The
choir at St. Catherine's Church has just returned from a
once -in-a- lifetime tour. Last fall, Siiri Rebane our choir
director, who hails from Estonia, asked us if we would like
to go to the International Song Festival that is held every
5 years in Estonia. We looked at each other and said "Sure".
Little did we realize what a wonderful trip was in store.
Photo
(on the steps of the town hall, Tallinn) - Sandra Falck
We
left on June 28th and returned on July13th. The highlight
was the song festival. We were part of a 22,000 member choir
and sang to an audience of over 100,000. Talk about a rare
opportunity. As well, we toured around Estonia and saw a
beautiful, vibrant country that only in 1991 received its
independence from Russia.
Photo
(The massed choirs of 22,000) - Tam
London
Estonia
is a lovely mix of nordic tradition, old buildings, lush
green parks, forests and sea scapes enough to boggle your
mind.
We went off to St. Petersberg where we did an evening boat
tour on the Neva River. Later we saw the grand palace and
park of Peterhof, including the famous fountains and the
home of Catherine the Great. We also visited the famous
Hermitage Museum which boasts 3,000,000 artifacts including
24 Rembrandt originals.
Photo
(on the steps of a "country" palace built by that
Peter the Great of Russia) - Sandra Falck
Russia
is recovering from communist oppression and the feudal system
before that so it is still a rather drab place to visit.
That said , the young people we spoke to were nothing but
optimistic.
From
Russia we went to Helsinki where we saw a few of their 550
bridges! What a lovely, lively country. Activity abounds
in a very up-to date lifestyle amid older buildings and
Nordic culture.
Our
tour ended on an overnight ferry ride to Stockholm. We then
had a day in Stockholm which was equally lovely. From there
we flew Copenhagen, changed planes and then flew to Seattle;
tired but thrilled with our experience.
Betty
Kavanagh and Sandra Falck
