More bits...

Amanda and I met in a foreign country and did not do any of the following: 

get lost, scale a seaside cliff, navigate based on presence of rutabagas, or exclaim excitedly at sheep.

I guess we're real adults now :)

 Salzburg as seen through a fortress "window"

Amanda: I bet we could reach those coins.

me: Just remember those were your words, not mine.

 A cool astrological sundial on the side of a church

Lovely Alps

Bubble guy in Salzburg

Lovely Salzburg with your tasty Mozartkuegeln, so long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, adieu...

I also took a day trip to Ingolstadt to visit my namesake, Theresia :)

I spent my last weekend in Berlin and despite coming down with a nasty cold, still managed to see most of the landmarks of the city...

 The Reichstag building (where the German parliament meets)

Berlin Konzerthaus

Too many cupolae for me to keep track of.

 The Brandenburg Gate

 

One of many Berlin bear statues :)

The last roses of summer...

As it's officially Autumn, I suppose I should post the rest of my pictures from the summer! 

Here goes...

Whilst in search of the Munich Natural History Museum (which I never found), I passed through the Munich Botanical Gardens. Even though it was "the end of summer," there were still many things in bloom :)

Turtle Friends

The last blooms of summer

 So German and organized...

Munich as seen from the top of the Olympic Hill. This hill is an artificial one which was built on top of the ruins from World War II. Now it is a beautiful natural place where all of Munich flocks on sunny days to soak up some rays. 

If you look closely, you can see Alps in the distance.

In honor of summer, these artificial haystacks appeared on all of the museum greens.

The Glyptothek and haystacks :)

 They continued....

 

 The Neue Pinakothek is heavily sponsored by Audi, can you tell?

I don't know why, but this really amuses me.

A lovely Muenchen sunset

Shana Tova!

Hi, everyone! After a brief hiatus, it seems appropriate to be writing on the [Jewish] New Year. Welcome 5775! I feel that this will be an extra special year because it's a palindrome.

So, Happy New Year to my Jewish friends, and Happy Wednesday to my non-Jewish friends! May we find peace and fulfillment of our endeavors.

I stayed on in Munich for the month of August, not realizing that all of the language schools were on break, likewise all pianists had skipped town, so I had to find other ways to fill my time. I continued to work with one of our acting teachers from the program, which was a lot of fun and very freeing. After our first session, I felt a huge openness in my body, as if I had just come from a Grinberg movement class!

We worked on three scenes from My Fair Lady and now I almost wish that I could do the whole show. I read Pygmalion in high school, but I hadn't realized how much of it had been changed for the musical (namely, the amount of text that was left out). The very first film version of Pygmalion changed the ending so that Eliza comes back to Professor Higgins (Bernard Shaw didn't find out until the film was already finished!) and I'm guessing that Alan Jay Lerner saw that version and decided to adopt that ending for his show. Actually, in the original play, the final scene is a bit surrealistic: everyone (including Eliza) spontaneously combusts in church and Eliza's unearthly laughter is heard as a passerby picks up her ring from the rubble. Nobody does this ending, but Shaw was so adamant that Eliza should not go back to Higgins that he wrote an epilogue. In it, he explained that Eliza cannot go back to him, having finally become a fully whole woman and that going back would lessen her transformation.

I'm inclined to agree with Shaw. In the final scene, Eliza realizes that she doesn't need Higgins' approval, which she's been running after the whole time. And of course, the minute that she stands up to him, he thinks she's the most fabulous creature alive and exclaims that they are finally equals. But what is the point of being an "equal" with an emotionally insensitive and abusive person? Eliza finally takes her fate into her own hands and cuts all ties with him. "Bravo, Eliza" indeed!


I have been re-reading my personal bible The Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. In it, she describes how the word "alone" used to be "all one." I think this is pertinent not just to Eliza's transformation, but also to my own. Amidst all of my traveling, I have realized the importance and necessity of being "all one." As performers, we often have to remind ourselves that the audience/agents want to enjoy themselves and that they want to like/hire us: they are not our enemies. Offstage, we often think that the world is against us, but really, we are the ones resisting the world trying to help us! The more that I strive for self-sustained independence, the more that I encounter people who want to help me. Learning how to take care of myself and to nurture my creativity has been one of the biggest challenges for me, but it has also been the most rewarding part of living abroad.

This concludes my monthly rambling. Wherever you are, I wish you "all one-ness."

Love and peace,

Daniella

Bel Canto, Belle Gente

Just a few pictures of my fellow songers.

More to come (hint, hint, guys, send me your pictures, please!)

Jillian and I shared many a vegetarian-themed adventure.

We found the leckerest soup at the Victuals Market - they garnish their soups with flower petals!

(The following pictures are courtesy of Jillian)

Avec Pauline en route à Salzbourg :)

(It is vital to travel with proper provisions, in this case, radishes)

 Most of the gang atop the Salzburg fortress

(l-r Jillian, Jinmyeong, Stephanie, Sophie, Ben, Jeremy, Ben, Tristan, Krista, Jamie, me, Pauline)

Enjoying a good old-fashioned "German" dönner/falafel in Neuschwanstein

I love this set of pictures for Ben's outrageous expression/hair

 

We were relegated to the baggage car on the way back from Neuschwanstein.

Amira and Pauline were clearly thrilled. Jeremy did not share in their enthusiasm.

 Bel Canto "family dinner" on one of our last evenings

(clockwise from l: Jeremy, Jamie's boyfriend, Jamie, me, Krista, Stephanie, Amira, Danielle, Rita, Pauline, Ben, Ben, Elizabeth, Laura, Ercan and Annette our acting coaches, Elena, Sophie, Michaela, Caroline)

 Jamie and I were the only mezzos on the program!

We certainly had our work cut out for us - we were the only 2 Haensels vs. 7 Gretels!

Saying [temporary] goodbyes!

(l-r Danielle, Pauline, Stephanie, Rita, me)

 

With the young Americans...and Australians :)

(l-r Jeremy, Michaella, Laura, me, Elizabeth, Sophie, Tristan, and Caroline)

Accompanying people to the train station...

 (l-r Krista, Stephanie, Pauline, and enthusiastic kiosk worker in the background)

 

Roomies!

 

That's all for now!

Schloss Neuschwanstein!

One overcast day, we traveled to Neuschwanstein for a taste of King Ludwig's madness

The Misty Mountains 

Jillian and I went in search of vegetarian-friendly food (no small feat in Bavaria!)

We were rewarded with about 4-potatoes'-worth of soup, a tasty date-garnished salad and more steamed vegetables than we could handle. 

Triumphant with her date!

But for the castle and mountains, I could have been back in Wisconsin

A view from our climb to the top!

I spy a castle in the distance!

A view from the castle. No wonder Ludwig liked it here.

Schloss Neuschwanstein in all of its glory

 Looking down into the gorge

 

 I really admire these trees.

 We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the castle, so here's another view of the outside 

On a frightening note, when I looked at a picture of Neuschwanstein on a post card, the Disney theme tune popped into my head! 

Now that is what I call effective marketing.