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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Berlin with the Band Geeks

Our Berlin trip was about month ago, so this story is getting to you quite late. Now that life is slowing down again I have some time to share about our musical Berlin adventures. My last trip to Berlin was 11 years ago when I was a student in Vienna. I was happy to return with Jaap, but I only wish we had more time there. We've decided that we will return at some point in the future to give this city the time it deserves. It's such an interesting place. 
Exploring the Tierpark
Our getaway was a band trip for a wind festival in Berlin. Jaap's hometown band, Arti,  has a good concert band. Jaap began playing with them when he was just 10 and now plays with them when they are in need of a horn player.  They needed a flute player and french horn player for their festival in Berlin. I was super excited when I found out I got to go on the trip with Jaap. It was so great to reconnect with my band roots again. Oh how I miss playing in band! We're such geeks and I love it. This trip reminded me of high school and college all over again. It also made me realize how much I miss playing in a proper wind band.
Arti youth band
The majority of our time was spent either in rehearsals, playing concerts, or on the bus. We literally had 5 hours of free time, so we went out exploring on our own. Here are some of the places we got to visit:
Checkpoint Charlie
Topography of Terror & part of the Wall
Reichstag
Another random place where Jaap has fallen asleep
Brandenburg Gate
No good band festival would be complete without a little party at the end. Good German food, beer, and "interesting" music. After seeing the Dutchies party to oom-pah-pah music, I now understand why they love band so much.
conga line
I loved our weekend of music, singing, and travel. There's one thing that I learned on this trip. Band geeks have no bounds. We are worldwide and we're all the same. We sing silly songs on the bus, can turn any random object into a percussion instrument at any time, and love good wind music. I felt like I was home. 
Here's one example of band lovers keep themselves entertained. It became the anthem of this trip. 

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