A New Year’s Tour in Vienna 25th January 2014 Two of our younger girl choristers wrote the following report on our most recent tour:       On 27 December 2013, the choirs of Girls and Men, accompanied by their parental chaperones, began their journey to Vienna. The coach journey consisted of random outbursts of singing, watching films, sleeping and laughter. For some of us it was the first time crossing the channel by Euro Tunnel. This was a long 21 hour journey which was split up with a night stay in Aachen in Germany. After our over night stay, we drove to Aachen Cathedral. Aachen Cathedral is a medieval cathedral which is beautifully detailed inside, we got the chance to see the nativity set, we stood in the nave and gave our first performance of the tour in the splendid acoustic. Our long journey continued straight to Vienna… We arrived in Vienna around 9:00pm the next day; it was all very exciting. The hostel we arrived in that night was our accommodation for five nights.       The morning after we arrived in Vienna we headed for Salzburg. In Salzburg we went ice skating and to see the birth house of Mozart. Ice skating was very fun! Difficult for some, however it was enjoyed by all. Also on this day we celebrated one of the girls’ sixteenth birthday. We sang happy birthday to her numerous amount of times. We then headed back for a night at the hostel. This night was spent “chilling”. After a good night’s rest, the next day we went to St Stephens Cathedral, we sang in a service and also did a concert. Some of the pieces we sang were The Holly and the Ivy (which Sir Richard Rodney Bennett wrote for us in 2010), David Bednall’s Noe Noe, Never a brighter star by one of our favourite composers, Dan Forrest, Adrian Self’s setting of Jesus Christ the apple tree, Howell’s Three Carol-Anthems, and Philip Wilby’s The Word Made Flesh. After this we then headed for Prater amusement park. For many of us it was one of the best days, we went on rides that were at speeds of 120mph, rides that flipped upside down at staggering heights and drove the bumper cars! Some of us then brought crepes, they had many fillings such as cheese and Nutella – they were delicious! Once we had finished our energetic day at the amusement park we headed back to the hostel. We then got ready and went out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. We all enjoyed going out for this evening meal. We then headed back to the hostel. The next day was New Years’ Eve. We spent the day at Schonbrunn Palace; we had an audio guided tour of the Palace. It was interesting to learn little things about the Palace. After we had finished at the Palace we went to The House Of Music museum. Inside the museum there were many fun activities such as composing your own piece by rolling dice and conducting your own orchestra (rather like using a Wii, but with a video of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at your disposal!). Once we had finished at the museum we went back to the hostel for a night of fun entertainment that would bring us into the New Year. Dinner for that night was pizza; we had so many toppings like pepperoni, cheese, and chicken, vegetables. This was one of the meals everyone enjoyed. We then spent some time just talking with each other and not to forget, Miss Punnett’s and two of the youngest choristers’ great dinosaur impressions! After this we then began the New Year Eve Talent show. Some of the older girls did an acting scene of them going on holiday and hid a girl in a suitcase! The very youngest girls then performed a song and dance. After this, a mixed group did an acapella performance. The final act was one of the choral scholars dressed up as a girl and telling us all a Pushkin fairy story! It was very funny! The winners of the talent show were the youngest girls who had practised very hard. The entertainment of the night then continued as a large group game of Trivial Pursuit. After a fun game, it was almost midnight so we went and stood up on the hill outside the hostel were we could see all the fireworks from the city. They went on for hours and from every direction! The countdown began and we then entered the New Year, 2014. It was a late night for everybody not long after entering the New Year most went to bed.     On New Years’ Day we had a lie in and woke up a little later than we had on all the other days. On this day we headed into the central city of Vienna to do some flash-mob carolling: we sang outside the Papyrus museum and outside Karlskirche. It was lovely to go into central Vienna and see all the different sights. Once we had finished some jolly carolling we headed off in our groups to do some shopping. Many of us brought souvenirs for ourselves and our families. We then headed back to the hostel before going out for another dinner at a restaurant. After a tasty meal we went back to our hostel for the final night.     The next morning we woke up and finished packing our belongings before getting on the coach and making our long journey back home. This was broken up again by an overnight stay in Nuremberg. Before going to Nuremberg we visited Melk Abbey: Melk Abbey is a very large but beautifully detailed abbey, and we were given a guided tour. In Melk Abbey we sang another concert, it sounded wonderful and because the place was so large that the echo sounded great. Once we arrived in Nuremberg we went for dinner at a sausage house, this was enjoyed by many of the meat lovers… not so much by the vegetarians! Luckily they were provided a lovely vegetable pasta. We then went back to our overnight accommodation for an early night’s rest so we would be prepared for the long journey back to Northampton. The final day, we left Nuremberg early in the morning, many of us on the way home wore our onesies on the coach. This was an 11 hour journey home. When we arrived at the Euro Tunnel at 19:30 there were some delays due to stormy weather so we could not get on the train until 22:50. Once off again, we headed for Northampton. For many of us were sleeping as it started to get late, but the mood lightened up as we started singing ‘’the tour chant’’ which was ‘’5 gold rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree… Ahhhhhhhh!’’ Once we arrived home in Northampton at 01:30am on the 4th of January 2014, we said our goodbyes to each other and headed home for a well deserved rest. For all of us the tour was a great and unforgettable experience which we will remember forever. We were all fortunate to get the opportunity to do this. All of us choristers are grateful for everything we did and for everyone who made it possible for us. We all had a great time which was filled with fun and laughter.