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Canada and the USA 2008
Bruckner's Travel Blogue # 5
04 March - 12 March
Roseburg, OR to Indio, CA
04 March
Roseburg
We have only got to travel a short distance today, still, they are making us leave the hotel early, nine o' clock, which is practically at the crack of dawn. Frau Tania has a surprise up her sleeve, but she won't let on what it is, no matter how deeply we probe (using our sophisticated information-eliciting techniques, "no, reeeeallly, where are we going today?", the whole gamut of whining, cajoling and pleading). Frau Tania is not susceptible to thuis. She must have secret service training. So we are reduced to speculating and keeping our eyes peeled (keeps us busy on the bus).
Two hours later, our keen powers of observation espy a sign for a safari park; could this be? It could, and it is where we are going. We are met by the organisers of today's concert; they have arranged this visit for us. We drive through the park, which is first savannah, then changes to African and Asian wilderness. The park is inhabited by rhinos, camels, wildebeest, apes and monkeys. There are two playful bears gambolling about; we especially like them. The highlight is the elephants' precinct, where we are allowed off the bus. There is an elegant elephant cow who performs just for us; she kneels, wriggles her ears (which most of us cannot do, and anyway, it wouldn't look nearly as impressive) and elegantly moves her trunk about. We are allowed to feed her carrots (carrots! who would've thought that elephants are partial to carrots?) and to pet her as well. Our cameras get a real workout. We need to document this thoroughly, otherwise sceptic fellow choristers might not believe us.
We have Chinese food for lunch which is followed by our pre-concert rest. The concert itself goes well, like clockwork, and the audience seems very happy with us.
05 March
Klamath Falls
We continue our journey through Oregon. If we had thought to have left winter behind in Canada, we were mistaken. On our way to Klamath Falls we have to negoatiate a pass, that is Wayne has to. He drives through one hairpin bend after the other, and some of his passengers have turned a little green around the gills. On top of the mountain, we find ourselves in a white winter landscape, quiet, and as if suspended in time.
When we arrive at our destination, we hop off the bus and into the snow piles; much to the delight of our prefects still in our sneakers and trainers. They clearly lack the right spirit of adventure, these types. They want you to change shoes, when there are perfectly good snow piles lying around. We fail to see why they are so upset, shooing us into the restaurant and then into our rooms.
We arrive at our concert hall relaxed and well rested and sing a decent concert.
06 March
Grants Pass
Grants Pass is between Roseburg and Klamath Falls, so we have to double back. This time, Wayne elects to drive another route, long and quite flat.
After lunch we have some time on our hands, and we are spoiling for movement. The swimming pool does not look quite so enticing (it is an outdoor pool), so we try to find a park to play in, armed with a map. There are signposts about as well, but try as we might, we cannot find the park, any park for that matter. Perhaps someone has moved all parks overnight, or else the parks have decided to up and leave for warmer climes. We try for half an hour, then we decided to call it a day and return to the hotel.
The hall is quite small: the changing rooms are in fact a back room of a Mexican restaurant, the stage itself is the size of a postal stamp and the piano, though visible, probably fell out of the pack of a hunter following the Siskiyou Trail. None of it matters, or rather, none of it works to our detriment. The place has lots of atmosphere, and, as audience and performers are at such close quarters, we see eye to eye with each other, as it were. It is a very special concert, and definitely one of the highlights of the tour.
07 March
Modesto
We are on our way to Californy! No more winter clothes, at least not on this tour. The only snow around is on the mountain tops, and they slowly recede in Wayne's rearview mirror. By contrast, there are more and more palm trees by the roadside. We stop at an outlet centre ( wonder whose idea that was?) and acquire some fashionable items, shoes, shirts, hats. Feeling quite stylish, we continue to our next hotel and make it in time for a dip in the pool. It is, by clever design, surrounded by our rooms. You could dive in straight from bed.
Pizza is delivered, and we eat near the pool. We are not the only young people here, there are boys and girls about who would appear to be members of a sports team. They are (unheard of!) noisier than we are. Sadly, there is no time for extended contact today, but we live in hope. Perhaps tomorrow?
08 March
Modesto
Easter is looming ahead, which means we devote some time to rehearsing the Easter mass. Lunch today is soup and salad, with Frau Tania ensuring that each and every one of us fills a plate with shrubbery. Afterwards we release some pent-up energies by jumping into the pool and trying out our new basketballs.
We have our customary rest, then dine. The Modesto Concert Hall is new, and extremely beautiful, and it is filled to capacity. We acquit ourselves well, we feel and return to the hotel quite cheerful.
The young ladies are still around and about, and we find a million things to do, a million excellent reasons why we need to circulate the hallways. This is obviously a matter of some importance, culturally and politically. Unfortunately our adults keep sending us back to our rooms. They have no understanding of international relations. Clearly.
09 March
San Rafael
By rights we should be able to sleep in; but unfortunately, the clocks go forward today. Our unfeeling chaperones wake us at 10.30 am (so they claim), when it really is only 9.30 am, and as we are not cows requiring to be milked, they might as well leave us blissfully asleep. No such luck, though.
We have an afternoon show today, so we don our uniforms and board the bus. We stop at a restaurant for brunch and form a patient queue for omelettes. Fortunately the cook is extremely skilled with a skillet, he fries six omelettes at a time, so no one has to wait long for his food.
Afterwards, we continue our journey through the Californian hills. As San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge materialise in the distance, we are glued to the bus windows. We arrive in San Rafael in good time for a rehearsal in the hall, a large and rather imposing building. The audience at the concert is enthusiastic; some people even wait for us at the artists' entrance.
The hotel is arguably the most beautiful on this tour, and it offers another advantage: It is right next to the hall. We simply deposit our baggage in our rooms, then go for a walk. The usual suspects play football or soccer, the more arty souls simply enjoy the air. Of course, one of the balls lands in the lake. We are in luck, though, the current (or perhaps the breeze) obligingly deposit it on the opposite shore where we are able to recover it.
In the evening, we hold a small celebration: Frau Tania has been managing our US tours for the last ten years, the same time that Zimmi has been on the road with Brucknerchor. They have spent an entire year on tour together! That sounds a little scary, but then of course, Zimmi was only ten when she started the job. There is a celebratory slice of tiramisu for everyone, with a candle on top. This is the life!
10 March
San Francisco
Today we pay San Francisco a visit. Wayne deposits us at a cable car stop and leaves us to explore the city. We buy day passes and climb aboard the cable car, ready for take-off . . . The car climbs the first hill, and we are in love. This is excellent; the tram in Vienna is very boring, pedestrian even in comparison. Cannot hold a candle! We get off on Lombard Street where we catch a glimpse of the Financial Pyramid, Bay Bridge and of course Coit Tower. We walk (perhaps bounce is a better word) down the street and up a hill again. There, we get on another cable car which takes us to Fisherman's Wharf. Some of us have already been here two years ago and remember it well. It is perhaps a little disappointing that we do not see the same street artists. Couldn't they have waited for us? Happily, the restaurant we went to then is still here. We have chili con carne on bread, and of course we feed the bread to the poor seagulls who seem to have had no food in days, weeks even, to judge by their shrieks.
We continue to Pier 39 to inspect the shops. After a good look around we take a boat to the Golden Gate Bridge. On our way back, the boat passes Alcatraz. Back in the port, we are treated to a generous helpings of ice cream. You have to eat very quickly, it is the rapidly melting kind. En route to dinner, we take a local bus to Coit Tower; definitely worth a trip.
We dine, American style, on burgers and fries, then - to digest - we inspect the shops in the vicinity. There is a paint brush artist who spraypaints images of San Francisco as if by magic. We buy one of his paintings to remember the day by.
11 March
Indio
We have a fair way to travel today, so we set out straight after breakfast. We play cards on the bus, listen to music and talk - quietly - to the person or persons sitting next to us and - ever so quietly - to people sitting six rows ahead. If anyone gets bored, they put those boring questions to the grownups, are we there yet? Are we there yet? They really like that, we can tell.
In the late afternoon we arrive on the outskirts of Los Angeles where we spend quite some time caught in traffic. It is apparently what you do here. People have in fact shot entire films caught in traffic. At eight o'clock, we arrive at our hotel in Indio. As soon as we get off the bus, we notice the difference in air. It is much warmer here, and there is a scent of flowers hanging about.
For dinner, there is pizza, delivered to our hotel. This time, we feast outside.
12 March
Indio
There is a rehearsal scheduled for the morning (the Easter mass, remember?), but before we begin, we simply have to test the hotel pool. The temperature puts us in mind of Austria in August (on a hot day), and in view of the scorching sun, we liberally apply sunscreen. Factor 50 would appear appropriate. We splash about for an hour, jumping in head first and generally having a whale of a time. Dry again, we rehearse together for 45 minutes, then in sections. Once that is done, we dive back into the pool.
After lunch, we have our customary rest. The concert takes place in Palm Springs. The audience is quite eminent, they look distinguished, but they certainly know how to applaud.