Fernando and I traveled to Leipzig last weekend to see Bridget perform in Giselle and a Jerome Robbins piece "The Cage". Our arrival and stay overlapped with a "Gothic Conference" taking place that weekend. Bridget had warned us to that effect, but nothing prepares you for the site of goth attire on about 20 percent of the population in the city. Everyone was very friendly and mild-mannered. They just wore lots of eye makeup and dark clothes. And spikes made of metal, sometimes. Shopkeepers change their window displays to fit the style and attitude of the gothic shopper. Even the wedding store had a black wedding dress in the window.
Leipzig is a beautiful city with a small inner ring ruled by pedestrians. Perhaps its greatest claim to fame is that it was the home of JS Bach. He was named Cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1723 and remained there until his death in 1750. He was also the Director of Music for churches in the area. I suppose the aspect of his story that I enjoy the most is that he did not set out to achieve great things or make a name for himself. While well respected in Europe during his lifetime, he became most famous during the 19th century (mostly due to Mendelssohn I believe). Fernando is standing in front of the Thomaskirche, where Bach is now buried. We went into the church on Sunday afternoon and heard a small chorus practicing. The acoustics of the place are fabulous, and I had a window into why people are fascinated by chamber music. Then again, I'm not sure that's actually chamber music. So maybe I just like to hear people singing.
We returned home to a huge rainstorm and tons of snails. This is the first or second one we found. They were rare and cute. On an evening stroll about two hours later, we spotted over 200. Not rare, but still cute. As long as you don't have to touch them.
Leipzig is a beautiful city with a small inner ring ruled by pedestrians. Perhaps its greatest claim to fame is that it was the home of JS Bach. He was named Cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1723 and remained there until his death in 1750. He was also the Director of Music for churches in the area. I suppose the aspect of his story that I enjoy the most is that he did not set out to achieve great things or make a name for himself. While well respected in Europe during his lifetime, he became most famous during the 19th century (mostly due to Mendelssohn I believe). Fernando is standing in front of the Thomaskirche, where Bach is now buried. We went into the church on Sunday afternoon and heard a small chorus practicing. The acoustics of the place are fabulous, and I had a window into why people are fascinated by chamber music. Then again, I'm not sure that's actually chamber music. So maybe I just like to hear people singing.
We returned home to a huge rainstorm and tons of snails. This is the first or second one we found. They were rare and cute. On an evening stroll about two hours later, we spotted over 200. Not rare, but still cute. As long as you don't have to touch them.
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