Day 6 and 7: Nothing But Memorable

Posted by Linda Gartner on Jun 16, 2009 in Latest News | 1 comment

A highlight of the day: The Prado Museum

Dear ALL,

Yes, we are all still here! Last night we didn’t get back to the hotel until 0:05….can you tell what time that is???? Thankfully, we didn’t leave today until 10:00 a.m. Back to yesterday – we left Valencia and drove 4 hours to Madrid. We had a pretty quiet first two hours on Bus 1….then a rest stop, Spain style!! More shopping. Can you believe it….at a rest stop! These kids use every opportunity! Then off to Madrid. A check in at our hotel and very quick lunch around the corner. We were good. Give this group 45 minutes and you would be shocked to find out what they can do! Neil Gartner and I took 3 boys across the street from Atocha (the Madrid train station) ordered jamon bocadillos, hamburguesa and a round of aqua for all! Then back on the bus to the Royal Palace. A beautiful blue sky day in Madrid and a great tour of the Palace. The highlight for me was the room in the Palace that housed FOUR, count them FOUR, Stradivarius instruments, two violins, one viola and one cello. Alex Thio and I could NOT believe this! They were beautiful! Can you imagine what they sound like played all together??? Unreal! A visit to the gift shop, of course! J A little drive to the sweet little village of Valdemorillo. The Cultural Arts Center that was a former kiln turned into beautiful performing venue. The local voice teacher had her students there for a recital. Our kids changed and went into the theater and listened to these students. Can you imagine what that would have been like if YOU were singing for the first time to a group of formally dressed American singers???? They were great and our kids were a fabulous audience. Then we went to the stage and sang three songs….the audience loved us. They sang a bit more and then we went back to the stage again. We sang our secular numbers and the audience again LOVED us. When we sang De Colores , the little ladies in the audience were singing along! THEN we received a POLICE ESCORT to the restaurant where we had dinner. A POLICE ESCORT! We were treated like rock stars!!!! Great meal, great time and then back to Madrid. Remember 0:05 was when we returned!!!! To bed!

TODAY!!!! 10:00 we left the hotel for a City Tour. GREAT GUIDES who showed us so much! First stop was the Plaza del Torros – the bull fighting plaza! GREAT pictures and of course SHOPPING…..only 5 Euros! We saw the inside of Atocha, saw so much of the architecture of Madrid, Plaza Mayor – lunch and of course shopping. 3:00 we were all on the bus for the Prado. Not Prada….PRADO! We had as much as the Prado as we had on the beach….. this trip is truly an appetizer trip….a little of everything! J These kids were great in the art museum…they knew what they wanted to see and off we went! 50 minutes later we were all in our groups and counting for attendance! A walk to dinner and La Cathedral! WONDERFUL dinner and we even sang for the wait staff as a thank you! (My duck was phenomenal!) A walk to the bus and off we went for our final concert. A church that was built in 1202…..yes, 1202. Our kids dressed and then waited in a special room in the basement until the Mass ended. You must ask the kids about the little lady – the keeper of the church. She loved us! Now, she didn’t love us when we got there…but as Mr. Kreiner said, she was putty in our hands after we performed. This audience was priceless. PRICELESS. These people would have adopted these kids if we had let them! The Community Choir also performed for us. When these precious singers broke out in the spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen in ENGLISH, I almost lost it. Of course, I think the audience almost lost it when we broke out in De Colores in our Spanish/English version. These sweet little people were just incredible. Needless to say there were many, many tears shed tonight. We have a great day planned for tomorrow and will cherish each minute. It will be so sad to say good bye to each other when the JFK people and ATL people go to their gates on Thursday! Remember, I will call Sue Carter when we get to the airport and are through security. Please go to delta.com to check the status of the flights. DON’T WORRY! J

I want all of the families to know that these kids have been incredible. They have been respectful, punctual, endearing, professional and have made us proud. Kevin Kreiner, Alex Thio, Lee Pittman, Victor Harris, Paul Alexander and I are sitting here in the lobby of the Madrid hotel, it’s 11:55 p.m. and cannot praise them enough. We will miss the repeaters so very much. They have been great travel role models. THANK YOU REPEATERS!

We look forward to singing with each other one more time next Tuesday. Thank you one last time.

Fondly,

Gartner