Today we played in the Shandon Street Festival. We had a very easy morning because we only had to be ready by 11am, as opposed to the 8-9am.
We played at the Shandon Street Festival today and we set up in front of Firkin Crane. Our formation is a bit odd, with basically violins standing on the stairs, winds on one side, violas and cellos on the other, but we do somehow manage. We're given 1.5 hours before we perform to roam, and with free tickets to go up to the belltower, some of us decide to go up there now. Walking up the stone stairs is challenging because the stairwell is so narrow, at some points, only one person can barely squeeze through. So imagine, as people go up, others are trying to come down and it is just hard. We're given headphones so that we don't go deaf from the bells and then we start walking up stairs.
First we hit the bell-playing floor, and there are 8 bells (one octave) and each is controlled by pulling a string. With the strings labeled 1-8 and a songbook that lists the numbers, we ring out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Amazing Grace." We fail trying to decipher the "sheet music" for "Star Wars" and later when we're up on the top, we hear someone trying to play The Sound of Music's "Favorite Things." Oh, and from the bell-ringing floor, the chiming of the bells is very faint.
We climb up more flights, hitting the floor where the bells are situated and thus requiring headphones to be on. Due to the traffic jam of people trying to go up and down and the stairwells only allowing one person in width, it mean that the bell floor was very tight and as some of us stood precariously close to the clapper (the part of the bell that swings, located in the middle and looks like a pendulum), we really prayed that none of us would get hit.
At the topmost floor, the view was breathtaking (I was also breathing a little heavily as I walked up the stairs). We saw all of Shandon and Cork laid out in front of us and we saw Firkin Square, with all the chairs and stands set up! To try to get some good pictures, I crawled (sort of) onto the sides, and though it was a little windy, I didn't fall over the edge or drop my phone. So all is well.
After that, we did have some time left before our performance, so we visited small stalls and food stands.
Performing was fun today because with today's performance, we have finally played through all of the songs in Irish Suite. And these rollicking songs are fun and I saw the faces of the audience light up as they recognized all the tunes. Every time we play Irish music, the audience gets so into it and some of the older people (especially older women), start crying. Every concert we've played so far, this has happened.
We played Sousa's Washington Post and Dr. D clapped and got the audience to clap, so that was a nice touch because it felt like the audience was more engaged then.
Afterwards, we were in Shandon until 5pm so we had full rein to walk around, watch MYA Jazz perform, and eat more food. This was a street festival outdoors and there were tents for food vendors, souvenir sellers, wildlife petting, and so many things.
We visited the Cork Butter Museum (yes, it's a museum about butter because butter is a big deal in Ireland and Irish butter just may be one of the best things ever) and we were all ready to pay the 2 euros, but the museum person said that the music we played was so lovely he was told not to charge us. Wow wow. But the museum was very informative...did you know that around 1000 AD, different tribes would conduct cattle raids because cows were that important? I may have a borderlining-on-obsession with cows, but they're also important to the Irish! And thus begins my slow transformation into an Irishwoman.
Among the sugar I ate today was a lemon and sugar crepe, a churro that I dipped in the honeycomb ice cream I also ate, and some of Eric's candy floss (cotton candy). Protip: sharing food is very advised because it's cheaper and you can try more things that way.
I've given up on updating photos on here. I do post 40 or so pictures each day (of the 400 or so that I take) on my facebook under the album 50 Shades of Green, so do take a peek at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1749778885303195.1073741841.100008133005252&type=1&l=f58f570de4
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