Tuesday 18 May 2010

Home again

My travel to Berlin went well. No hassle in the air. Jose Cura and Maria Guleghina both sang (Turandot, May 13th 2010). The production was shit. But the singing was glorious. A big bravo not only for the soloists but for Deutsche Oper Berlin's Chorus and Orchestra.

The only hassle was on May 17th, National Day of Norway. My airport bus just only made it through Jessheim which was celebrating hard.

Wednesday May 12th: I work half day and take the airport bus to the airport. And after a short flight I am in Oslo Gardermoen Airport a little less a 3 hours before my flight to Berlin. I save money on the plane since the stewardess forgets to ask if I want to buy some food or something to drink. I use the next hour fuming about being overlooked. Question: was it I or the stewardess who destroyed the last hour of my flight?

I arrived in Berlin Schönefeld Airport on time. My luggage is number 118 (or something). So I had to wait a long time for my luggage, yes. But I have a hotel waiting so no stress. I take the train to Berlin Hauptbahnhof where I find my hotel Meininger. The hotel was good enough. Great bed, big pillows, nice shower (I didn't try it). The stay is 59 Euro pr night. And I am staying 2 nights. If I decided to eat breakfast at the hotel that will be 5,50 Euro pr person pr breakfast. So instead I was a regular at Pizza Hut in Hauptbahnhof. They have good Pizzas and great Salads.

On May 13th, 2010 I sleep a long time. Or rather I wake up but decides to sleep again and again. It is Ascension Day so not all shops are open. Some are open but have limited what they can sell. I collected my tickets early in the day, eats a Pizza piece at a Pizza Hut at Zoologischer Garten (train station) before the opera and after the opera. Great!

After a "miserable" production of Turandot it was great to greet Maria Guleghina (Turandot) and Jose Cura (Calaf). They both had some interesting things to say about this production. Guleghina was not finished with her two Turandots in Deutsche Oper Berlin (May 8, 13) for this season, any way. For Cura Turandot on May 13th was just the beginning, sadly he has to  sing also on May 23rd. Sadly because Jose Cura did not enjoy this production at all.

I have started to worry about Otello in Berlin. I have tickets for May 30th (Premiere) and June 13th. I hope that production is better but the photo that promotes this Otello makes me fear the worst. If that is not enough than there are ash clouds to be worried about.


May 14th, 2010: I am going back home so naturally I do not have a really good night sleep. This time I finally get to buy my Water Bottle and Boxer Chips. Unfortunately the chips are not really that good. I remembers my luggage but I forgot to count which number it was. Not that the numbers matters I just sometimes like to litter my blogs with times and numbers. Numbers often have the appearance of Facts but Letters could possibly just be a figment of your imagination.

Off to my parents' house. It is soon 17th of May which means that it is hard to sleep in the night due to all the cars which have too much sound equipment and too much sub-woof, what-ever.

National Day in Norway, May 17th 2010: I watched TV but I was really preparing to my flight back home.

And now I am home.

Until next time when I am going to Berlin again, I hope.

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com

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