In the case of Aachen, we're looking for the Dom and find a parking garage designated parking for the Dom. Easy enough. Around the corner is the cathedral - Charlemagne's. Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, 800 AD. Easy date to remember.
Charlemagne's casket is up against the far wall. Imagine, 814 and how did they ever get this magnificent cathedral built when the serfs were starving?
Imagine being a poor serf and coming into this space. Wouldn't you believe that there was a power above? This had to be the grandest thing many people ever saw in their entire lives.
The guy was in control.
We had to duck into a cafe for coffee when the rain started around noon.
Linda got a special tea bag with her mint tea: it was an envelope. She could have taken the mint leaves out or put more in.
We sat next to an English couple from a town near Bristol. Fiona and Bernie told us about a trip they took around the world. It took 10 months and they went to places like Mongolia and Patagonia. The later sounds nice but not the former. The Mongolians were not welcoming: tried to run them down and took a looooooong time to bring them food even with a Russian-speaking guide.
Once the rain ended we walked around and did some shopping. For me. I bought 2 shirts with contrasting buttons (red) and a light weight plum colored scarf. I'm going to look good. Carlos - I'm going to give you some competition.
As we walked around we came upon a portable sausage vendor.
We came across this display and Linda thought we should buy me an outfit - no way. I had one of these when I was 5 and we're not going there again. I wouldn't even go in the store.
We came upon a market that had a lot things to sell.
And flowers.
We bought 4 fresh apricots to have available for snacks.
Later, we decided to eat our meal of the day so we would not need to fight the crowds back in Maastricht.
A couple of these beers went very nicely with the food too.
I had smallish sausages and sauerkraut with little pieces of fresh slivers of horseradish and Linda had blood sausage and sauerkraut and apple sauce.
Before leaving town we checked out a chocolate shop and bought some chocolate covered gingerbread. Also, all over town we saw this insignia embedded in the streets and here on a gingerbread cookie.
I think its for Kaiser Karl but don't know anymore about him. Are they referring to Charlemagne or someone else?
We took our time driving back and went downstairs in the hotel and accepted some of the free wine available.
After a day of touristing (probably not a word), a glass of wine and a little reading on the hotel's patio.
A little after eight, we headed out for the concert. As we arrived near the town square where the concert was to be held, a band came marching by. We asked someone why the band and they said it was just to get everyone excited and ready for the concert.
They put out the red carpet for us. This town goes all out for Andre. And he, in turn, must give the local economy a really big boost. I was just thinking of how much money we spent in the town over two days. And, I expect, a lot of people did the same thing we did. Before we reached the square for the concert, we passed 7 or 8 tour buses that obviously brought many concert goers.
The stage was set up as a faux Greek temple with a jumbotron screen on either side. Our seats were about half way back in an audience of probably about 10,000.
This official looking building was off to our right. Once the sun was down, they constantly changed the colored lighting.
There were many of these "bellhops" around to help you find your seat, stow wheelchairs, and just be helpful and smiley.
The concert started exactly at 9:00.
Andre Reiu is a ham and likes to talk. As he started, he was speaking in Dutch. For some crazy reason I expected English. And, God bless him, he spoke in both throughout the concert.
The background of the stage constantly changed depending on the piece being played. This picture shows a Tuscan town - for an Italian piece. The concert was special not only because the music was so good and there were tenors and sopranos highlighted, Zamfir who plays the pan flute,
and a Romanian band and singing group, but we were surrounded by a middle ages church, and other buildings dating from the 1700's.
Maastricht is where Andre Reiu is from and its a really special town. It is the oldest city in the Netherlands and began as a Roman settlement. It was here that a Roman road met a place where the river Maas (Meuse) could be forded by wading across (tricht meant ford). So the name Maastricht means a ford across the river Maas. A village grew up on the banks of the Maas, with a sanctuary. In the late Roman period the Romans even built an imposing stone fort here.
The audience was there to enjoy themselves and everyone seemed to be in a joyful mood. Zamfir, who I didn't know was still alive, was great and played his most famous piece.
Throughout the concert, Andre interjected funny stuff. At one point, he was introducing a piece about matadors and he spoke of them in the ring and how bulls reacted to the color red. About then, the cameras focused on a woman all in red. When he warned her about the color she was wearing and maybe she should take her dress off, she slipped her shoulder out and showed a red bra strap. That got a laugh. Then a shaggy two person bull came trotting down our aisle and chased her out of the square. Obviously a plant, but lots of laughs.
The last piece on the printed program ended at 11:15. But, then things just went on. People stood and waltzes were played, and we all, yes WE ALL, danced in the aisles, and fireworks went off and confetti and gold ribbons were shot into the air. And, then more music.
This was the longest encore (45 minutes) we had ever witnessed. And, everyone loved it. It was like a gigantic party. We were cold, but having a good time.
The crowd was funneled out of one small opening in the fences and that meant a bit of jostling, but we got through it. About a five minute walk and we were back at our hotel.
A really good day.
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