The Chattanooga Girls Choir

Day 5:
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

SCHEDULE:
  9:00 am Breakfast in the hotel.
10:00 am Depart for the ancient monastery of Montserrat.
  1:15 pm The choir will present a choral offering in the Basilica.
  6:00 pm Return to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.
  7:30 pm Dinner out with Spanish entertainment at a flamenco show.

[Click on underlined links for more information about a location.]

Written by choir member Emily Hayes:

After waking up at eight o'clock--some of us a tad later than that--the choir went downstairs for our breakfast in the kitchen of the Hotel Espayna.

We changed into our red Chattanooga Girls Choir shirts and khaki pants before going to Montserrat, a beautiful monastery in the mountains of Catalonia. Our local guide told us many interesting things on our drive there. We explored the monastery before leaving to sing in the Basilica. Montserrat is not only a lovely monastery but also the home of the famous Black Madonna and a Boys School. The school's Boys Choir is apparently world-famous and when we heard them, it was easy to see why! Definitely a good bit of competition, from them and also a Hungarian Choir that was there. We sang Adoramus te, Non Nobis, etc. before ending with The Lord Bless You and Keep You. When we finished, we met a couple in the church, also from Chattanooga! Soon, we got on the bus and arrived back at the hotel two hours before the up-coming flamenco.

On our way there, many of us had the impression that WE would be the ones dancing. I know that I did. But we were all rather surprised to learn that it was dinner and a show, rather than dancing. We all had a salad, some bratwurst, chicken, potatoes, beef, and ice cream, as the show began. Three men and five women were the stars of the show, and all of us agree that it was a very cultural and fun experience. A lot of us went home laughing our heads off, then simply collapsing on our beds at about 1:00 in the morning.

The Montserrat monastery
photo from nature.wallpaperme.com

The Black Madonna of Montserrat
photo from www.sacred-destinations.com

< Go to previous day  |  Go to next day >

Main Page | The Choirs | The Directors | Auditions | Tours | Calendar | Choir News | Contact Info