Time to Jazz It Up!

      Today was definitely better than yesterday! I woke up to the sun shining around 6 am, which is weird if you are familiar with my sleeping habits. Around nine, Claudia offered to make me breakfast (for a price of 2.50 Euro). I was expecting an egg since she had asked if I liked them, but what I got was way more! Hot tea, bread, cheese, mysterious meat...it was all delicious!

Breakfast! 

Aboard the Ferry

         The ElbJazz Festival was not to begin until 2:00 pm, so I had more time than I had hoped to kill in the morning. What did I do? booked my next hotel and took a two-hour nap! After finally making it to the harbor in the chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit and rainy weather, I checked in and boarded a ferry. (Don't worry, I was fully equipped with gloves, scarf, North Face, and umbrella). I passed over part of the Elbe River to get to the port, where there were three stages. My favorite band there was the Kyteman Orchestra. Consisting of brass, strings, voice, percussion, and one energetic conductor, this group was very entertaining. Everyone seemed moved by the music, including the crowd! The lead singer had a great presence, but seemed very humbled by the crowd's cheers and the way he congratulated the others in the group. It's nice to see a hip-hop group seem as a whole, instead of one person taking hold of the glory. At least most of the choruses were in English, so I would definitely check this group out!

Kyteman Orchestra

Nils Wülker

      I also saw performances by  Nils Wülker, Nils Wogram, Hayden Chisholm, and HFMT BigBand. I'm only upset that I couldn't see more of the concerts. I did not want to be out after dark and many were the same time as others. Still worth it! Some free concerts are being performed tomorrow, so I might go check it out again. For lunch...Currywurst! Delicious!

Nils Wogram, Hayden Chisholm, and HFMT BigBand

Currywurst

More pictures on the "Gallery" page!










Cultural Differences to Note:

ElbJazz Bag-Hat

      As instructed by a VT professor of mine, I people-watched and found Germans are quite innovative. For instance, I had not seen a poncho built just for your backpack, but alas! one man was wearing one. Another sign of the German's creativity is the gentlemen in the picture on the right, using his ElbJazz bag as a hat. Go German Innovation!

Bookbag Poncho