When I woke bright and early, a bunch of my friends asked if I wanted to see the instrument museum before our group lunch. Since there were so many places to see in our one short week, I jumped at the opportunity and we marched over to the museum. Unfortunately, we only had around half an hour to look at the exhibit, but the museum was absolutely amazing. Pianos and stringed instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries were on display, ornamented and colored with delicacy and beauty. There were violins made specifically for practicing (tiny sound-box) and stringed instruments built into walking canes! Not being much of a brass player, I couldn't fully appreciate the brass instruments there, but could definitely see the alterations in design as time progressed.
We moved on to the Radisson- a very classy hotel with a giant aquarium in the middle through which passed the elevator, but which we sadly missed the opportunity to ride. The meal was classy as well - the 3-course lunch included steak and a wonderful dessert which I could definitely have eaten about 40 more of.
After that, it was off to the concert! Everyone played well, and the church we played in was beautiful. The windows appeared cracked in several different places, and after talking to some of the locals, I found out that the church had been there during the war, and after reconstruction, it remains part of the history.
After the concert, we went to a ritzy restaurant for another 3-course meal. It was delicious and everyone had a great time. One of the members in the orchestra toasted Chris Kim, who then made a touching mini-speech about how much he loved the orchestra and the tour.
When we got back to the hostel, a group of us promptly returned to the city in full concert dress to visit the more high-end of the nightlife -the casino. More than one of my friends made substantial money (in the hundreds of dollars), while it was fun for the rest of us to just watch our friends play. That was definitely an experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment