Day 11 (Going Home)

Well, we knew this day would come...but it always takes one by surprise. Yesterday morning, most of us boarded our Spanish buses one final time to head to the Madrid airport. About 15 choir members are staying in Europe, with one group headed to Paris and another to London. Our flight to Chicago left almost on time and arrived just after 2 pm--about 9 hours all together. After we landed, cleared customs and gathered our luggage, we were so happy to see Bill and our Hawkeye Stages bus, ready to bring us home. Though many of us wish we had a bit more time in Spain, it is wonderful to be back home.

Thanks to all of you who left comments and communicated with me personally or through your friends/children. As I've shared with many of you, keeping this blog was a true joy for me. Ordinarily, I'd keep a travel journal to help me remember everything I'd seen and heard, and this was just a more public way to do that. I'm so glad to hear that many of you were able to follow our progress as we made our way around the Mediterranean.

Here are a few additional sound files and videos, some of which were posted earlier:

Video of singing in Avignon 1
Video of singing in Avignon 2
Video of street performers in Barcelona
Video of rehearsal in Barcelona
Video of Undeclared

Verdi, "Va, pensiero"
Scarlatti, "Exsultate Deo"
Lukaszewski, "Ave Maria"
Poulenc, "Vinea mea electa"
Paulus, "The Old Church"
Warlock, "Benedicamus Domino"
Tschesnokoff, "O Lord God"
Nordqvist, "Wonderful Peace"