Lake Garda
After a rather hectic, long and eventful journey - personal lowlight being the three hour delay at scenic Ferrybridge - we arrived in the beautiful village of Arco, near Riva del Garda. Memorable activities over the next few days included an exploration of the area, a trip to Verona (free Chanel samples anyone?) and watching Mrs Bird take on several angry Scots in the queue for the cable car.
Both the strings and the windband played fantastic concerts in Sirmione and Riva but many agreed that our performances in a little courtyard in a village up in the mountains were the highlight. Special mention goes to (..) those who stunned the Italians with the YMCA routine. It was lovely to play in such a picturesque yet welcoming place and this was reflected in the way we all performed that night.
The whole visit seemed to flash by and it was not long before everyone piled back onto the coach for the journey home, which also proved to be slightly traumatic! However, we did have a great few days (with the photographic evidence to prove it) and a big thank you goes to everybody who made the trip possible.
Things we learned:
Teenagers can be trusted not to lose their passports. Adults can not.
It is offensive to refer to an angry Scottish man as "British".
Ice cream counts as breakfast.
And this from Oscar Holch:
The Pontefract Music Centre trip to Lake Garda was a brilliant experience and one I will never forget. The scenery was beautiful and the was glorious. The trip had its high's and low's, mostly high's may I add, but we always made the most of the situation.
For example, one of my greatest memories of the trip was when the coach had broken down at a service station and Pontefract Music Centre pupils and staff played games.
The concerts were amazing. It was brilliant to play in the venues we did. My favourite concert was when we teamed up with the wind band and played in a alleyway in a remote village, in the mountains. The atmosphere was magical, people were looking down on us as we played and also the music echoed down the alleyway.
I think music trips are brilliant for orchestras because as an orchestra you bond and this bonding makes the orchestra play more together as a team and with more emotion. After, travelling and living together for a week, the last concert the senior strings played was glorious, to listen to and to play in.
In lake Garda I made many new friends and improved on the friendship I had with others. And I think that is what music does, it unites people in a very special way.
