop in Salzburg to let the boys have some shopping time!

We arrived in St. Florian around 6, and the boys were immediately distributed into host homes. Tomorrow we’ll see more of the Monastery, here, in St. Florian—but for now we’re off for the night.

Day 14: Ellwangen, Germany

We left France shortly after 9 am to get to Ellwangen, Germany by 1:30. We ended up stopping twice (one rest stop and one lunch break) which resulted in running a little behind schedule.

Ellwangen is a smaller city in the south of Germany (a part of Germany called Bavaria). Here the boys will be singing a full concert (sacred music only) and a church service on Sunday morning in the Basilika St. Vitus.

The church where the boys will be singing is rather unique. It is, obviously, a catholic church but it is connected to a Protestant church! The door has been kept shut for over 200 years, but was just recently reopened to reconnect the two. When the churches were originally built, the (now-Protestant church) was built by and for the Jesuits; but after Napoleon conquered the area it was overturned to the Protestants.

The surrounding area of Ellwangen now hosts several beautiful churches—including another GORGEOUS Jesuit church in the neighboring village (just up the side of the mountain—2 or 3 km away). This church is rather unique for a few reasons. First of all, it is situated on a mountainside nestled amongst the trees. Second, there are 12 buildings, shelters or “stations” if you will that house each of the Stations of the Cross. They begin in order at the foot of the hill and finish at the entrance of the church—it was quite impressive to see. Behind the altar on the balcony is a model of the Nativity scene—it is about 25 feet long and just breathtaking. It almost looks real (aside from the people being about 18 inches tall)…

Ellwangen also had something special to offer the monarchial enthusiast. Ellwangen is home to one of Germany’s numerous castles. In fact, Ellwangen’s castle is “world famous” because it was--for several years--the castle pictured on the German stamp (Deutsche Post).

As soon as we arrived in Ellwangen, the boys were split into host homes and left to get settled in. The boys arrived back later (at the church) fully dressed in concert uniform because there wasn’t a place for the boys to change. They didn’t have much time to warm up, but the boys still sang VERY well and impressed the audience. The Basilika was PACKED!!! It was completely standing room only. The pews were packed—even the aisle and the back of the church was full! I wasn’t even able to get pictures of the boys singing! It was by FAR the best concert so far, and Francis gave the boys a rating of a “10+”. Now someone promised the boys ice cream if they got over a ten rating **ahem…ANDY…**, well little did he know it was actually going to happen! The boys were VERY well received! The other concerts the boys have put on so far have been full as well; however, none of those churches have been this large! This was quite an impressive sight to see!

Following the early concert (4:00 pm), the boys left with host homes again and did their own thing. Many boys visited the Castle and went sightseeing around Ellwangen, while others went to a local park and played soccer, while a few went right home for dinner (BBQ and things like that).

Ellwangen has been a great stop for us—too bad we leave tomorrow already! We have been treated like superstars, here, and that’s probably an understatement. They truly love us here—it’s pretty sweet!

Tomorrow we’re off to Austria! Third country in three days! ;)

Day 13: Sarreguemines, France

Bonjour! I thought I would give Kenny a break today and try my hand at writing the blog. Here goes it! All the pictures were taken from my tiny, iPod Touch camera... so I apologize for the low quality. It is kinda hard to compete with Kenny's.

Today was a day of rehearsal, visits, and exploration. We got up relatively early. Arriving at the church, we found that some small breakfast had already been prepared for us. Smells of sweet breads, tea, and coffee filled the air. Once the boys settled in they had a small rehearsal at the church. They practiced for a good hour, and really polished up a few of their pieces. The church is a decent sized building and promised to have excellent acoustics for the concert later on that day. At around 11:30 am, Francis wrapped up the rehearsal and we all piled on the bus for a short ride to a local school.

Just like at school visit at back in the states, the boys performed in a large cafeteria before a large audience of French boys and girls. Having sung for their meal, they got to enjoy the school lunch. It was almost universally agreed upon to be one of the best school lunches they had everhad! It consisted of a small salad,chicken breast with white mushroom gravy, French fries (How appropriate!), and a chocolate moose for desert. It wascertainly one of the best school lunches I’ve ever had! The boys then had a fun time relaxing and intermingling with the French children. With the music teacher and principle serving as last minute interpreters, many of the boys were quickly overcoming the language barrier and having a fun time socializing. Just before leaving, themusic teacher brought us all upstairs and had a few French children demonstrate some of their own more contemporary music (Queen's "We Will Rock You" and others).

Once again, aftermany goodbyes and “Au Revoir’s!” the boys boarded the bus for some sightseeing. After a short 30 minute drive we arrived at our destination: Ancient Roman Ruins at Bliesbruck-Reinheim! The boys were quickly submersed in

the more “Touristy” type area. Gift shops, tour guides, and monuments surrounded them.After getting n explanation of Roman Culturefrom a tour guide (Did you know the Romans were the first to invent in-floor heating?), the boys got to walk around the grounds. There were many opportunities here for fun and adventure!Old stones, long forsaken walls and foundations were quickly observed and scaled. It was actually encouraged by our tourguide to walk on the ancient low walls! I guess “when in Rome,do as the Romans do”! The boys had a great time wandering around the site, and upand down some large hills. Finally, they got to visit an old Celtic burial Mound of a Gallic Princess, and actually go inside it! In a little bit of a rush, we had to cut short souvenir shopping time and get on the bus again.

The acoustics for the concert turned out to be as good as was promised. The 6:00 concert was excellent. The church was of medium size, and perfect for the boys to sing in. At last, all their hard work practicing this morning got to pay off! There was a decent sized audience and they were quite enthusiastic for the concert. Afterwards, they all got a chance to try some more sweet coffee cake before heading back to their host homes for dinner.

Overall, it was a very fascinating day. Music, school visits, and even some sightseeing. France has rendered itself to be an excellent experience for all.

Well, as the French would say it,

Au Revoir! (Till we meet again!)

Adam