in two places at once

Greetings from a very windy and rainy Hamburg! Brenda and I arrived early Sunday evening after a very pleasant six-hour train ride. Munich is in southern Germany and Hamburg is in the north, so we covered quite a bit of ground that day. Brenda had her first day of rehearsal at the Hamburg State Oper (Hamburgische Staatsoper) yesterday, and then flew back to Munich last night for her second performance of Les contes d'Hoffmann. She'll be back tomorrow (probably before I wake up) for another day of rehearsal in Hamburg. 

This is really the first time Brenda has had to juggle overlapping gigs in different cities, although she has frequently had multiple productions at the same time in Frankfurt. She seems to be handling the back and forth quite well, and after her third Hoffmann performance on Sunday, she'll be able to focus entirely on her gig in Hamburg.

 Brenda took this picture earlier this afternoon in her hotel room in Munich.

 There she is, with her fake snake tattoo and all, as Giulietta in Les contes d'Hoffmann.

And here she is playing the role of American tourist in Munich's famous Hofbräuhaus. Don't worry, one of those giant beers was mine.

The Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), which is a public radio and television broadcaster in Bavaria, interviewed Brenda last week for a program that will be aired today. If you'd like to see a video clip from the interview, you can do so on the BR Facebook page. The entire interview is available on the BR website in both video and audio. FYI, even though Brenda answered the questions in English, the interview is dubbed into German.

I should get some chores done. I'd hate for Brenda to think I was sitting on the couch watching German soap operas all day while she was hard at work in Munich. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

back home for the night

Hey All! Once again, I’m writing the blog from a train. Brenda and I aren’t switching cities yet (that happens on Sunday when we head to Hamburg). I’m just popping back to Frankfurt for the night to check the mail and visit some friends. Oh, and I have this job interview thing tomorrow, too. No big deal. (Was that nonchalant? Probably not.)

Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “But Chad, you’re a professional student! You don’t work!” And you’re absolutely right about that, but I thought since I got this law degree, it might be a good idea to put it to use doing something. I mean, at least for a little while. I don’t have any idea what my chances are for getting the position, but I’m excited to be doing the interview all the same. By the way, the German word for interview is Vorstellungsgespräch, which is about as hard to say as it appears. I don’t know yet if my interview will be in German or English, but I’m expecting to speak some Deutsch. Wish me luck on that front.

The last time I wrote a blog entry on a train was two weeks ago, which was before Brenda had begun rehearsals for Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Brenda is now finished with the rehearsals (three) and performances (also three) for that production and has moved on to The Tales of Hoffmann. Hoffmann gets five days of rehearsal with the first performance on Saturday. Brenda did this exact same role and production in February 2014, so I think she’s feeling pretty well prepared.

 And here's another curtain call. This time with the curtain. I took this picture after Brenda's performance on Saturday.

Brenda was kind enough to put my name on the backstage list, so I could visit her in her dressing room after the show.

 As I mentioned last week, we've been spending a lot of time walking and jogging in the English Garden.

We even went for a walk today before I caught my train.

Like I said at the beginning, we head to Hamburg on Sunday for Brenda’s next opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. I know she just sang it in Munich, but the folks in Hamburg want to hear it, too. Brenda has to bounce back and forth between Hamburg and Munich a couple of times for her second and third performances of Hoffmann, but she’ll be able to take a break from traveling (at least for a little while) after Easter. 

I hope you all have a great week, and we’ll talk to you next Tuesday!

a culinary surprise

Greetings from Munich! A lot has happened since last week, at least as far as Brenda's performing is concerned. After three days of rehearsals, Brenda had her first performance of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail on Sunday. It was a great show and the packed audience seemed to really enjoy it. Our friend Andi came up from Austria to see the opera and kept me company in the audience. We always have a great time with him. Brenda got the day off yesterday but is back at it again today with the second performance. 

The curtain call after the show. Brenda is fourth from the left.

This past week, when Brenda wasn't rehearsing or performing, we went for walks in the English Garden, saw a movie (Birdman - two thumbs up) and sampled some of our neighborhood restaurants. One of the restaurants had a big vegan section on the menu, which is always a plus for us, so we decided to eat there for our anniversary. It ended up being a really nice place (great soup, friendly staff, nice ambiance, etc.), although I must admit I was a little surprised by my main meal. I ordered the tagliatelle, which I assumed would be pasta since, you know, it is pasta, but I was wrong. My "tagliatelle" was actually beets, carrots and kohlrabi cut into long strips and covered with a light dressing. It wasn't bad. In fact, it tasted exactly like you'd expect if you thought you'd ordered raw vegetables cut into strips and served cold. It was certainly a surprise to me but at least it was a healthy one.

Brenda has the next three days off, and we're planning on enjoying them. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

eight years

Hey all! After a week apart, Brenda and I are back together in Germany. Our time in Seattle flew by, and now we're moving on to the next thing, which is in Munich. After her arrival yesterday, Brenda had about 24 hours in Frankfurt to see some friends, sleep and repack before hitting the road again. We're actually on the train now and are excited to spend some more time in Munich. This is Brenda's fifth gig there, and it's really starting to become a home away from home in Germany.

My week alone in Frankfurt was very relaxing. I spent my time seeing friends, jogging, cleaning up the apartment and reading. Of course, it would have been a lot nicer if Brenda had been around (and I'm sure she'd love a week off), but she was busy in Seattle singing her last two performances and spending time with Drew. By the way, I'm quite jealous of Brenda and Drew's trip to Olympic National Park last week. It's home to the mountains we could see from our apartment in Seattle, and it sounds like the twins had fun seeing them up close.

Apparently, people can snowboard in the park.

And since Drew loves to snowboard, I'm assuming he was considering a move to Seattle when Brenda took this picture.

These two sure seem to laugh a lot when they're together.

Before I sign off, I thought I should mention that today marks a significant day in the lives of Chenda. We have been married for eight amazing years as of today. How is that possible, you ask? Well, Brenda's very patient. Honestly, I don't know how I got so lucky that she agreed to marry me eight years ago.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Ch-->FRA, enda-->SEA

Hello all! The Chad part of Chenda is on a plane going back to Germany, so it's a good time for me to take over blog duties this week! It's been a busy one, with families coming and going, and we've had a great time. Neither of us can believe how fast the time has gone by here in Seattle, and of course we're lamenting the fact that we didn't get to see nearly enough of the city or surrounding area, but such is life! Maybe we'll get a chance to come back some day! 

As you know from last week's post, my parents and twin came to the show last Wednesday, as well as my uncle and his wife and her daughter! I don't normally have so much family at one show, so it was pretty special! It had been many years since we'd all seen my uncle, and we had a great time catching up. He's especially interested in the law, so he and Chad had a lot to talk about! 

Drew snapped this picture of my parents and Chad talking to my uncle during one of the opera's two intermissions.

While grabbing lunch at one of the many markets, I finally had to tell my family about the baking business I have on the side. Okay, not entirely true, but due to the name, we had to buy the cookies! Not that Drew needed much convincing. They were delicious. Of course, with a name like that, how could they not be?

We spent the day after the show hanging out with my family, who were interested in exploring Discovery Park, which has over 500 acres of land. The rain held off, so we hiked one of the paths there and were treated to some really nice views, as well as a pair of pileated woodpeckers! We ended the day by eating at a delicious and completely vegetarian restaurant called Cafe Flora. Seattle has so many great restaurants, it's sometimes hard to decide where to go! The good thing is that it's pretty hard to go wrong!

Mom and me sharing a laugh.

The handsome fellas standing on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound.

Taking a rest during a particular long uphill trek! Have I mentioned Seattle is hilly?

After my family left on Friday, Chad and I met up with our friends Alek and Daniela (Alek is singing the role of Jupiter in our production of Semele) with the goal of buying maternity clothes for Daniela. For some odd reason, I have always loved looking at maternity clothes, so this was a very fun shopping excursion for me! Alek and Daniela are both fantastic singers and people, and we are very excited for them to welcome their baby into the world! 

Saturday night's performance was the live radio broadcast and I'm happy to report that it went smoothly! My old friend Olivia was in the audience with her boyfriend and aunt and uncle, so I was happy to have that to focus on! I got to hang out with Olivia these past few days, and we always have a lot of fun together. 

Olivia and I always take a bunch of silly pictures together, and this trip was no exception!

Now that Chad's on his way back to Germany, that means I have less than a week left in Seattle, which also means I have just over a week before rehearsals begin for my next opera! Thankfully, this is one I have performed before, but it's been 3 years, so I should take advantage of my free time tonight to do some studying! Have a great week!