Well you poor blog readers have had a few days with no news and we’re so sorry! Very little internet access during the Eisteddfod period has meant we’ve only had time for some quick little updates here and on Facebook.
If you haven’t been able to catch all the news our International Eisteddfod campaign has been a HUGE success and we’re so proud, excited, relieved, exhausted…and so many more adjectives.
To sum up…the full choir acheived a remarkable 2nd place in our competition! A spectularly disciplined university choir from Singapore was awarded first place. Next to compete on day two of our campagin were the men’s chorus in the ‘Chamber Choir’ competition. (They were in this section as they were too few in number to enter the Male Choirs competition we we applied last year.) They sang really well and we able to acheived fourth place. The competition was fierce with the top three choirs all acheiving 91 points…only seperated by a few decimal points. The ladies choir sang that same day and were thrilled to be awarded Third Place.
If you haven’t already, you can watch our performances and interviews and all sorts of bits and pieces on the Llangollen.tv website.
The Llangollen experiece was pretty terrific, seeing choirs and musicians from all over the world come together. The township itself too is sooo pretty, with canal boats and a steam train, stream, cute shops and gardens. Everyone had a wonderful time.
When I say everyone though, its true that some people have been having a bit of a tough time of it, with a nasty chest infection and cough making is way around the bus. We’re trying to stay as healthy as possible but its pretty tricky in such close quarters. There are not that many people now who have managed to stay illness free. But we’re getting there!
So it was onwards to Europe and now we’re nicely settle in Brugge and have enjoyed a lovely first night and day with lots of sight seeing and eating! We all had authentic Flemish dinner together last night with shrimp salad, Waterzooi (chicken casserole dish) and amaaaazing waffles.
Tomorrow we’re off to visit Tyne Cot cemetery and the Flanders Fields area before we head to Ypres for our concert that evening at St Peiterskirk. Just before the concert too, we’ll sing a hymn and the national anthem at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, which is bound to be a very special experience.
Here’s another little snap from Brugge..such a pretty city!!