Cheerio!

Hey All! With my parents being in town and Brenda opening her opera, these past two weeks have flown by. Most of the first week was spent showing my parents around Lewes and getting ready for (and going to) the opera. My parents and I went to both the final dress rehearsal and first performance of Rinaldo. As I mentioned in the last post, Brenda was fantastic in the opera and she looked great in her rubber costume. If you care to see some of the pictures from the production you can do so here (just click on the "images and audio" tab once you're on Glyndebourne's website).

One of Rinaldo's two intermissions is 85 minutes long. During that intermission audience members enjoy picnics on the lawn or eat at one of Glyndebourne's restaurants. My dad and I are not in formal attire in the picture above because we were at the dress rehearsal.

Due to the chilly weather, we decided to enjoy our picnic inside at the premiere.

Brenda was outstanding at the Rinaldo premiere. (I know I've told you that a couple of times already but it's my blog and I'll talk about how awesome my wife is if I want to). She sang beautifully, looked gorgeous, and commanded the stage as usual. She was greeted at the end of the performance with well-deserved, thunderous applause. You might be interested to know that one of those audience members applauding for Brenda was actor Alan Rickman. Brenda got very excited when she heard that Professor Snape saw her perform. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of Brenda with Alan, so we'll just have to hope that we bump into him again someday.

One day last week we took a trip to London. We saw many of the sights: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Kensington Palace, Big Ben, among others. I had never been to London before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a protest going on while we were there. It had something to do with The Man taking away people's retirement funds. In any event, there were cops everywhere and helicopters were flying over the city the whole day.

Brenda and I posing in front of Royal Albert Hall

While in London we took a trip to Royal Albert Hall; a concert hall Brenda will be singing in on August 25th as a part of the BBC Proms. To learn more about the performance click here.

On Wednesday, my parents and I went to Windsor Castle. According to the Windsor Castle website, Windsor Castle "is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world and the Official Residence of Her Majesty The Queen." We asked one of her staff (or should I say one of her subjects?) if the Queen was at Winsdor, and he informed us that she wasn't there at the moment, but she does come to the castle most weekends. According to the Wikipedia page, "more than five hundred people live and work in Windsor". And it's her weekend place. I should have been royalty.

The Windsor Castle Quadrangle

All-in-all it has been a great two weeks. In addition to going to the opera and kicking around England, we have made an effort to sample the local cuisine (with special emphasis on the ales and lagers). It has been great having my parents here and we will be sad to see them go. Luckily, our empty nest will be filled again when Brenda's parents arrive on Friday. At that point the opera and pub tour can begin anew.

The four of us enjoying a pint at a pub in Lewes.

I almost forgot, Ron and Marilyn, Brenda's aunt and uncle, visited us in Lewes on Thursday. We gave them the grand Lewes tour and did our best to keep them awake (they were still fighting a little jet-lag). We took a picture of all of us but I can't seem to find our camera at the moment. I'll post the picture on Tuesday. Until then, have a great weekend!

taking in the sights

Hey All! It's been a very busy week. You'll be happy to know that things have been going great. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to write a full blog entry tonight, but I have posted a few pictures that hint at what we've been up to. I'll write a longer post later this week (hopefully tomorrow).

Brenda trying to enter the Ministry of Magic

(Big Ben is in the background)

Dad, Mom, Brenda, and the Seven Sisters

Brenda and I after her opera (she was truly magnificent)

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

word, nerd

Hey All! Things in Lewes are hopping. My parents arrived on Friday and we've been having a great time showing them around. Actually, I've been trying to wear them out. Yesterday I made them walk with me to Glyndebourne. I figured 3 heads were better than 1 when it came to finding the elusive opera theater in the downs. I'm happy to report that we found Glyndeboure (third time's a charm). The real reason we made the 3.5 mile trek was so I could see Brenda's second-to-last Rinaldo rehearsal. I think it is a really good production (Brenda is amazing, of course) and I look forward to seeing it again tomorrow at the final dress rehearsal.

My parents and I standing by the beach in Brighton

A British favorite: fish and chips

Not fish and chips

Another bit of excitement came with my parent's arrival in England: I now have glasses. I ordered a pair on the interwebs and my parents were kind enough to smuggle them into the country for me. This is my first pair of glasses ever.

Chad the Four Eyes

The coming week should be exciting. Brenda's opera opens on Saturday. Also, there should be some traveling happing to various areas of England. Whatever happens, I'll tell you about it next Tuesday. Until then, have a great week!

Does that sheep come with GPS?

Hey All! Things have been moving right along here in Lewes. Brenda's opera opens in less than two weeks. All of Brenda's rehearsals thus far have taken place at Glyndebourne, so the orchestra rehearsal tomorrow will be out of the ordinary - it is happening in London. And in case you're curious, the orchestra playing for Brenda's opera is the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

You might recall from last week's post that Brenda and I tried (unsuccessfully) to walk to Glyndebourne. Late last week I decided to try again. When I came to the fork in the road that led Brenda and me astray, I took the other path. It should have taken me an hour to get to Glyndebourne but, after 90 minutes of wandering around the English countryside, I decided to give up and go home. The trip wasn't a total loss, though. I remembered our camera (for once) and took a few shots along the way.

The yellow arrows were my guides.

My guides were terrible.

It took me forever to position these sheep.

My parents will be arriving in England later this week. We're looking forward to having them here and showing them around Lewes. Come to think of it, they've been to England before so they'll probably be able to show us around. Either way, I'll tell you all about it next Tuesday. Until then, have a great week!

uh oh, I forgot my rabbit foot

Hey All! It's another sunny Tuesday in Lewes. Over the past few days, however, we've had some rain which was very well received by the locals. According to one article I read, this is the driest spring England has seen in a century. I guess we can give up the occasional sunny day to allow the crops to be watered.

A few posts ago, I mentioned Brenda and I had found a walking path that leads to Glyndebourne. We had not, however, taken said path to Glyndebourne, so we decided today was the day. Brenda and I were out the door over an hour before her rehearsal was supposed to begin. That should have given us plenty of time to pick up a cup of coffee and walk Brenda to work. Shortly after procuring our coffees, Brenda and I were navigating the busy sidewalks of Lewes and we had to walk beneath a ladder that was leaning against a building. Brenda commented on that being bad luck, and I responded that I thought it was only the folding ladders you weren't supposed to walk under. You can probably see where this is going.

Brenda and I were walking along the path to Glyndebourne when we came to a fork in the road. If we went straight, we had to walk across a golf course driving range about 200 yards away from where people were practicing their swings. If we went left, we reduced our risk of death-by-golfball. We went left. 20 minutes later we were standing at the top of one of the beautiful downs around Lewes. We had a breathtaking view of the city. Of course, we were out of breath because we were frantically running around looking for the path; the path we were on had just ended.

Another 20 minutes later, we were back in Lewes and Brenda was in a cab on her way to rehearsal. The moral of the story: don't walk under any kind of ladder. Or, if you come to a fork in the road, take the path with the greatest risk of head injury by flying projectiles.

I took a few snapshots while I was wandering around Lewes the other day. The building pictured below is the Anne of Cleves House. Anne of Cleves, aka the King's Beloved Sister, was one of the wives of King Henry VIII. After their brief marriage was annulled, Anne received a rather substantial settlement that included the house below. If you care to read more about Anne of Cleves, you can do so here.

This is a tower I saw. I know nothing about it. It looks old.

My pasta is almost finished cooking so I had better stop this here. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

a performance and a picnic

Hey All! It's me again. You'll be happy to know I've fully recovered from last night's opera and can now write the blog entry without risk of injury. Our trip to the opera yesterday was my first time seeing the Glyndebourne estate. It is a charming place and the inside of the 1200-seat theater is beautiful. During the long intermissions at Glyndebourne, the guests move onto the lawn outside of theater and enjoy picnics. Often there are sheep grazing nearby. It really is a unique operatic experience. I would like to post a couple of pictures but we forgot the camera. Don't worry, I'll go back again to see Brenda's opera and will take plenty of pictures then. There's a good Wikipedia page about Glyndebourne if you're interested in learning more.

Since Brenda has had regular rehearsals, we haven't had a chance to explore many of the cities surrounding Lewes. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing London. Once Brenda's show opens, we'll have plenty of time to take trips to different parts of the UK in between Brenda's performances.

At this point, Brenda and her colleagues have staged all of Rinaldo. The first performance, however, is still 3 1/2 weeks away, so there is plenty of time for re-staging and polishing. It is nice to not be rushed when doing a new production and a new role.

It looks like this week and weekend will include more of the same for us. We will have to find time to go to Brighton one of these days so I can get a tuxedo for Brenda's opera. And while we're at it we should rent a sports car and get a martini shaker so I can complete my James Bond look. Until next time, have a great week!

the elixir of love

Hey All! This is going to be short and sweet. Brenda and I just got back from seeing The Elixir of Love at Glyndebourne. It was the final dress rehearsal and Brenda got tickets. Go Brenda! The opera wore me out, however, so the blog entry you deserve will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then, have a great night!

And one last thing, the elixir of love is actually just wine. Sorry for the spoiler.