From March 1st-March 10th, 2008, 22 Woburn Music students, accompanied by three teachers, travelled to Europe on a music appreciation tour. Visiting Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and Prague, the students experienced an exhilarating tour of many of the most exciting, and musically historical, places in the world.

PHOTOS Images from the trip

On Saturday, March 1st, the very excited students and teachers gathered at Woburn at 2pm. After a short bus ride to the airport, we checked in for a seven hour overnight flight to London’s Heathrow airport. After a short stopover, where we were able to experience a small amount of British culture (without leaving the airport), we boarded a short flight to Vienna. We arrived in Vienna around noon, Viennese time, after losing six hours in the time change, and with many students having trouble sleeping on the planes. However, we still had an afternoon to get through before we got to our hotel. We met our bus driver, Hennik, who, we soon learned, was by far the best bus driver any of us had ever seen. We took a short tour of Vienna, led by Mr. Farrow, before visiting the Haus der Musik, a museum devoted completely to music and sound. We then travelled to our hotel, Hotel Siebenbrunnerhof, where we checked in for two nights and enjoyed dinner.

We woke up on Day Three for a continental breakfast at the hotel, before departing for a part-bus, part-walking tour of Vienna, led by a professional tour guide. We visited many musical sights, as well as some beautiful churches. After time for shopping and lunch, we had a tour of Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera), which was very interesting. We enjoyed dinner at a buffet-style restaurant, followed by a modern jazz concert by Sara Tavares at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Though many students were tired and nearly fell asleep in the first half, Sara managed to wake us up in the second half of the concert with her upbeat music.

Day Four also began with a continental breakfast at our hotel, followed by check out and a trip to Schonbrunn Palaca, a huge palace built for the Austrian Imperial Family, which included Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Maria Theresia. With a lunch stop enroute (where we had a few mechanical problems with the bus – and learned some Czech swear words from Hennik), we travelled approximately three hours to Salzburg, nestled in the mountains of Austria. We met another guide here, and took a fascinating tour of Salzburg and the surrounding area, with focus on the Sound of Music, and many places where the movie was filmed. We then checked into the Salzburg Youth Hostel for two nights, and enjoyed dinner there.

After waking on Day Five, we drove to Berchtesgaden, Germany, where we were to meet another guide for a tour of many historical sights, many of which were of particular importance to Hitler’s rule. Unfortunately, there was no guide to meet us here, and instead had some free time in Salzburg. After lunch, we travelled to the Salzbergwerk Salt Mine for a very fun tour of the underground salt mines (unfortunately, promises of sex movies did not turn out to be realities). For dinner, we traveled up to Hohensalzburg, a fortress atop a mountain within the city. Here we enjoyed a very fancy dinner, followed by an excellent classical concert, exhibiting lovely Mozart music.

We departed for Munich on Day Six, arriving in the city centre for some free time, including lunch. The afternoon saw us on another guided city tour, where we saw many beautiful churches and other sights. Much of Munich was bombed during World War II, but most parts have been restored following the original plans, so we were still able to see the original architecture, even if the buildings were newer. We checked in to Ibis Munich Schwabing Hotel for two nights, and enjoyed dinner there.

Day Seven had us wake for an early breakfast, before travelling to Dachau. Here we had a guided tour of the former Concentration Camp in Dachau, with many original buildings still intact. This tour affected many students emotionally, as the tragedies that had occurred on the ground beneath our feet became much more real than they had seemed through reading history books. The afternoon was a bit lighter, as we toured the BMW Plant. Our tour took us from the beginning to the end of how a BMW is made, but unfortunately there were no free samples. For dinner, we visited Hofbrauhaus, a beer house, and enjoyed eating, dancing and excellent musical entertainment, featuring many instruments new to us, such as alpenhorns, cowbells, yodeling and a lovely piece played on a saw.

We left our hotel in Munich on Day Eight, and headed towards Prague, stopping in Regensburg, Germany enroute. Regensburg was one of the few cities that remained largely unharmed in World War II, allowing us to view many original buildings. Upon arrival in Prague, we visited Villa Bertramka, where Mozart stayed during his two visits to Prague. Here we met our guide for Prague, who accompanied us to the Hotel Splendid, our hotel for two nights. We then set out again for dinner at the “U Marcanu” Restaurant, where we had a private room and enjoyed excellent food, as well as live music and dancing.

Day Nine, our last full day of the trip, started with breakfast. This was followed by a long and very interesting tour of Prague, visiting many old cathedrals, churches and historical buildings. After our tour, we had an afternoon of free time to find lunch, and enjoy Prague’s cheap shopping. We met again for an early evening classical concert, featuring a variety of classical music. We ate dinner at our hotel, and made it an early night.

Our final day had us out of the hotel by 3:15am to travel to the Prague airport, where we checked in for a very short flight to Frankfurt. After a short stopover in Frankfurt, we boarded an eight-hour flight back to Toronto. Unfortunately, the bus ride back to Woburn signified the end of our amazing trip. I know that every student and teacher enjoyed the trip, and I think that we all hope to return again.