It took us two hours to get to Waterford, our next stopping point. It is known for its famous Waterford crystal, but unfortunately is no longer manufactured here. We quickly retrieved our bags from underneath the bus, and piled into the small lobby at Treacys Hotel. Already my suitcase and backpack are unbearably heavy and I don’t know how I am going to manage them for another 3 weeks!
I could not figure out how to get the lights on in my hotel room, but went downstairs to join the others for our bus to Christchurch Cathedral Waterford where we will rehearse. When we arrived, the other choir (a gospel choir!) who will share the program with us were rehearsing. It is a very live room where the high frequencies are emphasized.
When the Hawaii chorus got up to sing and did a run-through the Haydn, they did seem a bit much for the room, so I told Tim Carney to have the choir take it easy. He relayed this message to the choir, and someone yelled out, “Jet-lag tone!”, remembering the beautiful tone they had produced at St. Fin Barre’s, shortly after their arrival yesterday.
Unfortunately the stairway to the organ was locked and we were unable to rehearse the pieces with the organ. The woman in the gift shop called the church organist to no avail, but we will have another rehearsal just prior to the concert. Hopefully we can gain access to the organ.
Today we drove to Kilkenny where we had a tour of the castle, in the hands of the Butler family for six hundred years before being turned over to the town for the bargain basement price of 50 pounds. It has now been restored, having been vacant for over 30 years and falling into great disrepair. It has been furnished with period furniture, giving us a glimpse of how people lived a hundred years ago. Our guide told us that the beds to us seem short, but rather than lying down, the aristocracy slept sitting up because they thought it was unhealthy to sleep lying down. Also the beds were high because the notion that the air closer to the ground was unhealthy. Of course it was the servants who slept downstairs who got sick. Of interest was the 19th century toilet which was enormous in size! I would have fallen in!
