Day 1 by Arwen, Al, and Romy
Esteemed readers everywhere,
The Calgary Children’s Choir is officially back on tour in beautiful Barcelona. After a sleepless plane ride, we were overjoyed to get some sleep so we could start rehearsing. Breakfast was delicious, we definitely did not eat any donuts. Yup, just protein and vegetables for us, mom!
After trying to revive ourselves with caffeine, we left for rehearsal, venturing into a wall of heat and humidity. At rehearsal, we met Dr. Rollo Dilworth, our amazing conductor and arranger of our music. We were singing in a beautiful church, which was also…hot! While rehearsing, we connected with the other choirs and consumed many, many litres of water.
Lunch consisted of more meat and cheese, which seems to be the theme of our meals here. The youth choir chose to share an entire bag of spinach, witnessed by Mrs. Berko. Some mustard was also consumed in drink form (we are remembering to make good choices…). We had to try out our Spanish to buy our own lunches, which resulted in lots of entertainment for the shop owners. Oh- don’t forget to picture us in our matching T-shirts when you think of us in stylish Barcelona. We blend in perfectly.
After lunch, we worked with Dr Dilworth. He critiqued and refined our music pieces. Then we headed out on a two-hour walking tour of Barcelona. We loved ´La Boqueria’, which is a huge open-air market just off the famous street of Las Ramblas, which used to be a river- that’s right, we were actually listening! We also learned about some giants, The Virgin Mary in a pine tree and a lady who got married when she was one year old… thankfully, that is no longer a Spanish tradition.
We finished the day with dinner. We received mixed reviews from the choristers, but it was a great opportunity to mix with the other choirs. By the time we got on the bus, we were very ready for bed.
Stay tuned for more news and updates tomorrow!
Adios amigos!
Seafood 
and sweaty uniforms in the European heat 
. Spain tour day 2 with Cassie, Jemimah, Dominic & Sadie
Notes on Tuesday… Breakfast at our hotel. Same old, same old buffet. Just a selection of European meat and cheese, eggs, bacon, fruit and tons of cake and donuts! Basically the same as my dad would make at home says Cassie. We went to rehearsal which was so awesome because it was air conditioned. Dr Dilworth aka. ‘Rollo’ is very animated. The best part was singing all the songs with the other choirs AND the air conditioning… did we mention the air conditioning?
We hopped on the bus and we went back to Las Ramblas. We had lunch at the market while others went shopping. Jemimah had an assortment of seafood from the famous ‘Boqueria’ market’, and Romy chose squid with fries. Children’s choir members are adventurous eaters! We walked back to the church for more rehearsal.
Ms Berko decided to shorten the program and we chose some of our bests songs. Before performing we had a quiet time in the beautiful square in front of the church. We watched the pigeons and the dogs and it was very peaceful. We performed with the Atlanta Young Singers and the concert was amazing. Cumbanchero sounded really great according to Dom. Wearing our uniforms at the church was really sweaty but we looked great! Thankfully we didn’t put on our vests because we were melting!
By the time the concert ended we were ready for dinner. Thankfully, the restaurant was very close by. Dinner was a little more ‘Spanish’ and not all of the choristers appreciated this! We had salad with goat cheese and paella with seafood. The shrimp still had all their body parts, which was not everyone’s favourite but some choristers (and the adults) loved it! Those who skipped their paella filled up on dessert. Catalonian cheese cake or chocolate lava cake, everyone liked these!
By the time we got back to our hotel is was eleven o’clock, and we slept very well that night.
More tomorrow!
Saludos,
Beach time 
and sunburn. Spain day 3 by Emily & Pearson.
Today, our choir started off the day with a very positive and engaging rehearsal to prepare us for the upcoming concert.
After our rehearsal, we got to experience Barcelona in more independent ways by playing in the waves and sand at a beautiful Mediterranean beach, while some of our choir members swam in the ocean, other choir members got to enjoy a relaxing swim in the hotel pool!! The pool was fun, and we got to swim with another choir. It was great except for the sunburn.
Later that day, we started getting organized for our concert at the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi with Rolo Dilworth, the organizer of some of the songs that we performed. All the choirs performed well, and the combined choir sounded amazing.
Dinner was fun with all the choirs. The performance went really well. It was awesome to meet and work with Dr Dilworth, who is kind of a celebrity for those of you who don’t run in choir circles.
Dinner was fun with all the choirs. The performance went really well. It was awesome to meet and work with Dr Dilworth, who is kind of a celebrity for those of you who don’t run in choir circles.
Stay tuned for more news tomorrow!
Adios!
Rest, Reverence & Ridiculous Key Cards: A Day of Recharge and Awe in Montserrat 
Day four by Claragh, Silas & Sid
Today, after many early wake-ups, we finally got a sleep day to get some rest. Some choristers even slept through their alarms, but generally made it to breakfast on time.
After eating breakfast, we hopped on the bus to head to a monastery near Barcelona called Montserrat. We left dense and sprawling Barcelona and moved towards the hazy mountains. It seems that everything in Spain is swathed with smoke like we see in Calgary during the summers, but we have not yet heard (or smelt) any signs of grass or forest fires—likely too humid. While taking the bus, people read books and slept, all while yellow grass and crowds of green bushes passed. There were many farm fields as well, ranging from only an acre to long arrays of crops, layered over tiers of soil. It wasn’t until we were almost there that we understood that we would be travelling up the mountain to the Abbey.
When we finally arrived, we got to take a funicular, which is a railroad that goes at a very steep angle to get up the mountain. Montserrat is built on top of a mountain, so the architecture itself is incredible. Montserrat was built a long time ago. There was an enormous, gorgeous cathedral, and a statue of Mary, which is said to have been carved by Saint Luke. This statue was attacked multiple times, and the Montserrat was built to protect the statue. After exploring, we jumped back on our bus to get down to the bottom of the mountain. The drive was not for the faint of heart, with many switchbacks and a cliff right beside us, but the views were incredible.
Staying on our own in a hotel has been part of the adventure. Silas says that he and Dom have lost between five and fifteen key cards, but luckily, their chaperone extraordinaire, Neil, is making sure they are on time and don’t get lost.
When we got back to Barcelona, we had four hours of free time before we had to meet up for the end of the dinner. Most went shopping, while others experienced expressive and overpriced flamenco shows, and a few wise choristers chose to spend the time resting.
Fast Trains, Fine Art & Frog Kings: Madrid, Here We Come! 
Day five by Hana, Lexi, Charles & Simone.
Today was our last breakfast in Barcelona. We enjoyed our time here, but we were ready to move on to our next destination, Madrid! We took the bus to the train station and then got a ride on the world’s second fastest high-speed train with speeds of up to 300 km/h. Don’t worry, they didn’t let us drive, and nobody got carsick. We entertained ourselves on the train by reading, sleeping, playing crib, and Chloe did Silas‘s nails. They looked fantastic!
After three hours on the train, we arrived in Madrid. Due to being in a big city, and the fact that the pride parade was being organized in Madrid, even getting on and off our bus was an adventure. The bus is not meant to stop in many places, so we often had to get on and off in a rush. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the museum.
We saw some authentic Dali sketches, which were amazing, and there’s a very famous and very large Picasso in the museum. The Nestor paintings were incredible. With his poem of the Atlantico series, he really captured the feeling of getting tumbled by a wave, and the Marisa Gonzalez exhibit was beautiful and moving. The nihilism in her art was masterfully created by fax machines and a beautiful mix of shifting pictures and opera, which was pretty cool.
We met two local travel guides and went on a walking tour, visiting a stunning public park and a royal castle. The public park had an Egyptian temple, which had been gifted to Madrid to recognize their help in protecting Egyptian temples from a river flood. This manifests themes of interconnection and “improving what you can improve” that Rollo Dilworth explores in his music. At the castle, our tour guides shared entertaining stories about Spain’s many silly Kings, the most notable being a King who believed that he was a frog and behaved as such. We arrived back at the hotel after more sightseeing from our tour bus.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow!
Toledo Treasures, Concert Magic & a Side of Deep-Fried Feelings 
Spain tour, day six, by Liz, Sophia & Chloe.
Today we went to Toledo. It feels much older than Barcelona or Madrid, and the buildings were beautiful. We got to go to the cathedral, which was amazing. Everything was so detailed, especially the stone and wood carvings. There was a mural on the ceiling with an optical illusion, which was very cool. The design allowed for light to pass into every room, and the stained glass windows were incredible. After our guided tour of the city, we headed to the main square for lunch. We split into our small groups to explore, eat and shop on our own. Many of us were able to try what Toledo is most famous for, marzipan. This was our final shopping time of our tour, so we tried to use up all of our euros left over! We had a couple of hours back at the hotel afterwards to chill, shower or nap in preparation for our concert tonight at the church of San Milan and San Cayetano in central Madrid.
Next, we took the bus to our small rehearsal in a gorgeous church, and we only had one uniform mishap (which totally wasn’t Chloe…), and the concert went off without a hitch! I feel so grateful and lucky that I got to grow up in this choir and share all of these memories with all of these great people.
Our dinner was a short walk from the church we performed in, and the first course consisted of fresh tuna on tomatoes. I heard it was delicious, haha! The second course was meatballs and potatoes doused in some amazing sauce. For dessert, we had some deep-fried apples, which were the perfect mix of sweet and sour. It made for a perfect end to our tour and my final year being in this family.
I (Chloe) want to say thank you to the Calgary Children’s Choir, Mrs Berko, and all the chaperones who helped make this tour happen! It’s crazy how fast time passes when you have fun! Through 14 years and 3 tours, every moment has meant so much, and we have all made so many great memories!!
That’s it for our tour blog. We hope you enjoyed reading it!
