Music Tour to Austria

On Monday 23 March 2009, a group of 40 pupils and 6 staff left Bakewell for a week-long Music Tour to Vienna and Salzburg in Austria.

Montag 23. Maerz

Our journey down to Dover was a smooth one, if slow at times.  Our driver, Phil, left us at Dover, and we were met by the two drivers who would be with us for the rest of the tour,  Phil and Sid:

The ferry crossing was a little rocky, but all children enjoyed a good, substantial meal and had a wander on board or around the shops.

The two drivers alternated driving throughout the night as well travelled through France, Belgium and into Germany by day-break.

Dienstag 24. Maerz

The tour party awoke to a rather snowy Germany, but were met a rather unwelcome traffic jam on the outskirts of Nuremburg.  

As a result, we stopped off, and queued up to buy breakfast and lunch, which were eaten on the coach.

We then drove and drove towards Austria, arriving at the border just before 10.30am.

Despite the queues (both on the road and in the service station), everyone was in good spirits!

We arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Vienna in the Wienerwald on schedule

and tucked into our first Austrian meal of burger and chips ...

before heading off to the Prater, a park in Vienna with a funfair.   The cold and windy weather meant that a number of rides were shut, but there was still plenty to amuse us all.

After plenty of screaming on the Tagada ride, we returned to the hotel for a well-earned night's sleep.

Mittwoch 25. Maerz

Refreshed after a good nights sleep, but with a few sore throats, we had our first breakfast at the hotel, spending most of our time searching for normal tea (unsuccessfully!).   We had a short walk through the grounds of the Hofburg Palace into the city centre.

We made our way into Stephansdom where we were booked in for a tour around the beautiful Cathedral and the crypt beneath.

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in the crypt.

After the tour, there was a short time before we met up with our coach to return to the hotel for a hot lunch.   Most children went off to buy postcards and a sandwichto have as a snack later.   One lucky child won a shoe-shopping trip with Mr Weller.

After a lunch of schnitzel and salad, we made our way to Biedermannsdorf, a village not far outside Vienna.

The concert was incredibly well-received by a full church, whose applause not only demanded not just one, but two encores.   Particular mentions must go to Immy, whose solo in Over the Rainbow was just the perfect start to the concert;  Isobel, who made a late switch from singing solo to flute solo due to a sore throat, but then said she was happy to do a solo in our encore piece;  and Jake, whose rendition of Whereeer you Walk was met with incredibly enthusiastic applause.   All the children played their part in a concert which looked and sounded professional.   One man who lives in Biedermannsdorf and attends all the concerts in the village said that it is was the best school recital he had ever been to, and that it was good to see that there is still a school in England with well turned-out and behaved children  who performed so well and that we should very proud of.   High praise indeed, and entirely my sentiments.

After the concert, parents and other supporters joined us for a sausage supper.

We made the 45-minute back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

Donnerstag 26. Maerz

The beauty of music tours is that one performance follows shortly after another, and as we woke up on Thursday morning, there was a buzz of excitement about our next performance venue - Stephansdom.   St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna is a rather imposing building, both inside and out...

The Chapel Choir sang three pieces during the Mass service, which was conducted entirely in German, and this was followed by a very short recital, again just by the Chapel Choir.  The acoustics were very lively and the 32-strong Chapel Choir managed to send a beautiful sound flying round the impressive building.  A particular highlight of the recital was Lucy's rendition of the Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem, which she had so amazingly sung back in November in Bakewell Church.

After the concert was, for some (5th year girls!), to be one of the highlights of the tour - shopping.   Unfortunately, Vienna is a very laid-back city and since lunch took so long for many of the groups, shopping time was rather limited.  Some groups, however, did find an Austrian cafe for lunch and ... a chocolate shop! (Well done Mrs Caudwell's group!)

We all met up again and made our way to Haus der Musik, an interactive music museum, home of exhibitions about the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and many Viennese composers.

You could write a waltz by shaking blue and pink dice...

Listen to music ...

and conduct the Vienna Philharmonic ... even Mr Weller put his reputation on the line!

We then returned to the hotel for our final meal in Vienna (which was concluded by a vote of thanks from Immy) and a disco.

Freitag 27. Maerz

Friday morning saw us make an early start to pack up the coach for our departure to Salzburg.  We travelled for a couple of hours to Linz, an industrial town in mid-Austria, and where the composer Anton Bruckner was organist.   Here we stopped at Ars Electronica, a science and futuristic museum.   We had a guided tour, including seeing some rather impressive 3D graphic, then had some lunch in the top floor cafe, before having some time to wander round the museum ourselves.

We continued our journey to Salzburg, past some breath-taking views, and arrived at Hotel Hutter.   We had a lovely evening meal and then some free time.