Greece. was. awesome.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
France & Italy (one month late....)
Right, so how did this happen? One day on tour, Kristen and I were discussing our plans for when tour ended in Germany. I told her I'd always wanted to go to Italy. She said she had too! We figured we had a good opportunity because who knows the next time you will be in Europe, with an income, time, and willing friends? And so it was! We later recruited the third and last American, Nicole to come along with us, as well as Gillian, our Irish belle.
We spent 3 days in Paris and nearly two weeks on a tour of Italy. We street preformed along the way to defer costs. We met some fabulous people and stayed in some really fun hostels! The trip was definitley on the cheap! Hostels averaged about 17 euro a night each. Unfortunately, Nicole's camera, the only legitimate video camera we had broke our second day in Italy, so the montage is lacking a good portion of our trip. :(
As far as future tours, I head to Dublin on the 13th of May, a couple days before rehearsals begin, to kick it in Waterford with Gillian. We then have about two weeks in Athens, Greece. Unfortunately, our summer season in Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Caledonia, Azores Islands, and Spain got canceled due to the lovely economy. It's the first time in 10 years the show has not had a summer season. :( On the bright side , I guess, there is a full tour lined up for next year, starting in September (which includes a month-long American tour that stops in SAN FRANCISCO). Alas, I will be in school. :( :( :( :) ?
Friday, March 6, 2009
Is it bad that I forgot I had a blog?
Yeah, about that. I'm so neglectful!! My only excuse is that the adventures just keep getting crazier!
So, after Switzerland, we headed back to Germany. Our first two nights in Germany, we lucked out and stayed in resort apartments on this massive frozen over lake, because our other hotel was overbooked. Best place we have stayed yet. (Well, maybe a tie with the golf course in Denmark...can't decide). Anyhow, we even had a day off there so we had tons of time to explore and play in the snow! We went sledding both nights in the national park right next door. We attempted to star gaze on the lake and made snow angels too. The best part about the apartments was that we had full kitchens!! One night we were there was Gillian's birthday so Nicola and I made her and the cast dinner as well as a cake! I missed cooking and baking so much!
Our makeshift freezer. We had a freezer, but this was just way cooler.
Sitting on the lake. It spells ROTD! Quite a contrast to the beach in China.
Nicola and I on the lake. There were people skating too!
Natalie, my roomate is building up a profile for hair and make-up school right now. So, she does awesome hair do's and makeup like this on all the girls.
She did a bow with my hair. I wish I had photos of her other work.
We had to do pictures the last day in Munich for the new posters. This is Natalie and I waiting backstage. Because of this, I couldn't meet up with Kenneth who came to see the show until two hours later at the Hard Rock. By the time I got there, he had to go. :(
The boys posing for photos.
The last day of tour, Barry got me Mister Duck Man in the airport. He keeps giving me stuffed animals because he feels bad for losing George, the stuffed elephant I got him, in China. I also have Potato, the panda bear from China as well as Jerry, an stuffed Olympic mascot from Beijing.
Anyhow, my next post will entail the adventures of Laura, Kirsten, Nicole, and Gillian in France and Italy. :o)
So, for now, I'm home!
So, after Switzerland, we headed back to Germany. Our first two nights in Germany, we lucked out and stayed in resort apartments on this massive frozen over lake, because our other hotel was overbooked. Best place we have stayed yet. (Well, maybe a tie with the golf course in Denmark...can't decide). Anyhow, we even had a day off there so we had tons of time to explore and play in the snow! We went sledding both nights in the national park right next door. We attempted to star gaze on the lake and made snow angels too. The best part about the apartments was that we had full kitchens!! One night we were there was Gillian's birthday so Nicola and I made her and the cast dinner as well as a cake! I missed cooking and baking so much!
Our makeshift freezer. We had a freezer, but this was just way cooler.
Sitting on the lake. It spells ROTD! Quite a contrast to the beach in China.
Nicola and I on the lake. There were people skating too!
Natalie, my roomate is building up a profile for hair and make-up school right now. So, she does awesome hair do's and makeup like this on all the girls.
She did a bow with my hair. I wish I had photos of her other work.
We had to do pictures the last day in Munich for the new posters. This is Natalie and I waiting backstage. Because of this, I couldn't meet up with Kenneth who came to see the show until two hours later at the Hard Rock. By the time I got there, he had to go. :(
The boys posing for photos.
The last day of tour, Barry got me Mister Duck Man in the airport. He keeps giving me stuffed animals because he feels bad for losing George, the stuffed elephant I got him, in China. I also have Potato, the panda bear from China as well as Jerry, an stuffed Olympic mascot from Beijing.
Anyhow, my next post will entail the adventures of Laura, Kirsten, Nicole, and Gillian in France and Italy. :o)
So, for now, I'm home!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
To prove that it actually happened
Raphael, my first ever fan, came to see the show in Bern! After the show, he took us to his house and back to Zurich to meet the cast. The next day, our day off, he took us around Zurich in his car and showed us the sights, as well as translating for us. Thanks so much Raph!! This picture is in Zurich.ps. For those of you who don't know, Raph was an exhange student last year at Harker, and lives in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Germany
So, we've been in Germany for about a week now, and I am quite enjoying it! It's not as exciting nor as foreign as China, but it certainly has it charms. For one thing though, the show is way harder on this tour then on the last one because we are down five dancers thus eliminating most rotations, and there are two new dances! We moan about it a lot, but I guess it's not all that bad. My shin splints tell me otherwise though.
One of the highlights so far has been Kirsten's birthday bash. All the towns so far, bar Hamburg, have been rather small with not much to do, so we all got really excited at the prospect at going out. So a week before hand, Kirsten announced the theme on the bus. It was a party where you had to dress up as something that started with a K or S (for her initials). Everybody put a lot of effort and thought into their costumes, which is admirable considering the limited clothes we have on tour.
Oli as a Sheep!
Kirsten the birthday girl as a Scuba diver, and myself as a Southern belle.
Barry being absolutely disgusting as "Supersize Me" or my Southern beau. He acted his part the whole entire night. It was hilarious and disturbing to say the least.
Morgan as Ken, Michael as a Sheriff, and Kelly as a Sunflower!
Lauren and Dave as sailors.
So yeah, that was great craic.
Anyhow, today, we had our first day off. We are in this tiny town called Hirschaid, about a 40 minute train ride outside of Nurenberg, the coolest city evar! So after going to bed at 4 am last night, we rose early to go into town. (cause wer'e crazy!). We took the train into town and headed straight for the Nuremberg Rallies, or as Gillian calls it, Nazi World. It's on the outskirts of the town and was where all the Nazi rallies and annual conventions were held. The complex is absolute giant! 11 square km I believe. We spent about three hours there, mostly in the old Congress that had all the great historical information. It was so interesting hearing the story from the heart of where everything happened.
We were rather surprised by the state of the place. It was not really well kept at all. All the grandstands were overgrown and there was junk lying around everywhere. Now they use this field as a huge soccer pitch. Well, lots of soccer pitches. We stood right where Hitler is in that picture. Pretty surreal.
Back in the town, we walked through the medieval section enclosed by the walls. I was excited to see Albrecht Durer's house right across the street from the castle. He was probably the artist of the Northern Renaissance. If only I had got to see his artwork! Next time I s'pose?
Also in the old town, my personal favorite, was this beast of a High Gothic cathedral, St. Lawrence. I nearly cried when I walked inside, it was such a defining moment in my life. Wow, that sounds so cheesy. But, ever since AP art history last year, I've been dying to see a High Gothic cathedral in the flesh. Yeah, and what's better, is this wasn't the only one. But, it was definitely my favorite.
Afterwards, we made a trip out to the Nuremberg Courts, which was incredible too. It's where they tried the war criminals in a sort of international trial and a bunch of them got executed.
While we were running around like mad seeing the city, we missed the presidential innaguration, which I'm pretty sad about. I would have loved to seen that. Ironically, everybody else, like all the Irish kids were sitting back at the hotel watching it, and here we are, the crazy Americans missing it!
Anyhow, 1 30 am now, and I swore I would be in bed by 10 pm. (Which I was by the way, just couldn't sleep!
Peace.
One of the highlights so far has been Kirsten's birthday bash. All the towns so far, bar Hamburg, have been rather small with not much to do, so we all got really excited at the prospect at going out. So a week before hand, Kirsten announced the theme on the bus. It was a party where you had to dress up as something that started with a K or S (for her initials). Everybody put a lot of effort and thought into their costumes, which is admirable considering the limited clothes we have on tour.
Oli as a Sheep!
Kirsten the birthday girl as a Scuba diver, and myself as a Southern belle.
Barry being absolutely disgusting as "Supersize Me" or my Southern beau. He acted his part the whole entire night. It was hilarious and disturbing to say the least.
Morgan as Ken, Michael as a Sheriff, and Kelly as a Sunflower!
Lauren and Dave as sailors.So yeah, that was great craic.
Anyhow, today, we had our first day off. We are in this tiny town called Hirschaid, about a 40 minute train ride outside of Nurenberg, the coolest city evar! So after going to bed at 4 am last night, we rose early to go into town. (cause wer'e crazy!). We took the train into town and headed straight for the Nuremberg Rallies, or as Gillian calls it, Nazi World. It's on the outskirts of the town and was where all the Nazi rallies and annual conventions were held. The complex is absolute giant! 11 square km I believe. We spent about three hours there, mostly in the old Congress that had all the great historical information. It was so interesting hearing the story from the heart of where everything happened.
We were rather surprised by the state of the place. It was not really well kept at all. All the grandstands were overgrown and there was junk lying around everywhere. Now they use this field as a huge soccer pitch. Well, lots of soccer pitches. We stood right where Hitler is in that picture. Pretty surreal.
Back in the town, we walked through the medieval section enclosed by the walls. I was excited to see Albrecht Durer's house right across the street from the castle. He was probably the artist of the Northern Renaissance. If only I had got to see his artwork! Next time I s'pose?
Also in the old town, my personal favorite, was this beast of a High Gothic cathedral, St. Lawrence. I nearly cried when I walked inside, it was such a defining moment in my life. Wow, that sounds so cheesy. But, ever since AP art history last year, I've been dying to see a High Gothic cathedral in the flesh. Yeah, and what's better, is this wasn't the only one. But, it was definitely my favorite.
Afterwards, we made a trip out to the Nuremberg Courts, which was incredible too. It's where they tried the war criminals in a sort of international trial and a bunch of them got executed.
While we were running around like mad seeing the city, we missed the presidential innaguration, which I'm pretty sad about. I would have loved to seen that. Ironically, everybody else, like all the Irish kids were sitting back at the hotel watching it, and here we are, the crazy Americans missing it!
Anyhow, 1 30 am now, and I swore I would be in bed by 10 pm. (Which I was by the way, just couldn't sleep!
Peace.
Friday, January 9, 2009
More China
The Great Hall of the People --Beijing. 10,000 people! probably my favorite part of the tour.
Da Great Wall. There's a Starbucks about a 5 minute walk from the wall. it's rather sad.
Gillian and I waiting at the airport. We traveled mostly by plane.
Imperial palace in Shenyang.
our christmas present from the promoter was these sweet sweet hats!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
China
So, my three and a half weeks in China have come to an end. Yesterday, we flew from Shanghai to Paris, spent the night in Paris and then landed in Dublin, where we drove to Waterford. I'm spending our 4 day break here at Gillian's house with Jack and Kirsten as well. Today we are going to go see sheep and horses! Can't wait!
Anyhow, here are some pictures from China.
We spent Christmas in Urumqi. It was definitely the most unique Christmas ever. On Christmas eve, we had our show at 9pm, (usually it's 7 or 8pm). Then after that, we heard our promoter was throwing a part for us, with singing and dancing. So, naturally, we were very excited. Unfortunately, what he had in mind was different -- we were to preform at some corporate Christmas party, and there was in fact no festivities planned for us. So at around midnight Christmas Eve, things weren't looking up. However, after a couple of us dancing at the party and getting paid extra (a nice Christmas bonus!) we had our own party on the top floor of the hotel that looked over the city. We didn't sit down to dinner until about 3 am! We exchanged our secret santa gifts and listened to Christmas music. I had Dean for secret santa, the tenor from Clare, so I got him a Hollister tshirt and other little bits and bobs. It was quite funny seeing this guy, who couldn't be any more Irish if he tried, with Laguna Beach emblazoned across his chest. Anyhow, this picture is Gillian and I with Jack in a full kilt!! It's pretty amazing he pulled this off considering our 20 kg luggage weight limit. He surprised us all! It was amazing.
This picture says a lot about our show in Hangzhou. This was at about 1 am after filming the DVD. It was probably the worst show and day on tour.We got there super early to maybe film a few numbers before the show, which we didn't get to do. During the show, the microphones for the tenors did not even work! It was a hot hot mess. Hopefully the DVD will turn out okay. We stayed after to film some more, and we didn't get to fix all the things we needed to. All in all, we're quite glad it's over.
Much to our surprise, Christmas is actually kind of a big deal in China, at leas commercially it is. So we saw tons of Asian santas and it was fun!
The Shanghai skyline. We spent nearly a week in Shanghai. It was probably my favorite city. Well, besides the tropical island. I have lots of fabulous stories from Shanghai to tell you!
More later!
Love,
Laura
Anyhow, here are some pictures from China.
We spent Christmas in Urumqi. It was definitely the most unique Christmas ever. On Christmas eve, we had our show at 9pm, (usually it's 7 or 8pm). Then after that, we heard our promoter was throwing a part for us, with singing and dancing. So, naturally, we were very excited. Unfortunately, what he had in mind was different -- we were to preform at some corporate Christmas party, and there was in fact no festivities planned for us. So at around midnight Christmas Eve, things weren't looking up. However, after a couple of us dancing at the party and getting paid extra (a nice Christmas bonus!) we had our own party on the top floor of the hotel that looked over the city. We didn't sit down to dinner until about 3 am! We exchanged our secret santa gifts and listened to Christmas music. I had Dean for secret santa, the tenor from Clare, so I got him a Hollister tshirt and other little bits and bobs. It was quite funny seeing this guy, who couldn't be any more Irish if he tried, with Laguna Beach emblazoned across his chest. Anyhow, this picture is Gillian and I with Jack in a full kilt!! It's pretty amazing he pulled this off considering our 20 kg luggage weight limit. He surprised us all! It was amazing.
This picture says a lot about our show in Hangzhou. This was at about 1 am after filming the DVD. It was probably the worst show and day on tour.We got there super early to maybe film a few numbers before the show, which we didn't get to do. During the show, the microphones for the tenors did not even work! It was a hot hot mess. Hopefully the DVD will turn out okay. We stayed after to film some more, and we didn't get to fix all the things we needed to. All in all, we're quite glad it's over.
Much to our surprise, Christmas is actually kind of a big deal in China, at leas commercially it is. So we saw tons of Asian santas and it was fun! 
The Shanghai skyline. We spent nearly a week in Shanghai. It was probably my favorite city. Well, besides the tropical island. I have lots of fabulous stories from Shanghai to tell you!
More later!
Love,
Laura
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