I'm trying to remember what I wrote about in my last blog post... I can't check because we're on the train with no wifi but I really wanted to work on my blog, so if I repeat things, bear with me.
Our first full day in Berlin we went to Swan Lake. Oh my goodness it was so amazing! The dancing was incredible, the acting was amazing, and the pit orchestra was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the ballet. It's amazing to see how much everyone can follow a story with just acting and music. Music truly is a universal language.
The next day, on Sunday, we went to mass at St. Hedwig's. It was such a beautiful cathedral with a huge domed ceiling. After mass some of us went too a flea market and it was huge! There was so much cool hand made things and wonderful smelling food. That evening we went to La Traviata and it was phenomenal! I loved the acting and the singing was fantastic. The pit orchestra was amazing too. I am very appreciative that they had subtitles in German and English! I was expecting the, to only be in German, but it made the experience that much better to be able to read and understand more of what was going on in the opera.
The next day was our free day and I met up with my relative, Elin, and we biked around Berlin. That was so nice because we could see so much more of the city by bike because of how fast we could travel. It was kind of terrifying biking in the main streets of Berlin, but it was also very enjoyable. We biked through the Brandenburg gate and through the huge park in the middle of the city. We saw an old church that is now a monument for the war. It was bombed and only part of it is still intact, but they didn't restore it at all, they left it the way it is to be a memorial. It's very fascinating and it really makes you think about the history of this great city.
On our last day in Berlin we went to museum island, where there are 5 different museums all in close proximity so you can go to all of them if you wish! I only went to one, but it was so fascinating and there was so much to look at! The one I went to had a bunch of ancient Egyptian artifacts and it was amazing. The main attraction was the bust of queen Nefertiti. That was so awe inspiring. Everything in there was so awe inspiring when you realize just how old it is and you see how well it's been preserved. My favorite artifacts were the old manuscripts. There was Homer's Iliad, music for drums, and different gospel readings from the Old Testament.
That night was the best though. We got to see Gustavo Dudamel in concert and it was absolutely fabulous. Seeing one of your favorite conductors live is a life changing experience. Everything about this concert was fabulous, I can't even describe it as well as I wish I could. I loved the program, Petrushka and the Rite of Spring, and they had 2 encores! The first was the end of Firebird and it was absolutely amazing. I have never clapped or cried so much at a concert, it was so moving. I was absolutely blown away with this orchestra. They played so well together and they are all so young! They didn't just play well with each other, you could tell they really respected Dudamel, this wasn't his orchestra, he was part of it. At the end, he didn't go out and take his own bow, he went into the orchestra and stood with them, not in front of them. It really showed me how much he respects the players as well. These players are so fortunate to have this great conductor and go on this amazing tour. The El Systema program gave them this opportunity and without it they may not have had the chance to even learn an instrument. That was another thing that made this concert special for me. Back home, we have this after school music program for elementary school kids, called AMP (artist mentoring program) and our program was based off the El Systema model. It was amazing to see one of the people who helped start the El Systema program and see one of their fine orchestras. It makes me excited because of how much I've already seen the AMP program grow and I wonder what else our program and kids can accomplish.
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