Wolfi Mozart and Me. (A love affair)

I spent all day Sunday in the company of my wonderful man Wolfi Mozart.  He wrote a dramatic and menacing "Great Mass in C Minor" and 60 singers from the "White Horse Opera Company" and anyone else interested practised all day, with a lunchtime tea break of course.   We sang out with gusto and our concert in St Mary's Church, Devizes on Sunday 6th March will be a great success. .  http://www.whitehorseopera.org.uk/

I have decided that in my next life I will be a professional singer (in German?) travelling the world and singing my heart out,  that's if there's a world to come back to??

Norbert/Adapters/Leads/Netbook/Mouse/Dongle/Brain

Now 51 days to lift off and my thoughts have turned to sorting the various gadgets I need for Timmerlah.  Yesterday I dusted off my Netbook case and started a list of the technical bits I must take on the trip, the photo shows and assorted array of stuff, from the left:
Mobile/Camera/Leads/ Netbook/Brain (cotton wool)/Dongle/Adapters/Mouse/Norbert, top right.

These items will all go into my Netbook case, together with some books although, "To Buy or Not to Buy a Kindle, that is the Question?"  (Hamlet, act 3, scene 1, line 56)  I could buy the gadget (with leads) and not take any books.  My big suitcase comes out this weekend for the start of neurotic packing.  This year will be easier, I know what I need and can buy extras when I arrive.  It is amazing what you can cram into a suitcase!

Drinking Coffee in "The Bear Hotel."

Devizes is a pretty little market town in the middle of Wiltshire.  It boasts a number of beautiful buildings including this one, "The Bear Hotel" where I frequently meet friends for coffee.  Of late all the discussion turns to my preparations for my visit to Timmerlah and Braunschweig, where hopefully I will speak so much German I will come home unable to speak English.  I wish!!  Today's conversation turned to money and "what clothes are you taking."  www.thebearhotel.net/history 

This old hotel was a Coaching Inn on the London to Bath Road and has connections with Thomas Lawrence, a painter who lived here with his family in the 18th century.  He was a child prodigy and in 1820 became President of the Royal Academy.  Jane Austen also stayed here overnight on her visits to Bath from Kent and Hampshire, together with other famous people who needed to break their journey travelling to and from London.

Drizzle and More Drizzle.

Oh dear, the weather is so miserable and dank!  Shall I shoot myself?  No, I'm off to Timmerlah soon and that would spoil my holiday.  My friend Tracy is now living on her boat in Devizes.  She has managed to find some local work and seems very happy with life.  She is a great friend and we hope next year, when I have my little boat, to set off on a cruise around the beautiful English canal system.

"Hideaway" is 60ft long and takes some handling, but the two of us in unison, should be able to manage the lock flights without problems.  Oh for some sunshine, but it is warmer today so I suppose I should be thankful!

"The First Tango in Braunschweig" not "The Last Tango in Paris."

I like dancing, I've tried most dances, the waltz, jive, Morris dancing, Scottish and country dancing but the Tango has, as yet, alluded me.  I'm staying in BS for many months and have plans for many activities, visiting Dresden, the Leipzig Bach Festival, cycling, walking, singing, attempting to speak German and now I can learn the Tango in German!  I hope to find a class I can join and when I leave in September, I can Tango onto the plane.  Can someone in BS find me a nice Tango partner from April 17th onwards?

The photo shows the "Moonraker Morris Team" dancing in the Market Place in Devizes in 2008.  I'm the third dancer from the left but now dance no more, my right ankle gave way in a stick clashing section of "The Drunken Idiot" and I haven't been the same since. 

Checking Train Times from Braunschweig to Dresden and Hamburg.

Today is day 57 and the time is galloping towards April 17th my departure day.  I've printed off today the times of trains from BS to Dresden,  where I hope to spend a week visiting this beautiful city and meeting my email partner who lives near the Blue Wonder Bridge over the River Elbe.  I am really looking forward to the visit and the train journey takes roughly 2.5 hours.  I would also like to visit the "Bach Festival" in Leipzig, although I may run out of money before that date!   
This photo shows the Saxon Church in Bradford on Avon.  I walked there with my walking group on Friday, an excellent 4.5 mile walk with a delicious lunch and pint afterwards in the "The Lock Cafe."  We will go there again soon, the food is good and the drink even better.  Cheers!!     

Fünf Hochzeiten und Zwei Beerdigungen!

Last night's talk "Five Weddings and Two Funerals" by Prof Klaus Meyer on the history of Braunschweig was very interesting although, of course, he spoke German much too quickly for me.  I could understand when he spoke clearly, but most went over my head!   The talk was accompanied by English subtitled pictures and a written history, so we could all understand what was going on. 

The talk was held at the "Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute"  Queen´s Square, Bath, BA1 2HN, you can view this area on Google Earth.  The picture shows Pulteney Bridge, designed by Robert Adam and completed in 1773.  His design is similar to that of the Ponte Vecchio and the Rialto Bridge.  Bath at night is completely magical!  Wikipedia has more information.

Day 60, the clock is ticking away!

Tonight I'm visiting Bath in order to enjoy a celebration of the  40 years of the Bath/Braunschweig Twinning Association.  The reception is hosted by the Mayor of Bath and we will listen to a talk about the two cities and enjoy a musical interlude. 

It's a chance to meet up with all my lovely friends in the group and to talk about our group's next visit to Braunschweig in September this year. I will join them during the visit and will fly home with them at the end of September.

Day 61.

Tonight I am visiting for the first time the Devizes Camera Club.  I need to pick up a few hints on how to take better photos.  Whilst in BS and Dresden this year I intend taking photos to form the basis for two illustrated talks I hope to give to the Devizes U3A when I return next Autumn.  I'd like to talk about the twinned cities of Dresden and Coventry, both having suffered terribly during the last war.

A talk of contrasts and similarities seems an interesting approach.

Only 62 Days!

I counted the 62 days today, gosh wishing my life away.  Norbert's passport is in order, as is mine so we are all set, bar the packing.  This year I will visit Dresden and the rebuilt "Frauenkirche" the beautiful Baroque church now recently restored after being completely destroyed in 1945.  Craftsmen in Great Britain made the magnificent cross that adorns the top of the dome.  Dresden is twinned with Coventry.  

The count down has begun.

I now have 9 weeks to wait until I return to my adopted city in Niedersachsen in Germany and this year I intend to improve my speaking skills.  I've checked my passport and papers and this year I will have to register at the Town Hall, as I am staying for over a month.  The flight out is booked, but I have not arranged a return date as yet. 

My friends in the Bath/Braunschweig Twinning Association are visiting BS in late September, so I will join them during their stay and fly home with them.