Little Austria

On Friday I received a spontaneous call from a friend offering me to tickets to see the Vienna Boys' Choir, who were performing in our town. That sounded like the epitome of the Austrian experience; I gladly accepted. The Italian neighbor next door wasn't as inspired, unfortunately, so she didn't want the extra ticket. Melanie Von Trapp, who is in town for a few months, DID. That's how I met and became friends with one of the grandchildren of the famous Von Trapp family singers.

Melanie and I share similar preferences for music and books. She's an easy conversationalist and it was great fun talking with her. I really hope that we can hang out again; the weather is finally turning and she would be the perfect partner in crime to explore.

The concert was wonderful. The cherubic voices of the boys were something out-of-this-world, lifted up in mass harmony. They're actually an international bunch: Slovakia, Hungary, England, America, Canada, and even Japan. They sang a selection from Antonio Vivaldi that left me spell bound.

Saturday didn't equate to much except to two loads of laundry, which had been starting to ferment in the closet. I later met up with a friend to discuss our travel plans to Cologne this coming weekend. We're going to a concert to see the American metal band Kamelot. Yes, I do like metal but this isn't what you think. Metal, in my opinion, suffers under the misconception that it's all Thrash or Death Metal. What I didn't know, before jumping into the genre, is that there is also Melodic and Orchestrated Metal. Take this song, for example:



The band is American, by majority, but the lead singer is from Norway and the keyboardist is from Germany. Natascha and I are flying out of Munich on Friday. We'll tour Cologne Friday and Saturday before the concert saturday evening. Our flight back is at 10am on Sunday morning.