Sounds of Silence

Handel's "Messiah"--sung in a structure designed for just such a work of art. The orchestra and 30+ voices answered each other eagerly, and the Slovak singers dared Handel's English to trip them up! Triple Forte'/Pianissimo--Crescendo-Decrescendo alike reverberating from the high ceilings--stunning. But the most magnificent moments were the silent pauses that musicians call "rests", for in the hush of a rest, the preceding chord would echo and spill over the listener and linger, just for a moment. The Sounds of Silence, I suppose. And to think, we almost didn't go!

Sometimes . . . .

Sometimes you just have to set aside the urgent and deal with the important. 10+inches of snow is definitely important, so we dropped everything yesterday afternoon and took a 2-1/2 hour hike in the nearby mountains. I'd never hiked in the falling snow--until now; I'd never stood in the middle of the mountain forest while the snow drifted to the ground all around--until now! I'd never "heard" the quiet of a winter wonderland--until now. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

My wonderful Slovak instructor offered to be our guide, concluding the adventure with a wonderful evening's supper in her home. Marvelous! Hopefully the pix will refresh you as much as the actual being there did us!

ANOTHER Travel Adventure!

Based on our experience thus far, trains come either directly from Zilina (where we teach on Thursday/Fri) to Martin or stop in the little village of Vrutky 5 minutes outside of Martin, where we can transfer to a shuttle into Martin. Friday we were able to leave Zilina a bit earlier than usual, so we caught a different Express, a bit smug that we were becoming expert trainers--AND for once getting home a little earlier than usual! After all, we had even purchased round-trip tickets before we trained to Zilina this particular morning.

We were calmly settling into our compartment as the train picked up speed, when the conductor did his usual "Ticket, please". I sensed trouble as he shook his head and said "No." Actually he said "Nie", but "no" is "no" in any language, especially when it comes from a uniformed person. Seems we were on a train that was dubbed Express for a reason--its next stop was in the beautiful town of Liptovsky Mikulaš, nearly 100km east of Martin! I asked (in German, a mutual language) "What shall we do?" and gave a look that must have looked like I might burst into tears. Apparently It was a grimace convincing enough that he shrugged his padded shoulders, explained how to get back to Martin once we arrived in Liptovsky Mikulaš, smiled kindly, and quietly moved on. No extra charge, no reprimand, just thoughtful, professional compassion for two goofy Americans.

We made it home fine! And, BONUS: it was a beautiful trip through snowy mountains, across icy rivers with swans drifting along, and with the memory of a conductor who smiled every time he passed our compartment!

Ah, Memories!