Wedded Bliss

Hey All! A lot has happened since last week. I'll go in chronological order. Brenda's opera was a huge hit. She did an outstanding job and was greeted with thunderous applause at the end of the night. There are several more performances of the opera, and I'm sure Brenda is looking forward to performing the role again. The opera house posted a couple of pictures from the show with Brenda in them. You can see those here.

We made it to America! We arrived on Saturday in time for the wedding rehearsal, and we even managed to stay awake for the bowling extravaganza that night. The wedding day was wonderful and I think everyone involved had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

The bride and groom at the reception.

Florian bowling for the first time in his life. He broke 100!

Brenda and I at the beautiful conservatory where the wedding took place.

Drew, Brenda and I at the reception.

Brenda is already back in Germany, and Florian and I are getting ready to start the next leg of our trip. I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll talk to you soon!

No time today

Hey All! I'm just putting up a quick post to let you know that I didn't find time to write an entry today. I will write one later in the week, though. Talk to you soon!

Le Nozze di Dan and Whitney

Hey All! It has been an uneventful week. Brenda has been busy with rehearsals and studying her role, and I've been catching up on the laundry and stuff. I'm very proud of how hard Brenda's been working. She has a lot to sing in this opera, not to mention a bunch of German dialogue to speak, and she is stepping up to the plate like she always does. She's a rock star from Mars. The opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, opens on Friday. If you want to read a little bit about the opera, and see pictures from Frankfurt's production, you can do so here. Unfortunately, Brenda isn't in the pictures on the website, but I'll let you know if that changes.

This Saturday we're flying back to America for a wedding! Our awesome friends, Dan and Whitney, are getting married on Sunday, and we're really excited that we actually get to go to the wedding. Brenda will be back in Germany by next Wednesday (the opera house needs her) but I will be staying in the US for a couple of weeks. Florian was also invited to the wedding, and he and I are going to galavant across the midwest in grand road-trip fashion. Florian has never been to the midwest, so I'm going to show him the big tourist attractions. You know, like the Mississippi River, and Chicago, and um, all of those other quintessential midwestern sights. Hmm, come to think of it, this could be a long two weeks.

I'm just kidding. I love where I come from and Florian will too. Or else. (We can carry concealed weapons in Iowa you know.)

I will be sure to report in on Brenda's opera and the wedding next time. Until then, have a great week!

Goodbye Strauss. Hello Mozart!

Hey All! Apparently crossing my fingers worked - or pressing my thumbs as Drew so rightly commented - because Frankfurt has been very sunny since Brenda and I arrived on Friday. It is a bit chillier here than in Bordeaux, but I'm not going to complain. At least not until the clouds come back.

I am amazed by how long a week can feel. Last Tuesday, I was sitting in Bordeaux looking forward to coming back to Frankfurt. Today, I feel like we've been back for ages. In any case, it is good to be back. My coffee maker and I are finally reunited, and Brenda got her 2-hour massage. The first hour was a Thai massage, which apparently means that some lady climbs on your back and does somersaults until your muscles feel better; Brenda loved it.

Anyway, Brenda's weekend vacation is over. She's already had two days of rehearsal, and has been spending a lot of time with her Die Entführung aus dem Serail score. In fact, she's with her score in the other room right now. I'm trying not to get jealous.

Speaking of studying music, I actually need to do a little studying of my own. Brenda and I will be headed back to the US in less than two weeks for a wedding (YAY Dan and Whitney!), and we're going to be singing for the ceremony. Hopefully I still have a singing voice; it has been a while since I've dusted off ye old vocal cords. I'm sure it's like riding a bike, or something.

Before I bid you adieu, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures we took at the winery in France.

Brenda and me. And barrels of red wine.

More barrels of wine.

The guy who gave us the tour.

That's all I've got for this week. I hope you are all great, and I'll talk to you next week!

wine-ding down in Bordeaux

Hey All! It's another quiet Tuesday night, at least for me. Brenda is at work singing the 4th of 5 performances of Ariadne auf Naxos. The first performance, a.k.a. the premiere, was a huge success for all of the performers. The audience hooped and hollered most loudly for the 3 main ladies: Elza, Heidi, and Brenda. I wish I could tell you that the audience loved the stage direction, costumes, and sets, but they didn't. I have never heard such loud booing in my life. Personally, I thought the production was pretty good, but what do I know? In any case, Brenda was truly fantastic. This role has some of the hardest music you can find for Brenda's voice type, and she knocked it out of the park. If you care to look at some of the production photos, you can do so here.

The day after the premiere, Brenda and I toured a genuine Bordeaux winery with numerous other members of the opera house. It was interesting to learn about how wine is made and all that, but I think the "wine talking-to-wine testing" ratio could have been tweaked a little. Instead of an hour-long tour with 10 minutes of sampling, 30 minutes of each would have been about right. I decided to keep my suggestion to myself, however. There was an undercurrent of contempt for American wines during the tour, so I figured I had better keep my mouth shut if I wanted to sample anything at all.

The grand return to Frankfurt will be happening this Friday. Personally, I can't wait to get back; I miss my coffee maker. Brenda is also excited to get back for many reasons, chief among them is a two-hour massage she has scheduled for Saturday. Believe me, she's earned it. So I'll check in with you next week from sunny Germany (fingers crossed). Have a great week!