Band visit to Durmersheim 2005
The following is what happened on the band's recent trip to Durmersheim in Germany. There are a number of photos, which you can click to enlarge.
Day 1:
Our group was split between those travelling by coach and those travelling by air. The coach party started first by leaving Littlehampton at 5:30am ready for what should've been a 13 hour trip. The next group were the flyers who had a lie in then made their way leisurely to Gatwick for a 10:30am meeting. (Typically the conductor was the last to arrive!)
The flyers wasted no time in checking in before heading to the departure lounge for shopping and eating a hearty breakfast. As it turned out they had plenty of time as the plane was 20 minutes late leaving, which played havoc with the well planned timetable. Still it allowed Gill plenty of time to help Bob buy some sunglasses.
By the time the plane landed in Strasbourg, the coach had reached Luxembourg and the members of the twinning association as well as the band were enjoying a nice cuppa. Meanwhile, the flyers were making their way into the centre of Strasburg to find that they had missed their connecting train. This meant a much more elaborate journey via Offenburg (wherever that is?)
Offenburg is a very sleepy town just over the boarder in Germany but luckily Peter L and Bob managed to find a bar over the road and bought some beer for the weary travellers. However, this delay was matched by the coach who had been diverted due to an accident.
The flyers then found themselves heading for Karlsruhe which was further than they needed to go. However, on arriving they soon found the tram station to head back to Durmersheim. Although the coach were ahead of the flyers, they soon came across another accident causing delays so it now looked like the flyers would win this race.
However, the tram decided it was not going to go to the correct destination so the group had no choice but to get off and wait for the next tram. (Still, it allowed enough time for more beer!) By the time the correct tram arrived, the coach were arriving and beat the flyers by a mere 10 minutes, both being some 2 hours behind schedule!
We were all taken to the town hall (called a 'Rathaus' in German) where there were speeches and a welcoming party for us. Below are some pictures of the welcoming party as well as the Tree that Littlehampton gave Durmersheim and the picture that they gave us.
We all then went to our respective homes for the night and something to eat. Some were staying with host families but a few others were in hotels. Quite a few people ended up in a Greek restaurant and after all the wine, beer and ouzo, I think everyone got a good night's sleep.
Day 2:
This morning found us all getting up quite early and heading by tram to Rastatt which is a very picturesque baroque town to the south of Durmersheim. Behind us is Rastatt castle which was the first part of our tour.
The castle is very impressive and offered tours although we didn't have time to do those. Next were taken by our guide down into the main town centre where we saw the town hall and some impressive fountains too!
As you can see, there were lots of pictures taken and everyone was having a good time. The only problem was the heat as we were treated to temperatures of 32 degrees centigrade. Many were looking for shade so our guide soon found us a nice cool cathedral to cool down in.
The inside of this cathedral was really quite impressive with lots of ornamental sculptures and a huge organ up above the entrance to the cathedral. Unfortunately the pictures of the inside are a little dark.
Again our group split up, this time because the heat was making a few people thirsty so while the others continued the tour, the rest of us found a bar and sat outside in the shade.
We had a great time sitting drinking ice cold beer in the heat. (You may notice a distinctive
theme here and it is usually the same culprits) Meanwhile, the tour continued and headed for an old school building. You'll notice Tony Squires was sat at the front for being naughty!
As if we hadn't had enough to drink, when the group reformed, we boarded a bus to a nearby brewery for lunch. Luckily, our German friends were on hand to translate the menu and we all enjoyed a very nice meal.
What Mike is doing in that last photo no one knows but we all had a great time and a splendid meal
although it may have been a bit much for some people. After our lunch (and after Peter woke up) we headed up the road to the 'CaseMates' which are an underground network of tunnels and rooms designed to provide shelter during times of war.
They were built in the mid 19th century and were also used to hold rebel prisoners. It was quite interesting to look around down here and we were told all about the history in both German and English. It was also quite cold down in there so a welcome change from the heat.
After this tour, the evening was left free so that people could spend time with their families. Some families
got together and put on a meal, while others went out for dinner together. A few of us went to a local pub which served traditional German food. I must say, the German food is excellent and once we had finished, we had a short walk to where the Durmersheim band were about to start their rehearsal.
In fact there were a number of us at the rehearsal as a few people were staying with members of the Durmersheim band. They were very obliging and let a few people play with them as they rehearsed. They even (foolishly) let Bob conduct their version of the Lion King and were most surprised when he shouted at them in German for going too fast!
During the rehearsal, they had a full bar open and once the practice had finished, all the members of the band sat down to a meal. Not only was the beer flowing but also a strange spirit that they called
'MusicaSchnapps' which was mighty strong but very, very good. (Jan, Bob, Jim and Anita bought their entire stock!) The picture on the right is Jan and Christine with Dagmar who conducts the Durmersheim band.
We finally called it a night around midnight and retired to bed, however some of the others were still partying, eating and talking until the small hours. This included David B who had shown great courage by broaching a taboo subject and discussing the war. Thankfully the international relations are still intact!
Day 3:
The morning didn't start well. We had decided to meet to play outside near the town hall and although it was a nice sunny day, the wind had gotten up. This was a public rehearsal and due to the festivities on the previous evening, we really needed it. More shouting from Bob ensued and after about an hour and a half, the band were dismissed to get hang-over cures.
Still, even after a ear bashing from the director, the band made good use of their free time and set off in many directions for a few hours. A number of people went to Karlsruhe and ended up having a slap up meal in a little restaurant near the centre. Then there was enough time to look around the shops before heading back to Durmersheim before the evening's festivities.
Meanwhile, back in Durmersheim, the various dignitaries of both Durmersheim and Littlehampton were digging a hole to plant the tree that had been brought over as a present. Thankfully there was plenty of champagne on hand to quench the worker's thirst!
At 4pm everyone began arriving at the School of Wurmersheim (the village next to Durmersheim) for a big party. In fact we didn't realise quite how big an affair this would be as we turned up with instruments etc.
Once more the beer was flowing and there were people from all the local bands as well as the twinning association there. The musical fun started about 4:30pm when a young lad began jamming on the piano. Alex was soon enthralled and Mike grabbed some sticks and laid down a drum beat behind him.
Then, at 5pm the first of the four bands set up to play. They were the youth band and did a great job, playing some really fun music. All the bands were playing under a glass cover and it gave a great acoustic for an outdoor performance.
Next was the turn of Dagmar and the Durmersheim band. Dressed in their smart maroon waistcoats, they put on a brilliant performance and seemed to have lots of fun in doing so. However, they had clearly not learned their lesson yet and asked Bob to
conduct their version of Sussex By The Sea.
While all this music was going on, our hosts laid on a huge feast of salat, wurst und schnitzel (that's salad, sausages and thin pork chops to you and I) and we were given tickets with which to get whatever we wanted.
Naturally there was lots more beer and it was hard work for the band to resist drinking too much as they were next to perform. We had an hour and a half to fill so put on a mixed programme of things and thankfully the band were sober enough to put on a really good show. (It seems that the gentle pep-talk in the morning rehearsal paid off!)
As we played through our programme, we soon found we still had a few minutes to fill so added an item that was not our original programme. That piece was Hootenanny and went down a storm with the crowd. The trumpets, clarinets and trombones were standing up intermittently and having real fun with it.
To finish, we then played the traditional version of Sussex By The Sea, but to return the compliment, Bob asked Dagmar to conduct and he went and joined some of the other English people who had made a makeshift choir. (although I don't think his singing is up to much!)
Once we had finished, it was time for some speeches. The dignitaries from both sides said their bits and
received cheerful applause. But most impressive of all was John W who said his words of thanks in English first, then confidently repeated them in German. The band were then
asked for an impromptu encore and obliged by repeating Hootenanny, to which the crowd got up and danced. Quite a spectacle, I assure you!
We finished to a huge cheer then went back to our well earned beers! This was when the
band really let their hair down and had loads of fun. The last band to perform were the Wurmersheim band who played an excellent two hour set even as the light faded.
The crowd who were by now well oiled, danced the night away and had a great time. It really was a superb party and a fantastic climax to the weekend.
Day 4:
After such a good night previously, there were a few hangovers as the coach prepared to leave. But as the goodbyes were said, John H grabbed a clarinet and started playing Auld Lang Syne to which both the English and German people formed a huge circle and started to sing and dance along.
Once the coach had gone, a few of us went with some of our German hosts to a small coffee shop near the station and there we stayed, talking for ages. It was really nice to get some time to have some really good conversations.
Finally the flyers left and headed back to France to catch their flight. After a couple of hours to look around Strasbourg, the plane got off on time and both the flyers and the coach party got back on schedule.