Gewandhaus Orchestra before the concert (click to expand pictures)
Parisa playing at the Mendelsohn Haus
One of the best things about Germany- life stops at 3 p.m. for coffee and cake
Mary (conducting teacher's wife) and me - chocolate factory where we ate lunch from 1775 in the background
Maddie Sue and Austin- breakfast this morning
Walking to schoolYesterday we took our first long field trip with the SMU students. In the morning I walked the kids to their schools then walked to the train station. Amazing that before 9:30 a.m. I had already walked nearly three miles without trying to exercise. That would explain why my calves are killing me I guess. It's also rainy and chilly- therefore you will see me in my "Germany only" purple rain jacket and obligatory German scarf. I'm not sure if I am just paranoid or what exactly, but Germans believe that you can catch a cold from wind gusts on your throat and so I wear my German scarf religiously as soon as I see other women wrap theirs around their necks.
All but one of the ten students made it to the station on time. The last student was able to run and jump on the train just seconds before it pulled out of the station on its’ way to Leipzig. In Leipzig we braved the cold wind and the students learned a lot about the inner-city area of Leipzig (which covers only one-half of a square km) our two hour walking tour. I ate lunch with the other “adults” on the trip at a fun chocolate factory that first opened in 1775. In the afternoon we toured the Mendelsohn House and one of our SMU graduate students in piano played in Mendelsohn’s concert room.
I spent the afternoon drinking café au lait, eating rhubarb cake and shopping for gifts for celebrations that we have been invited to attend during our stay. The more often the kids and I come to Weimar, the more people we meet and the more invitations we receive. Although I love Weimar, it is very much a tourist town and not the best place to buy gifts, so it was fun to go shopping in a large department store.
That evening we took the students to listen to the famous Gewandhaus orchestra. Since our music students are studying conducting we bought seats in the choir loft and had an amazing view of the 27-year-old conductor and his orchestra. Although we had chartered a small bus to take us back to Weimar we still did not get home again until after midnight. The babysitter had picked both kids up at school, fed them at her house and then brought them back here for baths and bed.
Luckily, although they both like to wake up with the early rising German sun (or clouds as the case is today), at least they are over their jet lag and no longer wake up in the middle of the night anymore and think it’s time to play.
One of Austin’s favorite parts of the day is going downstairs and just one building over and buying our breakfast bread by himself each morning at one of the many bakeries. After we eat breakfast together we bundle up and depending if Austin has his first class first or second period (each day his schedule changes), we either walk Maddie Sue to her school and then him and then I walk to work or we walk him first and then drop off his sister.
This afternoon we are picking up the bikes that I rented for Austin and me- mine with a baby seat on the back. Although it is now pouring rain, I have high hopes that it will be a gorgeous day tomorrow. If not, no matter, we’ll still take a picnic and bike along the river to a nearby castle. Hopefully now that I've been walking a week the biking won't be quite so hard. With Maddie Sue pushing 45 lbs I have a feeling it's going to be tough going up the hills. . . At least I won't feel guilty when 3 p.m. rolls around and we stop for coffee and cake!
