Today, we had our last supper in Germany… well, our last day really. What a day it was! We arrived in Mainz last evening and all promptly fell asleep. It’s been a tiring tour! But, today we were promised some well-deserved free time (if I do say so myself). But first, we went on a wonderful tour of the city of Mainz. We saw 1,000 year old cathedrals and saw the church at which we would be singing that night – St. Stephans. Many of us were overwhelmed by the church as soon as we set foot in the building. The stained glass was the work of Marc Chegal. WOW. The windows were mostly blue, so when the sun shined in the whole church was tinted. If the sights of these last churches weren’t overwhelming enough, the sound was (dare I say?) even better. We loved singing some of our favorite pieces and hearing the chords ring out for what seemed like forever after we had finished. After we saw the church we got THREE WHOLE HOURS of free time. We shopped. Expect stories and stories. Then dinner and our final concert. It was a great way to end the tour. The church was full of a wonderfully appreciative audience and a very emotional choir. This being the seniors’ last concert and our last night in Germany we were full of sadness and joy; each song was extra special to all of us. The concert went spectacularly, I’m happy to have ended my stay in Germany this way.
After the concert, we had a lovely walk back to the hotel. The choir, being the fun-loving, American bunch that we are, sang the entire way back. Lean on Me was sung first; by the time we finished, we had people arm in arm looking out windows. My favorite moment, however, was when the men of choir sang Billy Joel’s For the Longest Time to a woman who was looking out her window. Windows were opening and smiling faces were appearing. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Tonight we plan on celebrating our seniors, our tour, Martin Luther (duh), and resting up for the trip back home.
We plan to post pictures as soon as we can, along with some reflections from the blog goddesses and a few members of the choir. Thank you all for your thoughts and support – it’s been a truly amazing trip.
Soli Deo Gloria,
BG1
Thank you, bloggoddesses, for your updates. I’m so happy for the historical, social, and spiritual experiences you had together. We’re looking forward to hearing stories and more stories.