August 20th & 21st, 2017 - An Easy Addendum to my 2017 Travels

When I got home to Fernandina Beach back in May, I was surprised to find myself quite tired. I was sorry to see my travels end, but happy to rest my head in one spot and just stop a while.

While in Australia I visited a dear friend from high school and college days, Rosemary Porter, who lives in Brisbane with her husband Graham. Here's a picture of us from the Glasshouse Mountains near Brisbane this March.

She invited me to join a group she was involved with, to sing in the Middle Rhine Region, in Germany. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Region and the group would be staying in Oberheimbach for nine days - a small village with no stores or ATM - and would work with an English music director to perform some contemporary songs for a local audience. There was also no audition required!

After a short period of contemplation, I decided this was a fabulous idea - it would give me a chance to visit Rosemary in a different setting and do something I enjoy in a different part of the world. So here I am again - off in a different direction and part of a group called 'Singing in Paradise'!

The is the hotel we're staying at, about a mile from the Rhine River.

I'm aware that many of you are likely to have visited Europe (and Disney does do a pretty good rendition too - LOL!), so the novelty value of my trek here is not as great as my previous travels, but I thought it only fair to give you a brief update and if I do manage to take any decent pics, to share them with you.

So on Saturday, August 19th, I set off from Jacksonville to Frankfurt.

The contrasts with our worlds are not enormous - it's a moderate sized city - but architectural variations inform one that this is a different place. Frankfurt is the site of many global and European corporate headquarters.

Heavy bombing during the Second World War almost completely destroyed it's once popular medieval city center. One building that evokes older times is the Alte Oper (Old Opera), so I headed there first. It was built in 1880, almost completely destroyed in the bombing, but rebuilt in the 1970's.

I am not sure who this fellow is, but I though he looked rather fine up on its ramparts.

Most of the advertised programs were dance and other theatrical events. In order to hear an opera (I have tickets for August 30th), I have to go to the new opera theatre which was built in the 1950's.

 While I was enjoying the peaceful greenery of the Opernplatz, it was suddenly overrun by these funny little 'velotaxi's', which seemed to be a way to tour people around.

There are many modern towers, but the streets are wide. On the Sunday I arrived, it was very uncrowded and felt spacious and easy to navigate on foot.

My hotel was near the Hauptbahnhof, the main train station.

Near the station it is somewhat seedy. There were homeless people around and groups of men just hanging about. I was intrigued by these people standing on the balconies of this street and later figured out that it is a red light district. I had taken the photo from a distance - if you look closely at the figures, you can see that there are musicians and women on the balconies. I'm not sure if they are real or mannequins.

I rather liked this mural I found near the hotel.

My evening treat was an organ concert at this little church - St. Katherine's. I was so tired, I think my brain was barely conscious, but it was an experience which gave wonderful sensations of being bathed in pure musical vibrations!

The next morning (Monday 21st, 2017), I met up with some of the other singers and we traveled by train to the little town of Oberheimbach, a couple of hours due west of Frankfurt, just off the Rhine.

It is a region that is abundant with color from flowers - both cultivated and wild.

The buildings in Oberheimbach are quaint......

.....and there are many delicious doors to satisfy this wooden door aficionado!

We had some spare time the first day, so of course I went for a wander and found myself in the woods.

There were many hunters blinds dotted around. This one must have been a inspiration for the Daleks in Doctor Who!

This was my first taste of lovely wildflowers - they look like a smallish snapdragon.

We are surrounded by vineyards.

The streets are narrow and the church bells ring every morning at seven am.

Isn't is just delightful?

And so it goes on.

When I heard the clop, clop of horses hooves, I was a little disappointed to discover that it looked like a leisure pursuit - not working horses. I imagine the sound of horses hooves have echoed through these streets for centuries, allowing work to be completed more efficiently.

Tomorrow will be our first 'working' day with singing rehearsals in the morning and outings in the afternoon. I think this has the potential to be just delightful!