and we're off

Intensive german has just ended and tonight I head out to Italy and then Switzerland for 10 days of being an American Tourist. Last weekend I did in fact see the opera, friday, saturday sunday and monday...The Magic Flute twice, Simon Bocanegra and Carmen. So four operas for a total of 11 euro. The opera hause is suprisingly small with LOTS of box seats...there's the orchestra seating, behind which is the best of the standing room options then 2 or three levels of box seating that wrap all around the theater, each with their individual curtain, and the 2 balconies (each with standing spots). Each seat or standing spot also has its own translator that you can choose german or english to follow subtitles, and each standing spot has a bar to lean up against...that is of course unless you don't get there earl enough for a real spot and get stuck in the aisle (that happened on monday).

We recieved chamber assignments this week for the Music Performace Workshop, Ill be playing the Mendelssohn Octet, Schubert Double Cello Quintet (again), a Dvorak piano trio and either the Brahms Clarinet Quintet or A minor Quartet...there's questions about if we'll have the clarinetist. Needless to say, I am certainly excited for all of these although i'm sure itll take a lot of work and could be quite dificult scheduling. There were no violists in the program this semester so for all of the groups we have either violinists posing as violists or (in the case of the schubert) we're bringing in a ringer. Apart from those I'm going to take a class on Mahler and the Turn of the Cetury a seminar on the Classical Symphony and (of course) german and lessons.

3 of my roommates and I leave tonight at 8 on a night train to rome, spend a few days there then head to florence and then Bern and Zurich. We have our train tickets ad hostels but other than that we're going to make it up as we go along. I'm certainly excited for whatever advetures come as I've never been to either of these countries and none of us speak italian.

Unfortunately my computer is not currently workign so there is a hold up on getting pictures posted. Hopefully I will get it workign again, and if not I'll find another way to get pictures online.