Before I got to Germany I was told to be prepared to not find practice rooms ANYWHERE. And that can be a bit of a problem for a musician who needs to uh....practice.
So why don't I just practice in my flat?
WELL Germany and Austria have something which is called Ruhezeit. Rest hours. Generally they are from 1-3pm. I am not sure what the exact law in Berlin is-but I have been warned by many different people that I better watch my volume if I don't want to get in trouble.
Instead of my flat I have been working out of a music school called HAPPY MUSIC, and I am very thankful to have been told about it. The staff is very friendly and the rates are reasonable. However the owner did laugh at me when I asked if they were open on Sundays. Silly American.
Happy Music
Geisbergstraße 9, 10777 Berlin
I was really excited to practice today because I had a great coaching last week at the Deutscher Oper with John Dawson. He basically changed my life, and now I can sing Donna Elvira with more ease than ever before. I am still working on the runs a bit- but it is amazing what a little tweak can do to change everything. He helped me with "Ah fuggi il traditor" from Don Giovanni and you can hear a rare recording of it here:
On my way to practice some crazy Donna Elvira I bought some coffee from the only coffee shop that I have found that brews coffee strong enough for me. The owners love me now because I stumbled through my remedial german to tell them that they have the best coffee in Berlin. Cafe X Zeit. And LUCKILY it is right next to Happy Music! http://www.cafexzeit.de/
So my bucket list is not completed, or even written out. Though I do have one going in my head. And it will be in this blog before the week is up!
One of things I wanted to do was explore Richard-Wagner Platz. Not because I heard about anything cool there-but because it is called Richard-Wagner Platz. So I decided to check it out on the way to the gym. I truly expected to be greeted by a knight in shining armor, or a dragon as I came off the escalator-but no such luck. It wasn't even remotely pretty. But there was THIS building:
I am still not entirely sure what this building is for. I think it might hold political offices. I am doing some reading on it, but not finding much on the building. But it is just is the perfect example of Berlin because THIS is what is right next to it. The Walgreens of Berlin. Interesting bedfellows. So much of that here. Modern meets the beasts of old. It can be startling!
Speaking of startling...I have to say that many of the U-bahn stops are works of art in themselves. It is actually mind-blowing for me to see all of the beauty and work that went into the SUBWAY STOPS.
Let us compare shall we:
Red-Line Clark and Division(sniff I miss you)
ew wait don't sniff
VS.
Richard-Wagner Platz
I know people think I am crazy in the U-bahn because I am taking pictures of the walls. But I don't care. Yes I will enjoy your multi-colored mosaic U-bahn stops. Art is everywhere in this city and I love it.
So I made it to my gym after my little stop-over at the platz only to discover that Town Old Texas has been sprucing up for the spring! In April I posted this picture on FaceBook when I discovered Town Old Texas lurking in the field behind my gym----next to the Burger King. I thought it was simply hilarious.
Town OLD Texas.
When I first saw T.O.T. I definitely thought that it was abandoned, and that maybe it was an old tourist trap, or that perhaps it was a haunted house/ghost town.
Nope.
Turns out it is a 60 year old cowboy club.
And they are keeping it REAL.
This is how it looked today. Notice anything different? I suuuurly did. Anyone who knows me knows that the Confederate Flag makes me sick to my stomach. They might be staying true to history, but I still don't want to see it. I actually think that is the Texas Rebel Flag but I cannot tell. Not sure what the blue portion is next to the the Confederate part is. Also I don't have the time or ability to read through their entire webpage-but if you have the time or skills maybe you can let me know if they really are a racist town of ghost-cowboys.
Instead of my flat I have been working out of a music school called HAPPY MUSIC, and I am very thankful to have been told about it. The staff is very friendly and the rates are reasonable. However the owner did laugh at me when I asked if they were open on Sundays. Silly American.
Geisbergstraße 9, 10777 Berlin
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