Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow

Monday 23 February

OK – so enough with the whinging. Although, thank you to all who emailed me after that last entry. I hadn’t realised who was reading this blog! I was tired and grumpy and since I’m travelling by myself, you got the complaints.

(And, I had a thought about my sore back – this is the longest period in the last 20 years that I’ve been away from my flute. Maybe my flute-induced scoliosis is trying to right itself?)

Anyway, back to the travel. Amsterdam. Berlin. Krakow.

I had a break from the hostels in Amsterdam where I stayed with my friend Tikitu (a.k.a. in Dunedin as Samson) and his girlfriend Olga. This stay was timed to coincide with a rembetika session at the Greek restaurant where Olga works. Rembetika is Greek urban underground folk music. I can’t even begin to name the instruments involved, but they derive from the guitar family. Olga, who is Greek, plays most of them as well as the accordion and Tikitu is learning to play. The session was a free-for-all session – if you have an instrument, you join in. I had an instrument. I sort of joined in…

Amsterdam is a nice city, despite the fact that I kept getting lost (I know, I know, this whole getting lost thing is becoming a familiar factor in my travels and hence, these blogs, but in Amsterdam, it’s totally justified – the canals are SO confusing). Anyway, I got to see a lot of Amsterdam that normally I wouldn’t. So there’s a silver lining!

I did the touristy thing and went on a canal cruise, but it was really interesting to see the city from a different angle. I also got a close-up on the houseboats. Tikitu and Olga used to live in a houseboat, and had a been there 3 months earlier, I could have stayed there…

But, they’re fantastic. If I moved to Amsterdam (and I’m not planning to – in the immediate future anyway), I’d be living in a houseboat. Very cool.

From Amsterdam to Berlin. In Amsterdam it rained pretty much all the time. OK – that’s fine, but I’m used to rain. I live in Dunedin. But Berlin – it snowed the ENTIRE time I was there. Genius.

There was snow everywhere (but no snowmen – I was tempted…). Berlin’s a fantastic city and I’m even tempted to go back for a bit longer. I went on a walking tour of the city, seeing all the famous sights and sites particularly from World War II. It’s kind of weird growing up in New Zealand which is so geographically far from Europe, that even though we were affected by the war, and we learn about it at school and we celebrate ANZAC day, it still doesn’t really seem real. Being in Germany, on the site of Hitler’s bunker, seeing the memorial to the murdered Jews really brings it home and somehow makes the war seem a bit more real.

Same with the Berlin wall. I remember the TV footage of the wall coming down, but it didn’t mean anything (9 November 1989 – I had not long turned 13). But to be in Berlin and to see the remaining part of the wall, the path where the rest of the wall was, to see where Checkpoint Charlie stood, and to hear the stories of desperation of those on either side of the wall and the desperate measures they were willing to take in order to escape, makes it so much more meaningful.

Thursday nights in Berlin is when the galleries and museums are free, so I went to the National Art Gallery (that’s not it’s actual name, but I can’t remember what it’s called…something to the same effect, but in German).

Two surprises here – one, more Rodin (so exciting!) but the second, was the original picture I have on one of my flutey books somewhere of Frederick the Great playing the flute. Fred was a very accomplished flutist. His teacher and personal composer was Johann Joachim Quantz, and those of you who have played any Quantz will know it’s not the easiest music in the flute repertoire. Fascinating picture, but something in it bugged me. After staring at it for a while, I realised that his music stand is too high, his posture annoys me and I couldn’t work out how he would turn the pages because there are two candles on his music stand, one on either side of the music. How did he turn the pages without getting burned?

And from Berlin to Krakow, Poland. This was a little scary for me, for although I’m no linguist, I do have some German, a little French and a smattering of Spanish. In Amsterdam the language thing wasn’t a problem because everyone speaks English. But Polish? How much Polish do any of you know? It’s all z’s and y’s and very few vowels…far out. But…I survived! (I even managed to buy a pair of boots using my very rudimentary Polsku – and they’re very cool too).

I wanted to go to Krakow because that’s the city where Nigel Kennedy is now based (if you don’t know who Nigel Kennedy is, then shame on you. I’m not going to tell you because if you don’t know the most awesome violinist to ever walk this earth, then you don’t deserve to know. Philistine.).

Krakow was also completely covered in snow, but was WAY colder than Berlin. At one point, I thought my glasses were freezing to my nose – it was that cold.

I only had one full day, but as it’s not a particularly big city, I could see all I wanted. (Well, what I really wanted was for Nige to be giving a concert that night, but no. He is however playing on the 10th of March, so I’ll head back for that. So exciting.) But it was the final night of the Krakow percussion festival. Well timed Justine. And gosh – it was exciting. The concert I went to featured the percussion students and orchestra of the Krakow music academy, a university-type course. Three percussionists were featured. The first two played a double concerto for vibraphone and percussion (perc = kit with bongos, castanets, triangle, woodblocks, rainstick, marimba, glock, suspended cymbal turned upside down).

This was phenomenal. I sat there with my mouth open the whole time. In the first movement, the guy playing perc used vibrato on the glockenspiel (Percussion 101: the glockenspiel is the metal one). Then in the second movement the girl on vibraphone (Percussion 102: that’s the one you plug in and it vibrates) used double bass bows on the keys. Guess what I’ trying when I get back home? It made a very eerie sound, similar to the theremin (the spooky sound in Dracula movies and in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”), but with more body to the sound. WOW.

So that was Krakow. I’m in Prague now, where it’s cold and rainy. I have a bit of a sore throat and I managed to but Strepsils in Czech!! Multi-lingual or what? I’m going on a walking tour tomorrow, so will keep you posted!