Over April vacation, students in the Concert Choir and AP Human Geography classes traveled across the pond to Germany and Austria for an extraordinary and magical tour of beautiful and historic European cities.
We first landed in Munich, Germany, and started our tour with lunch at the famous Hofbräuhaus. We then went on a walking tour of some of the major historical highlights of Munich, including the Viktualienmarkt, Marienplatz, Frauenkirche, and so many more. The following day, we visited the BMW World Showcase and walked through Olympia Park, the site of the infamous 1972 Munich Olympics. That evening, students in the Concert Choir performed in a stunning and immense Gothic-style cathedral. The students sounded fantastic!
The next day, we traveled a short distance to Salzburg, Austria, passing through the foothills of the Alps, entranced by the enormity of the snow-capped mountains. In Salzburg, students toured the Residence, took the funicular up to the Fortress, bravely visited the catacombs, and saw many of the filming locations for the famous movie-musical, The Sound of Music. We took a brief afternoon trip to Mondsee, a serene and quiet town nestled in the ice-blue Alpine lakes. Salzburg was voted by our students as their favorite city on our tour!
After Salzburg, we traveled further east to Vienna, a livelier city than Salzburg but still one that is teeming with history and culture. Here, we visited the Central Cemetery where Brahms, Beethoven, Schumann, and many other important composers were buried. Students had a guided tour of the Schönbrunn Palace, where, to our surprise, there was an enchanting market of local vendors set up right in front. Students had free time to browse the many chocolates, pretzels, sausages, and artisanal wares before we moved on to another fantastic performance by the Concert Choir at a midcentury church in the Brutalist style with excellent acoustics. Our day ended with a delicious dinner at Brandauer Schlossbrau.
On our last day, we had an amazing tour of one of only four UN headquarters in the world. Our guides brought us through strict security and showed us the meeting rooms in which UN delegates make world-altering decisions. We wish our tour were longer; it was so interesting! We followed the UN tour with a series of incredible museums, including the House of Music, an interactive experience where students were able to play with the physics of music as well as conduct a virtual Vienna Philharmonic. We ended our tour with an exceptional and fun concert of Mozart’s music, presented by an orchestra and vocalists in period-appropriate outfits.
We all feel so privileged to have traveled to these cities. Our students were wonderful. They made new friends, did their best to learn and speak as much German as possible, tried new foods, and hopefully caught the yearning to travel more in the future. We thank our administration for all their help and support, and the Board of Education for approving this life-changing trip.
