Tour blogger Bronwen Maggs reports from our hostel following a busy day in Wiesbaden…
CUSO tour, Day 4, Wiesbaden
“Yesterday, Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra ate breakfast, played table football on a table long enough to accommodate 23 players on each side and then jumped on a coach to Wiesbaden. Here they met up with Professor Kenneth Hamilton, accompanying him on a tour of the city before going to see an incredible production of Puccini’s Tosca at the astonishingly beautiful Hessisches Staatstheater.
“Kenneth Hamilton is a virtuoso, Scottish pianist, an insightful and inspiring scholar and the Head of Cardiff University School of Music. He is very well liked; particularly popular among the students and his tour did not disappoint. When we got to Wiesbaden, the majority of us went in search of food. Most students decided, without much hesitation, that it was about time to head to a traditional German pub and try some German pork.
“We were to meet Ken at the Marktplatz, at 15:00 to begin our tour.
“We started off by heading to the Kurhaus Casino. The street we walked along to get there, was impressive enough to be deserving of more than a few oohs and aahs. On one side of the road there were elegant shops and cafes. On the other there was a beautiful park. The casino itself was sat on astonishing grounds. Roman fountains sat on the lawn out front and other Roman artefacts were scattered elsewhere. There was some very exciting talk of a concert in the casino itself next year, here’s hoping that if that becomes a possibility, the concert is at a time when a spontaneous trip to Wiesbaden will be a possibility for me.
“From the casino, we headed up through the streets and towards the city’s vineyards. We took the funicular railway to the top of the hill, where the views were magnificent. We all took advantage of the photo opportunity as well as taking the time to marvel at how beautiful the city we had all found ourselves in really was. We walked back down, going past an astounding 19th century, Russian Orthodox Church on the way. With time to spare before the opera we made ourselves comfortable in a lovely ice cream café, where the waffles and milkshakes were like none we’d ever tasted before.
“The opera was absolutely incredible. Despite, German surtitles, we all became entirely engaged in the story. As Mario suffered at the hands of Baron Scarpia we all felt his pain and as Tosca sang of her love for him, we all shared in her happiness. The opera’s dramatic ending left us all in awe and the atmosphere in the theatre while the cast accepted their applause was electric. The cast and orchestra cannot be faulted: Their performance will stick with me and hopefully with many of us, for a long time to come.
“Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra wandered back to their coach sleepily but happily. Largely thanks to Ken for taking the time to show us around and thanks to him for his tour commentary, we had a wonderful day. Dirty Dancing went straight in the DVD player and everyone settled into their seats, looking forward to getting some rest in preparation for today’s journey to their next destination.”