Goodbye for Now

This past month in Europe has been one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. Not only did I see my first opera, I also saw my first ballet (besides the Nutcracker), and I fell in love with the beauty of it all. Onegin was the first performance we saw, and it was one of my favorites. The dancers were so elegant, and the level of musicianship we saw and heard was at an entirely new level compared to anything I’ve experienced before. Leonce and Lena was very different and quirky, but I loved the performance all the same. I loved the ballet so much that when we had a free night, I looked up to see if there were any performances that night (there weren’t any).

Not only was the music beautiful, so were the cities. The architecture and history surrounding the places we went to was absolutely stunning, especially in Prague. However, I don’t think any city had a bigger impact on me than Salzburg. I know I talked about it in one of my earlier blog posts, but being in Salzburg was so important to me. On the plane ride home, I watched The Sound of Music, and I was able to point out everywhere we had been. When Maria is singing “I Have Confidence,” Julie Andrews passes a point in the Abbey that was almost exactly where I stood. To be able to say that I have walked where Julie Andrews has been means more to me than I can describe. I grew up watching The Sound of Music and I remember thinking about how I wanted to go to Salzburg, and this January I was able to go.

There are so many memories and moments from this trip that I know I will have for a long time. When we saw Otello and the basses hit the low note that made everyone sit on the edge of their seat, or when the principal bassoonist for Onegin played so beautifully it took my breath away, these were moments that I know will be once in a lifetime. Seeing the entirety of Le Nozze di Figaro at once, for example, is something that I will likely never see again. Sitting behind the Berlin Philharmonic for a concert that was so incredible it left me speechless for several minutes afterword is something I want to experience again, but I don’t know when that will be. There was so much that we did, and still so much more that I want to go back and see that I know I will eventually return.

It is hard to believe that we were gone for almost a month. For the last week and a half that we were there, all of the days kind of blurred together. So much happened in such a short amount of time that it’s hard to keep one day’s events from getting mixed up with other days. If I’m counting correctly, we saw 16 performances in a little less than a month. It was a lot to keep up with, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I know towards the end, all of us were ready to go home. However, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I learned so much about music and culture than I thought I would ever know, and I am forever grateful for this experience. I know that one day I will go back, but until then, Auf Wiedersehen.

(All of the photos on this post are some of my favorites from the entire trip)