Today we took a day trip to Girona. This was a trip that Edie and Bill planned and I was happy to tag along. We took the train from the main station, which also gave me a chance to see how I would need to get to the station in a couple of days to head to Granada.
When we got into the town, we left Edie at a place where she could do some work while we explored. Bill took the rest of us to meet with his friend who is a professor at the university.
The campus is set on a hill with towers and a wall with a view of the city.
We hung out for a bit at a cafe where we waited for Bill's friend as it was a very hot day. We then strolled around the campus as well as around the town. The church in town was used as the setting for the Sept of Baelor in Game of Thrones.
After a stop at a bookstore and a long lunch where Edie joined back with us we went to a well known ice cream place. They are known for their fancy concoctions with ice cream topped by various candies and then a blob of cotton candy. I chose a frozen fruit popsicle in the form of Jamie Lanister's golden hand.
After taking the train home, we had to get ready for an evening at the concert hall. Bill, Edie, Maia and I were going to hear Mozart's Requiem. We chose the evening that worked best for everyone's schedule. And the primary reason to attend is to be able to see the inside of this beautiful hall.
The concert turned out to be one of the most remarkable choral concerts I've ever experienced. The Orfeo Catala were a small orchestra with strings, some winds and brass and one percussion player. They entered the stage dressed like they were going to their neighbour's backyard party, but all in warm colours. The conductor was wearing powder blue pants with a wide white stripe and a matching vest with a sequined lotus on the back. The choir were dressed similarly to the orchestra and the soloists were wearing long robes with ruffled shirts, where each robe had a different image on it (lotus, fish, ivy and something I couldn't tell).
The choir started with some members in the aisles singing with the rest of the choir on the stage. Throughout the concert, the choir moved either with small movements of their arms or heads, or moving around the stage or up on the balcony, or dancing on the stage. It really felt like the choir's movements helped to illuminate the meaning of the part of the piece they were singing (which was in latin). The soloists also moved around the stage and balcony. At one point, the soprano walked in and sang holding a lit up globe in her hand.
At the end of the piece, the choir was back on the stage, on the balcony and in the aisles and the space completely filled with beautiful sound. At the end of the performance we all looked at each other stunned. The audience agreed with us with a loud roar of applause.
We later learned that this performance is part of a Greek festival, which makes sense in having the chorus telling the story. It was an unforgettable moment in an unforgettable hall.
After the show we were joined by Bill's friends Andrew and Joanna who had been at their wedding and was spending part of their summer in France. We all walked to Santagustina tapas bar for a delicious and perfect end to the day.
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