How is everyone's jet-lag? I am finding it much worse here than on the way out. Still I enjoyed watching the birds in the garden this morning at 6am! Good to be back home now and already Japan seems but a distant dream.
Tuesday was our final free day and we all enjoyed various outings to Nikko and Kyoto amongst others. Do the Geishas in Kyoto know when the ROH are visiting as they seem to have made an appearance every time! Nikko was a few degrees cooler than Tokyo and really beautiful with its huge cedar trees enclosing gorgeous temples and shrines. Kyoto sounds amazing and I am very envious of those who went so hopefully in 2015 I can visit. Last minute shopping and return visit to my favourite area , Yanaka. I even bumped into Tamsin, Luke and Dominic there - how weird is that in such a huge and strange city! Last Traviata was fab with Anna Netrebko on sizzling form. Final drinks party afterwards and then a quick dinner in TGI Fridays (how sad is that!!!) and then packing for our early start on Thursday. A few worried faces at the check-in with regard to over- weight luggage but I think we all got away with it. Long flight on Virgin with the worst food ever, I hope the BA lot fared better. Pouring with rain and much cooler when we left Tokyo and it would seem this is the end of the hot spell. How lucky we were there. This has been the most amazing trip and we have all had a wonderful time. It has been good to socialise with different groups of people and also good to get to know the orchestra a little better. A huge thanks to Steffi, Ruth and Cormac amongst others for all their efforts in making this trip so enjoyable. I still can't believe no-one got lost or was late for any rehearsal or show. That must be a first! Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend as it will be the last for a long time. See you all on Monday for a double rep whammy!! X
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Monday, 20 September 2010
what day is it?
Am I alone in not knowing what day of the week it is? What a long and tiring past few days but I think we all enjoyed the Messiah experience and actually feel rather proud of the good job we did on the piece! Like all of us, I enjoyed the gallon of beer consumed in the Pink Bar afterwards. Luke had sourced a lovely Indian restaurant which took a bit of finding but worth it. Well you can't live on raw fish for the whole visit! A large party went to Andy's for dinner on the recommendation of the Ballet company and had a lovely time. Lots of shopping done by all and god knows how many Kimonos George has bought by now! When is he going to wear them!!! Hope Virgin and BA are going to be lenient with the luggage weight on the way home. Some of us made a return visit to the Onsen spa last night and took Steffi with us and it was good to see her relax and get away from the rather stressful evening she had last night. A late night at the Karaoke bar again for some, I gather. I do hope someone managed to video Renato's performance there the other night as we won't be letting him away with anything!!! I had my first decent cup of coffee yesterday in a tiny cafe in Yanaka. The owner roasts his own beans (ouch!) and I had coffee from Yemen which was really delicious and left not a trace of nasty aftertaste. Quite expensive at 850 Yen but as the ROH was paying it didn't matter. Am busy drafting my letter requesting that we get a per diem throughout the year. Feel sure it will be met with a positive response! Must dash to the shops now. X
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