We traveled to Heidelberg today to sing at the
Church of the Holy Spirit. It is a beautiful cathedral that has a long and interesting history. Before we sang, the church's organist treated our group to a performance of "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" (a.k.a. The Phantom of the Opera organ music) by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the sound of the huge pipe organ was magnificent! (I think I remember the organist saying it had 5,000 pipes, but I can't verify that info.) Following that piece, our group provided a concert for the visitors who came through the sanctuary. We sang some of our sacred/spiritual pieces and the accoustics of the sanctuary were beautiful.
After our time at the Church of the Holy Spirit, we had an afternoon of free time in the city of Heidelberg. Pictures of our day follow this entry. Most of us took the opportunity to tour the
Heidelberg Castle. I don't think our pictures accurately display the steep and long climb we had to make to get to the castle, but the walk up was totally worth it as the view from the top was fantastic. Thankfully, there was a cable car which took us down to the bottom of the mountain in time for our group supper.
One of the best parts of the day was when our director, Joseph Martin, called us together in a busy square of Heidelberg by starting the song "Down in the River to Pray" which we all joined in to sing. Imagine the surprise on the faces of people from many lands and faiths as this group of Christian singers came together in a flash mob singing about "that good ole way." A God thing for sure.
Check out these pictures...
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| A view from the bus window as we passed a town along the way. |
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| A view up to the Heidelberg Castle from the bank of the river below. |
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| If this picture looks a little blurry, it is because the photographer was winded after the long climb up the mountain to see the castle and could not hold the camera steady. |
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| This shot was taken about two thirds of the way up to the castle. |
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| The Church of the Holy Spirit as seen from the top of the Heidelberg Castle |
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| Looking out over Heidelberg from the top of the castle. |
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| Nita and Carol with the Church of the Holy Spirit in the background |
That's awesome that you got to go into that church! I have only seen it from the outside...and you are right...the walk up to the castle is brutal! But it's worth it. How'd you like the big keg??
ReplyDeleteLove Heidelberg! I spent a few days there myself. I remember the keg too... brutal climb up the hill...
ReplyDeleteI love that song -- "Down at the River to Pray."
ReplyDeleteSweet.
Flash mob. Ha.