Wilma's European tour

On 9 January I bade farewell to the family and especially to Jessye who would be at Howqua (Lauriston Girls' School's Year 9 country campus) when I got back. The MSO was finally leaving for its long-awaited European tour performing 8 concerts in 11 days in 8 different cities and 4 different countries. To be fair, we did have a free day and a half on arrival for recovery (tearing around sight-seeing). We started with 5 concerts in Spain, the first in Castellon. Kiwi 2nd violinist, Mary Allison, her sister, Ruth, Michele, a bass player and I wandered around immediately to get our bearings. We walked through a park with lots of beautiful ceramic-tiled seats then into the old town of Castellon. We met up with some colleagues including the tour doctor, Stephen Hook, whose sister, Lorraine, is a first violinist and Barney Zwartz, the bearded, robust gentleman who is a journalist for the Age and who became one of our sightseeing buddies for the trip.

The next day, Sunday and one of our rare, completely free days, many of us took the train to nearby Valencia, a beautiful city famous for oranges among other things. We stopped at a cafe for morning tea where I had churros and hot chocolate (very thick and rich for dipping and drinking) in honour of Jessye who has become a fan of this Spanish specialty since San Churros opened in Brunswick St. We wandered into the town square where church services were in progress and also some folk dancing outside the cathedral. It was warm enough to lunch outside - Europe was having a warmer than usual winter.

On Monday we had our first rehearsal in the morning for that evening's concert. It was the first of several mostly modern and very nice-sounding halls we encountered in Spain. However, not wanting to waste the afternoon, 8 of us rented 2 cars and headed for a small, medieval village we'd been told about. Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication and misunderstanding and me being the mapholder in the front seat of the front car, we took a scenic route which had us winding up and up and up a gigantic mountain until after 2 hours of driving we were in the mist and cloud with no idea of how far we were from our destination. On the way we saw some amazing views of a dam and lake, tiny, isolated, ancient villages and a monastery which we could appreciate despite our growing concern. Did I mention we were on a single lane goat track with sheer drops down the side. At the first turning opportunity we stopped to confer and reluctantly decided the pragmatic thing to do would be turn back. At least we knew we were approximately 2 hours from the hotel and would make it to the first concert (just). None of us relished the thought of backtracking down that terrifying road but we had to. The 2nd car turned and our car was in the process when on the road ahead appeared a heaven-sent car containing people who spoke English. To cut a long story slightly shorter, they told us to keep going and that the worst was over. We set off in the forward direction again and sure enough, after just one more bend in the road the outlook was much brighter with a kind of plateau and some flat ground on either side of us. We stopped to take a picture in front of a village at this point feeling like the survivors of a dangerous expedition. Although we didn't really have time to get out and explore the little villages on foot we still felt pretty good about the afternoon once we knew our survival was fairly assured. We made it back in time for the first concert.

After the concert Mary, Ruth, Michele and I were taken out to a bar with delicious tapas by a Kiwi lady who was a friend of Mary's and her Spanish husband.

From there we traveled to Barcelona by bus arriving at our hotel at about 2. This left only a few short hours to get the feel of this amazing city before a short rehearsal and the concert. I loved the old cathedral which was one of the most beautiful I saw on the tour and from its roof top walkway we could see across the city including a distant view of some of the towers of the famous "Sagrada Familia" temple by the late, legendary Spanish architect, Gaudi, still under construction with an estimated finish date of 2025.

We passed something that looked like a Spanish version of Trampoline but I didn't do a taste test.

Bus departure was at 10:30 the following morning which meant that there was just time to squeeze in a better look at Sagrada Familia (we had had a first gob-smacking look at night between the rehearsal and concert) and possibly to check out a couple of his apartment houses on one of the main drags. The scale and "in-your-face" quality of this amazing construction has to be seen in person to be appreciated. It is still very much a construction site inside and out but it's possible to walk around and go in and be awestruck by the work in progress.

The next two cities, Pamplona, where they do that mad running of the bulls, and Zaragoza were again 3 or so hours on a bus away each and have combined in my mind probably because they were the cold part of the trip. Or maybe it was just Pamplona and I didn't take pics in Zaragoza - it's a bit of a muddle in my poor brain. We were finally in snow and some real winter. The view out my hotel window was gorgeous and particularly hilarious was the view down to the swimming pool on the snow-covered roof still with water in it as though we were supposed to have an arctic dip.

Finally, our last stop in Spain was Madrid where we found ourselves in a huge city with just a chance to scratch the surface. We had a party at a flash venue put on by the Australian Embassy to celebrate Australia Day on our first night off for a while. The previous 4 concerts had been on consecutive nights with a substantial bus trip each morning so we were starting to feel the pace, especially since nobody was of a mind to waste time sleeping when there were places to go and things to see. After the Embassy party a few of us went to the most famous Flamenco venue which was a restaurant with a small stage at one end. The quality and intensity of the performers was stunning. They were obviously settling in to make a night of it but we left at about midnight after a couple of long sets - we had a morning rehearsal to be in shape for. I haven't mentioned the concerts but they started at a very high level and built from there with the concert in Madrid being one of the best of the tour in yet another beautiful hall. This was in spite of many of the orchestra getting sick with pesky foreign bugs that were floating around. I got my cold early on in the piece so that by the time we got to Madrid I was on the mend.

After a fairly exhausting week in Spain it was time for what many were looking forward to, a free day and half in Paris! We flew into Paris and checked into our beautiful hotel. When I read "Holiday Inn" on the tour itinerary I didn't imagine a magnificent, ornate old building with lovely rooms and the best buffet breakfast of the tour. The room rate sign on the back of the door in my room quoted 640 Euros for a night! I'm sure the orchestra wasn't paying that much but it was a taste of how expensive accomodation is in Paris. We met up with an old pianist friend of mine from university days, Jeffrey Grice, who has lived in Paris for 30 years so is almost a native. He joined us at Chartier, a famous, cheap, fast, hearty fare restaurant not far from our hotel and then kindly took us on a night walking tour of some of the sights, ending up at the beautiful, freshly cleaned Notre Dame. The next day I went back to Notre Dame with Andrew (piccolo) and Ali (1st violin) including going inside to see those magnificent windows. Then on Jeff's advice, we found Saint Chappelle, an equisite little chapel almost entirely made of stained glass windows. This was one of my Paris highlights. We caught the Metro and met Jeff for lunch near his place in Mont Martre - he lives in a cute little apartment behind the Moulin Rouge in one of the more colourful neighbourhoods. After lunch we walked up to Sacre Coeur for a view over Paris. This concert-free evening a few of us were invited to a reception at the Australian Embassy which must be one of the great embassy sites of the world. There is nothing except a playing field and swimming pool between the Embassy and the Eiffel Tower so you really know where you are.

After a wonderful "rest" in a great city we were geared up for one of the concert highlights, perhaps THE concert highlight of the tour. We were playing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in the Theatre des Champs Elysees where is was premiered 100 years ago with ballet and accompanying riot. Just as we felt in St Petersburg when we played in the same hall where Tchaikowsky had conducted many of his works, we also felt the weight of history in the Paris theatre which gave the performance extra spark. The orchestra played superbly and the audience didn't riot, at least not in a bad way. Our conductor had been bed-ridden the day before with a flu-like virus so that added a certain extra je ne sais quoi too. That afternoon between the rehearsal and concert, David Berlin and I ventured out for lunch and to find the Picasso Museum near our hotel. The lunch was fine but alas the museum was closed.

One of the most frustrating stops on tour was Berlin where we flew in and checked into our very nice Hilton at 2:45. Tired from a big night the night before in Paris we had to make sure Berlin was just as good and had only 3 hours before the rehearsal and concert. Most people pretty much gave up on sightseeing here and opted for sleep. The view from my hotel room was of the square containing the Konzerthaus where we performed. At least it was handy.

At the airport the next morning on our way to Milan I had my picture taken with the man who was usually on the other side of a camera. Greg Barrett is a renowned Aussie photographer living in New York who came with us to document the tour. David, Barney (from the Age) and I found a very nice restaurant finally after walking for at least 2 hours in obviously the wrong part of town. We were amazed that in a city with the reputation of Milan there were huge chunks of the city that appeared to have no restaurants. We're obviously spoiled in Melbourne. Between the rehearsal and concert the next day Barney and I followed Miranda (cello) on her walking (very briskly) tour of several churches. She was one of the indefatigable tour planners who had really done their homework and had a vigorous plan for every available slot. People like me who had just managed to get themselves on the plane were very fortunate to have the organisers around to tag along with. By sheer good luck we arrived at the church (the round one), whose adjoining monks' refectory had the fresco "The Last Supper" painted on it by Leonardo Da Vinci, at just the right time to pick up some ticket cancellations. Normally you have to book a month in advance to see it since it's seriously protected and only small groups can go in at a time. It was saved during WW2 when the rest of the building was demolished during bombing and it was the artistic highlight of the trip to see it. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there. Our final concert was with the glamorous Sarah Chang who graciously posed for a photo with us. Apart from being a virtuosic violinist she also amazed us all by performing the Shostakovich Concerto in heels so high that mere mortals would be unable to stand unaided in them let alone do something so athletic. Many of the orchestra continued around Europe for another week on holiday but I was very pleased to be coming home for a rest after an exhausting and exhilerating trip
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