Nightwish in Antwerp

November 20, 2022

A message came in late last night indicating that KLM's 6:00 a.m. flight to Amsterdam was delayed until 8:00. Good; two more hours of sleep. The flight actually left closer to 9:00 (1), with arrival in Amsterdam about 11:00. Luckily, there are hourly through trains to Antwerp on the :43. Our train tickets were valid for any train today, but none were shown on the departure board. The helpful man at the ticket counter told us (in English) that they were all cancelled today due to rail construction. He printed out an alternate 3-connection route, which he explained to us in Dutch. 

Arriving in the border town of Roosendal after changing trains in Rotterdam, we discovered that the Belgian train from here to Antwerp was cancelled (2). An hour later, a train with a big "B" on the side pulled in. I mustered my best Dutch accent to ask the conductor "Antwerp, ja?" He replied in perfect English: "Yes, sir. This is the train to Antwerp." The train proceeded through the rain to the beautiful art-deco railway station in Antwerp. A short stroll past many diamond shops brought us to the hotel (3).

While my daughter caught up on jet lag, I had coffee with a friend who had come up from Paris to join us at the Nightwish concert. In the tri-level train station, my friend pointed to an old train on the upper track level, which she thought must be a railway museum. No, that was the train from Roosendal.

After dinner at an Argentine steak house, we took the metro to the concert venue (4). During the concert, I said to my daughter that Floor Jansen, Nightwish's lead singer, never sounded so good; "first show of the tour," my daughter replied. Floor seemed to enjoy speaking to the audience in her native Dutch (5).

At the train station the next morning, a railway official approached my daughter. Was there something wrong? (We had valid tickets.) He was simply admiring her denim vest with patches from a wide variety of metal bands. "You should come back for the Grasspop musical festival next summer" he said.

(1) Last night's flight to Leeds has been diverted to Newcastle due to heavy fog in Leeds. The morning flight crew therefore had to get from Leeds to Newcastle overland and then fly the empty plane back to Leeds to pick up the passengers.

(2) My daughter quipped that the delays and cancellations made her feel at home; she lives in New York and travels daily on the subway.

(3) A large percentage of the world's diamonds are cut and/or otherwise processed in Antwerp.

(4) As with concerts in Brussels, the concert tickets in Antwerp includes a free ride on the city's public transit.  

(5) Antwerp is in the Dutch-speaking (Flemish) region of Belgium. The other region (Wollonia) is French-speaking. The band's flute and pipe player (Troy) said that, while he spoke some French, he would use English here in Antwerp, to which the crowd cheered.

The delayed Dutch flight

The delayed Belgian train

Antwerp Railway Station

Nightwish (photo by my daughter)

Within Temptation in Leeds

November 19, 2022

Leeds is a former mill town a few hour train ride north of London. Having lunch in a pub, we (1) asked the parka-clad server (2) what there was to do in Leeds on a cold rainy day. "Nothing, maybe go shopping? We have a covered market in the city center." We opted for the Thackary Museum of Medicine. 

The main exhibits at the museum present the working and living conditions in Leeds in the mid-1850s, the town's mill heyday. The virtual guide is Lizzy, representing a real 11 year-old mill worker who, despite her 5 years of work experience, got her leg caught in one of the looms. When the injury became infected, her leg was amputated (3). Unfortunately, the Infection had already spread and Lizzy did not survive (4) (5).

We then walked over to the concert arena for the Worlds Collide tour, headlined by two female-fronted bands: Within Temptation and Evanesence, with Rividia, another female-led band, as the opening act. We stood a few yards from the edge of stage right (6). The show was awesome.

After a walk back, we encountered a woman in the hotel lobby who had driven 7 hours from Plymouth for the concert. She told us she had a seat in the balcony and had been scolded by those nearby for her exuberance during the show. She soon began to spout conspiracy theory about the US elections and Mexican immigrants, so we wandered off.

(1) My daughter had flown directly to Leeds.

(2) The heat was not functioning in the pub. Hence, the parka.

(3) Before anesthetics, the surgeon needed to be quick about the amputation. Before antiseptics, you wanted a surgeon with more blood on his white coat, they had more experience

(4) The museum is mainly set up for school kids. The curators must have confidence in the resilience of English youth to handle the bad news.

(5) Three important innovations since the mid-1850s make me glad to live today: antiseptics, anesthesia, and antibiotics.

(5) Between the bands, the security guards (a) passed out cups of water to the crowd (b); very civilized.

(a) One of whom was about 5'2" and looked to weigh about 125 lbs. I guess the UK fans are better behaved than those in the US, judging by the burly security folks at most US venues. 

(b) They understood that fans don't want to leave a good standing spot between bands.

The train to Leeds

Victorian-era medical instruments

Within Temptation

The musical Six in London

November 18, 2023

Tickets for the Musical Six, about King Henry 8th's six wives (1), start at $240 in New York. In London's West End, seats are available for about $35. There was 1 male (me) in the last row of the balcony, a ratio which seemed consistent with the average in the theatre. While the show was very entertaining, the run time of 1 hour and 15 minutes made me glad I did not pay Broadway prices. 

(1) Their fates are summarized in the opening song: divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.

Covent Garden decked out for Christmas on the walk back to the hotel.

Mahler's 8th Symphony in London

October 22 to 23, 2022

A cheap flight brought me to Stansted, one of London's 5 airports, which was followed by a train and bike ride across the city. Les Misérables closed in NYC years ago, but was still playing in London. Even after 38 years, the musical still sounded fresh.

The plan on Sunday morning was to kayak with the tide up the Thames from Greenwich to Battersea. Heavy rain and thunderstorm warnings cancelled the paddle, so the Sherlock Holmes Museum beckoned (1). The guide told stories in the study, where Holmes met his clients, with his back to the window so the client's face was illuminated by the incoming light. A picture of Irene Adler from A Scandal in Bohemia, who outwitted Holmes, was on the fireplace mantle.

The Sunday afternoon performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony took place at Royal Albert Hall. The 8th is known as the "Symphony of a Thousand" for the number of performers required. While I did not count, this is probably an exaggeration, although the piece requires a large orchestra, an off-stage brass section, 8 soloists, two full adult choirs, and a boys choir. While I have heard the piece on recordings many times (2), I did not appreciate how the two choruses responded and interacted to each other until I saw and heard them in different ears.

(1) At 221B Baker St., of course. 

(2) I even have the full musical score.

At Les Miz in the West End

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

Wax figure of Professor Moriarty

In Hyde Park

Albert Memorial

Royal Albert Hall

The musical forces marshalled for Mahler's 8th

Killiney Hill, County Dublin

October 21, 2022

Arrived at Dublin this morning to a wind-driven rain storm. Plan A was a kayak trip at Dalkey to see the seals in Dublin Bay.  Easterly winds at 25 knots had kicked up the surf on the Irish Sea, so the kayak trip was cancelled. 

A walk along the sea wall with a crashing sea might be fun, so I set off southbound from Dun Laoghaire after the short train ride from Dublin on the DART (1). The sky brightened and the rain stopped on the walk through the posh (2) sea-side suburbs south of Dublin.

After a few miles (and a few glimpses of blue sky), Killiney Hill beckoned. Rising steeply 500 feet above the Sea, the hill is surrounded by a public park with trails leading to the summit (3). The park seems popular with people out walking their dogs. The sun appeared through the scudding clouds as I neared the summit, offering fine views over the Irish Sea glistening below in the sporadic sunshine.

Dalkey Hill was visible to the North and was accessible via rougher paths. After summtting Dalkey Hill, I descended to the town along puddled paths through an old quarry, passing a dog walker who commented on the favorable turn of weather. About a 7 mile walk/hike, fortuitously during the driest part of the day. 

The rain began again as I reached Dalkey town, where a short DART ride returned me to Dun Laoghaire. My hotel for the night previously hosted Queen Victoria and Charlie Chaplin. A powerful lighthouse was visible out to sea, presumably the Dublin landfall light with a pattern of two flashes every twelves seconds. 

(1) Dublin Area Rapid Transit, somewhere between a subway/metro system and a commuter rail.

(2) Originally meaning "port out, starboard home" for the better side of the ship on a trip from England to India.

(3) Unlike hiking in the mountains, the park is laid out more like Park Mount Royal in Montréal (a), with well-groomed trails designed to encourage urban dwellers to enjoy the outdoors. 

(a) The park in Montréal was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, creator of the field of landscape architecture, who also laid out Central Park in NYC.

No paddling today

Muglins Lighthouse

Dalkey Island

Approaching Killiney Hill Summit

View to Dalkey Island

View south from Killiney Hill

View back to Killiney from Dalkeu Hill

Descending through Quarry

DART train

Stopover in Copenhagen

August 30, 2022

Our flight home had a 23 hour layover in Copenhagen. The highest point in all of Denmark is only 561 feet above sea level, so hiking was not really an option.

Having a late lunch outdoors, we heard trumpet heralds and looked down the street to see horses on parade. According to our waiter, the queen was returning from sailing today (1). My wife disappeared down the street to see the show, while I stayed at the table, not wanting to dine and dash.

The sunset kayak tour was more organized (and less dangerous) than our paddle through the busy and narrow canals of Venice. Copenhagen harbor and the adjoining canals are larger and quieter that Venice. Our guide, Ida, pointed out various buildings, many in the modern Danish style with lots of glass and wood (2). On the paddle with us was a doctor from the Netherlands studying juvenile epililepsy in pursuit of a PhD (in addition to her MD).

(1) He actually said "sailing and smoking." He mimed a long drag in a cigarette. During her  New Years address on "the telly," she used to smoke as she addressed the nation.

(2) "Do you see that?" She asked, pointing to a modern bridge.

"Not really, I lost my glasses the other day." I said.

"We already ask whether guests are 18 and can swim. Maybe we should add a question about whether they can see!" the guide replied.

Royal procession and parade

In Copenhagen

Copenhagen Harbor.

Kayaking in Venice

August 29, 2022

Venice was founded (so the story goes) when the Roman Empire fell to Germanic invaders in the 400s. The population on the mainland at the head of the Adriatic retreated to the islands in the Venitian lagoon. Apparently, the Germanic tribes were rubbish with boats, so the remnants of the Roman population were safe on the islands that became the city of Venice.

A short train ride from Verona, the canals (and our return plane flight) beckoned. A kayak "tour" (1) wended through the busy canals at dusk. The window at the hostel overlooked the lagoon, and we fell asleep to the sound of the vaporetti's diesel engines while watching Jupiter rise over the water and islands.

(1) While we did have a guide, he said nothing about the history or culture of Venice. Instead, he just led us around the canals without commentary.

View of the lagoon from our window at the hostel

Canal where the kayak tour started

Dusk

Aida at Roman Arena di Verona

August 28, 2022

The local Swiss train took us to the border at Chiasso. I tried to buy a coffee at a machine, which would neither dispense coffee nor return my money. An Italian woman stopped by and hit and kicked the machine on our behalf, all to no avail. A late arrival from Chiasso necessitated a dash through Milano Centrale station (that might quailfy us for the Olympics) to catch the next train to Verona.

Verona is home to a Roman Arena (circa 100 C.E.) that hosts an opera festival each summer. While dining by the Arena, we spied a group of women in stylized Egyptian dress walking through the square, presumably after a rehearsal. They wore backpacks and were noodling with their phones. We strolled over the two Roman bridges in town spanning the Adige river, which was flowing fast and muddy around town, suggesting recent rains upriver (1). 

Romeo and Juliet was set in Verona. A house in the center of town is touted as the location of the balcony scene in Shakespeare's play. The courtyard also contains a bronze statue of Juliet. A 30ish German couple approached us: "Did anything actually happen here?" "I doubt it, the story is fictional" I replied (2). The guy seemed to think it was a clever move of the homeowner to claim his home was the site mentioned in the play and to charge admission to go inside (3).

Back in the main plaza, we wandered around to the east side of the arena to discover we were basically backstage amid disassembled sets for other operas. While holding 30,000 spectators in Roman times, half the arena is now the opera stage, so current capacity is about 15,000. 

When the performance of Aida began at 8:45, our attention alternated between the action on stage and the light show to the north as frequent vivid lightning flashed among the clouds (4) (5). Thankfully, the storm stayed to the north. The opera was quite a spectacle, with enormous sets, and vibrant costumes. The singers projected their voices (with no microphones) all the way up to our ears at the top of the arena, a tribute both to their voices and to the Roman's knowledge of acoustics in designing the arena. The performance ended at midnight.

(1) Coincidentally, the headwaters of the Adige are at the interesecting point of Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, where we had planned to hike yesterday, but.went elsewhere due to the expected rain storms.

(2) Although an acquaintance of mine renewed her marriage vows on the balcony in June.

(3) There is even a supposed tomb of Juliet in town.

(4) We scored seats in the back row at the top of the arena, so we had a fine view of the lightning.

(5) There is a protocol to postpone the performance up to 2 1/2 hours in case of rain.

Verona City gate

Roman-era bridge

Roman road below current grade

In the town

"Juliet's balcony"

Statue of Juliet. 

Apparently, It's a thing to take a selfie touching her breast, hence the shine on that part of the statue

"Backstage" at the opera

The arena

The spectacle of Aida

On the walk back to the hotel