And we're off

We left Roquetes on Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday the 23 of April. During the afternoon Fredo, Guillem and I organized the instruments and things that we had to take with us on the trip and got everything ready for loading the bus.

"Vam sortir de Roquetes dimecres dia 23 d'Abril per la tarde. Durant tot es capvespre en Fredo, en Guillem i jo vam organitzar es instruments i totes aquelles coses que teníem que agafar pes viatge per a que tot anigués bé per a carregar s'autobús".






























The students started to arrive at about half past four and they were soon all on the bus.

"Els alumnes van començar a arribar a les 16:30 i prest van estar tots a nes bus"















We had a slight delay because Guillem had forgotten to pack his own bag and had to go to do it making us late in leaving.

"Vam tenir un petit retràs perque en Guillem va oblidar agafar es seu equipatge i va tenir que anar a fer-lo antes de partir"








When he finally got on the bus there was a lot of loud cheering and whistling!

"Quan finalment va arribar, va ser rebut amb ovacions i siulades"













We got to the port of Barcelona with no trouble, the port is at the bottom of the Ramblas and right next to the statue of Colom.

"Vam arribar a nes port de Barcelona sense problemes. El port està a sa part baixa de les rambles i just a la dreta de s'estatua de Colon"









Inside we had to transport all the material onto the boat, something that was not easy but got better over the length of the holiday.

"Un cop a dins vam tenir que transportar el material a l'interior des barco, cosa que no va ser fàcil però durant es viatge va anar millor"
















Here you can see we had two pianos, a complete drumset and various boxes with diverse instruments.

"Aquí podeu veure que noltros teníem 2 pianos, una completa bateria i diferents caixes amb diferents instruments"

Student logic prevailed and Arnal and the others insisted in going down the escalator even though there was a perfectly acceptable set of stairs right next door.

"La lògica del alumnes va fer que Arnal i els altres van insistir en baixar per les escales mecàniques quan en tenien unes de normals just al costat de la porta"



















On the boat and with the instruments and the baggage all stowed we only had a short time before the evening meal. Right from the off some of the students started to complain that they were feeling seasick, ok there was a little movement but nothing that could have possibly made anyone ill. Most of them ate well.

"Un cop a nes barco, i amb es instruments i s'equipatge colocats, només vam tenir una mica de temps abans de sopar. Just quan vam partir, alguns alumnes es van començar a sentir maretjats.
Bé, sa veritat és que es barco es movia un poc, però res que de s'altre món. Sa majoria d'ells van estar bé"






























































And here ended the first day, well almost. Some of us were up till late playing cards in the bar and a few were up to an even more ridiculous hour, about half past four, chatting.

"I aquí va acabar es primer dia. Tot va anar bé. Alguns de noltros mos vam anar a dormir tard jugant a cartes a nes bar i uns quants van estar una hora més parlant"

Most people tried to sleep, not many managed to.

"Sa majoria va triar dormir, tot i que no tots ho van aconseguir"

The first day

On the first morning we were up before six as Fredo had told us that it would be worth getting up to see the sun come up and the entrance to the port of Mao.

"Es primer matí mos vam aixecar antes de les 6 tal i com en Fredo mos va dir que teniem que fer per tal de veure sortir es sol i veure s'entrada a es port de Maó"















Of course we were both able to shower and have a shave (well me at least) before going to look for the students, the advantages of having a cabin on the boat.

"Evidentment, noltros vam tenir s'oportunitat de fer-nos una ducha i d'afeitar-mos antes d'anar a veure es estudiants, ses aventatges de tenir camerot "









They were not so lucky. Reclining seats are never a good way to sleep and on the Wysteria they are not the modern ones and so are even worst for sleeping.

"Ells no estaven tant contents. Es assientos reclinables no han estat mai una bona manera de dormir i a nes Wysteria no eren gaire moderns i son bastant incòmodos per a dormir"















Still they look as if they are sleeping well enough.

"Tot i així, sembla que ells dormien prou bé"










Some even brought a sleeping bag as a blanket.

"Alguns d'ells utilitzaven un sac de dormir com a manta"















Some didn't appreciate being woken up at six in the morning!

"Alguns d'ells no van apreciar es fet de tenir-se que aixecar a les sis des matí"















And others couldn't be woken at all!

"I uns altres no estaven desperts del tot"

The port of Maó

This is the map from google of the port.

"Aquest és es mapa des port de Maó que hem tret des google"


View Larger Map

The first day, arriving in port

Once we had woken up most of them we got them out on to the deck to enjoy the fresh air and to watch the sun coming up as we glided into the port of Mao.

"Un cop ja haviem despertat a sa majoria des alumnes, amb sortir tots fora a sa coberta des barco per a disfrutar de s'aire fresc i per a veure sortir es sol mentres entravem a es port de Maó"





























Though as you can see a lot of them don't really look as if they are fully appreciating the wonderful opportunity Fredo and I were giving them.

"Com podeu veure, molts d'ells no feien aspecte de disfrutar de sa preciosa oportunitat que en Fredo i jo els hi estavem donant"
































And some of them even went back to sleep on the floor of the observation deck, when the deck with their seats was one flight up.

"I alguns d'ells van tornar a dormir al terra de sa coberta, mentres que ses butaques simplement estaven unes escales més amunt"








Eventually we all went towards the bow and were able to actually see the entrance to the port, which in fact is also well worth seeing.

"També vam anar cap a sa proa des barco per a veure s'entrada a es port, cosa que realment val la pena"























Alfredo pointed out to people where he lives, where his parents live and even a small beach on Sa Illa del Rei where he rowed to for a stag night in a canoe with some friends.

"En Fredo va ensenyar a sa gent allà on ell vivia i allà on viuen es seus pares i també una petita platja a S'Illa del Rei on ell va anar amb canoa per a nedar amb uns amics "

The first day, the school and the alberg

Just as we were arriving to the dock we saw these two minuscule figures waving madly at the boat, they were Fredo's parents who had come to meet us all. More specifically they had also come to give us all a copy of the local newspaper from the 22nd which had an article in it about the orchestra coming to play.

"Just quan estàvem arribant a nes moll, vam veure dues minúscules figures fent senyals cap es barco. Ells eren es pares den Fredo, que van venir a donar-nos sa benvinguda. Més especialment, ells van venir a donar-nos una copia a cada un des diari local de Menorca on sortia sa notícia de que s'orquesta anava a tocar allà"


















So we had the curious sight, once we had disembarked and loaded everything into the bus, of seeing all 49 students with their newspaper open reading quietly as the bus pulled away.

"Noltros ho vam veure una vegada havíem desenbarcat i estàvem a s'interior des barco. Tots es alumnes estàven quiets llegint es seus diaris"





























It was very weird.

"Era un fet bastant estrany"















Crossing the length of Menorca took about 45 mins and if nothing else was interesting as it gave us a chance to see what the island is like. We arrived in Ciutadella and soon found the school we had arranged to perform with.

"Mentres creuavem s'illa de Menorca durant uns 45 minuts, anàvem comentant lo molt que mos agradava lo que veiem de s'illa. Vam arribar a Ciutadella i es al·lots van veure s'escola on anàvem a tocar"









We soon unloaded everything and stored it all in their music room ready for setting up later on that morning.

"Ho vam tenir que baixar tot i ho vam guardar tot dins s'aula de música que ells tenien allà preparada"







































By this time some people had woken up, enough at least to react when faced with a camera. Though no one knows what Maria and Marta are doing here.

"Durant aquest temps, alguns d'ells s'anaven despertant, almenos lo suficient com per a reaccionar davant una camara. Encara no sabem què estaven fent aquí na Marta i na Maria"





















Others of course just went back to sleep, not that I remember them having been awake actually.

"Uns altres, per descomptat, van tornar a dormir, i no record si actualment ja s'han despert"