Trains, theorbos, cellos...all in a day's work (Frankfurt)

June 4, 2024
TENET Germany Travelogue, Day 2
HANK HEIJINK, THEORBO

Some people are blessed with the ability to sleep on planes, but I’m not one of them. As a result, my first priority whenever I fly overseas is to find an actual bed to catch up on lost sleep, but today is not the day for that. Instead, our cellist Matt and myself were on our way to Cologne to pick up a theorbo and baroque cello we borrowed for the concerts—it saves us the stress of flying with big instruments.

Catching a train today was easier said than done, however: Southern Germany has had some horrendous weather, and many trains were cancelled, delayed, or overfull. Matt and I squeezed our way onto an overfull one and managed to find ourselves some seats. Many people didn’t, and the conductor refused to have the train leave until everyone who didn’t have a seat got off to wait for the next train. Nevertheless, we managed to arrive in Cologne no more than an hour behind schedule.

Enriched with theorbo and cello, we found a much more empty train on the way back, where we found seats behind a family with three small children, who took it upon themselves to make sure we didn’t miss our stop: between the wailing and the screaming, I foresee a promising future in the vocal arts for them.

Back at the hotel, I was able to finally crash for an hour before heading to our arrival dinner at a lovely Greek place in order to reunite with the rest of the group. One of the dinner’s highlights: determining the flavor of the mystery sorbet. Our own table had some trouble, but you can see the Aha-expression on Clara’s face: it was fig.

I am looking forward to tomorrow’s rehearsals and concert for the official start of our German tour. Traveling as a musician is always an interesting mix of a vacation-like atmosphere combined with some serious work, and I couldn’t ask for a lovelier group of people to do it with.