News Details
JUL 28, 2010
2010 European Concert Tour. Read Electric Youth's Journal!
ELECTRIC YOUTH RETURNS HOME AFTER MONTH-LONG EUROPEAN TOUR
June 22th ~ Entry by Katie Ryan, 16, of Millville
After four days, I can happily say that the Electric Youth European Tour is already a blast! Last Friday night we departed from Boston for a first stop in Zurich, Switzerland and then on to Austria. We had a surprise upon our arrival in Vienna when a group of our fans greeted us at the airport! Later that day our entourage settled in to the beautiful Hotel de France. Vienna is one of the most incredible cities I have ever visited. The culture and history here is amazing; so many classical music icons worked and composed here. It blows my mind to think that famous people such as Beethoven, Sigmund Freud and Mozart, among others, have been where I have been walking the past few days.
Our first show was at the Danube Park on Sunday evening. Despite cold, drizzly weather we were able to perform for a small crowd. The show was so much fun and everyone who was there really enjoyed our performance. What an excellent way to start our 12-concert tour!
Our second show was on Monday night at the historic Vienna Kammeroper. This was a bit different from our first show because we performed in a theater as opposed to an outdoor stage. Our “Friend in Me Theater Company” program became international when we worked with Vienna’s “Ich bin Okay”, a dance group for children with Down Syndrome. The group of eight girls and their instructors performed “We’re All In This Together” from High School Musical with us during the show. The kids were incredible; I could not believer their energy, talent and positive attitudes. Our show was excellent! One of the biggest thrills of an Electric youth performance is the rush of adrenaline we get from an amazing crowd.
Our first few days here have been fantastic! The beginning of this experience is beyond belief and I can’t wait for more to come!
June 23rd ~ Entry by Meghan Dean, 16, of Franklin
Almost a week since departure and two shows down, and Electric Youth’s 2010 tour is already full of memories. On Tuesday all 18 EY members, some of the parent entourage, and of course the band and staff departed from Hotel de France and loaded our tour bus that would take us to the beginning of our Danube River boat tour. Despite the chilly weather, the sights were phenomenal. I hadn’t been on the tour of the Danube and the sights were even more beautiful than I imagined. There were hills of green, quaint houses, and very old churches embedded in the hillside. After lunch and relaxing sightseeing on the boat, we disembarked and headed to the Monastery Melk.
Within the yellow exterior of the Monastery is the most exquisite and spiritual church I have ever seen. The extravagance of the churches in Europe always amazes me. We sat in this magnificent gold church as a member of the music faculty at the monastery gave us a command performance on one of the premier pipe organs in all of Austria. The special concert was arranged by our bus driver Franz who went to school there.
Our next stop on our sightseeing tour was the quaint town of Baden. Some of us chose to shop (that’s what I did!), some chose to explore and some chose to indulge in some pre-dinner gelato. It was a quick side trip but well worth it!
The day ended with one of the most memorable dinners I have ever been to. We ate at a traditional heurige in the town of Gumpoldskirchen (try saying that!) where guests are always entertained by an accordion player. Electric Youth and entourage, being the rather outgoing group that we are, were of course up singing and dancing. Soon it was back to the bus to head back to the hotel to bed.
Wednesday we had a very early start to the day. We set off on what would be a four-hour bus ride to the Austrian town of Hallstatt. Every EY member slept to get rid of some lasting jet lag! At Hallstatt we all separated in groups to have lunch, shop and sightsee. It was a gorgeous lake town in the mountains with cobblestone streets and hillside shops. The fresh air and much warmer sunshine was well worth the trip.
We enjoyed another Austrian dinner at a heurige in the village of Grinzing in Vienna.
We were joined by some of our Austrian friends including Regina Seidlhofer who helped arrange the first trip to Europe for the Franklin School for the Performing Arts in 1998. It has been an eventful few days and I’m sure the next EY member will report on our next adventures!
June 24th ~ Entry by Dan Harcourt, 18, of Millville
In the year preceding the European Tour, each member of Electric Youth was most likely preoccupied with choreography and vocal preparations for upcoming venues in Austria, Slovenia, and Italy. After our arrival, however, we were reminded that this tour would not only open the flood gates to our opportunities in entertainment, but also to European culture, art, and an overall unique life experience.
On Thursday, June 24th, Electric youth woke once again in Hotel de France, exhausted from a full week of activities, yet enthused for the weeks to come. After packing for the day and enjoying a few cups of coffee, I set off with the group to Schonbrunn Palace (where EY played a concert in 2007!). Karl-Heinz, our tour guide, proved yet again his knowledge of legitimately EVERTHING a person could possibly want to know about Austria. As we walked up the steps of the majestic palace, Karl told us of Maria Theresa and her enlightenment era influence on the architecture. Inside was what I can only describe as a torrent of history and art. Each room made my eyes widen and I exited with an inevitable smile. To learn about Austrian history in school and then come face to face with it only a month later, is an unbelievable experience.
The day had only begun, however. Our group traveled to the Kulturhaus Wagram in St. Polten – our next concert venue. Before our show we worked with a local music school in a musical theater workshop. After teaching the young Austrian dancers some of our choreography, their group later appeared in our show for a collaborative piece – our selection from the globally popular High School Musical. The show was an overall success. Each song made the crowd cheer louder and louder and upon leaving the stage, the crowd kept clapping; demanding an encore. With each show, Electric Youth is greeted by eager fans. So far, we can tell we are doing a good job – when we leave the stage, everyone is smiling. THAT is what Electric Youth is about.
June 25th ~ Entry by Catherine Weiss, 17, of Franklin
It’s hard to believe that it has already been an entire week since Electric Youth took off from American soil and made our way across the Atlantic. On this particular Friday morning, we were finally provided the option to sleep in! J Until 1:30, the EY kids had the freedom to sleep, shop, or visit a museum with our tour guide and friend Karl-Heinz. Dan and I visited the Natural History museum with a small group of parents and siblings. Later we all had a quick visit to the Belvedere museum – mostly to see Klimt’s famous painting “The Kiss” before moving to the Musikverein (where Electric Youth did a concert in 2008) to hear a concert of the Vienna Boys Choir. Just picture 24 pre-teen boys harmonizing beautifully and managing to sing higher than Meg – and that’s what it was! It was an extremely enjoyable performance to say the least. When the concert was over, the bus took us to my personal favorite spot in Vienna – The Prater. The Prater is a rather sketchy Austrian version of Six Flags, with the worlds’ oldest ferris wheel – The Riesenrahd is located at the entrance. The two hours were spent at the park flew by. The group split up between those who wanted to ride the rides and those who needed a snack. Of course, I ran around the park and hurried to ride every roller coaster I could find. We were joined by members of the band on the go-carts before heading back to the bus to go to dinner at the Gmoa Keller, a very typical Viennese restaurant.
Our entrourage grew at dinner when we were joined by Katie’s dad and Guy Rezendes who will work on our tech crew for the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, with this hello we also had to say goodbye to our Austrian friends Stefan and Alex who came to Franklin last summer and did SummerStage at FSPA. Our farewell included the gift of a new teddy bear in lederhosen mascot and best wishes for the rest of the tour. We left dinner and got back to the hotel after midnight, eager to jump into bed and start a new day.
June 26th ~ Entry by Emily Harrington, 15, of Norfolk
I can’t believe we have already been in the beautiful city of Vienna for a week! It feels like so much less than that. Time truly does fly when you’re having fun.
Today was all fun, all the time. We started off the day with a tour tradition – a scavenger hunt in the first district in Vienna. Five teams raced through Vienna to try to find all the items on the list. Some of these things included taking a picture with a tourist group and posing with a live animal. When it came down to declaring a winner, the tie breaker was to buy the tackiest souvenir we could find for 5 Euros or less. My team ended up coming in last for the scavenger hunt but it was still an awesome adventure.
Next we traveled to our performance in Gerersdorf. We were part of a three-day music festival put on by the mayor of this beautiful little Austrian town. I was absolutely blown away by the audience at this show. Their cheers at the end of every song were deafening. They loved us so much that we got called back for TWO encores! I love performing for a crowd like this because we feed off their energy. And even off stage, the excitement didn’t stop. We were greeted by lots of fans, especially young ones! We all signed autographs on t-shirts, hats and programs! We were treated like celebrities which was such an incredible feeling. Shows like tonight’s make me look forward to the performance yet to come.
Today was amazing, but on this trip, every day is an exciting adventure. This is my first year in Electric Youth so the trip is new and different through my eyes. As a “newbie”, everything is so wonderous that it feels like it’s not even real. Electric Youth is a group of the 18 luckiest kids in the world, all living our dream and sharing our universal language of music with the world.
June 27th ~ Entry by Galen Hancock, 16, of Franklin
Today as we packed our bags, loaded the bus and passed by our favorite bagel shop, Electric Youth sadly departed Vienna, the beautiful city that we have come to love over the past week. But as we ended one adventure, we began a new one. Heading toward our performance venue in Oberwart (where EY was invited for the 5th time), we traveled to Pinkafeld and moved into our home for this one-night stop.
There was little time for rest as our next show was coming right up at 7:00. Electric Youth enjoyed some afternoon gelato across the street as the crew loaded in the sound equipment and set the stage. After much hair primping and quickly dressing in our makeshift dressing room (our tour bus), we were ready for another high energy performance. We all agreed that Oberwart would be “electrified” when we were done, and as we heard the band playing the overture, we eagerly prepared to run onto the stage and deliver another show.
The audience turned out to be a great one, and we did an encore! Following the show, EY sat down to a cookout-like dinner of various salads and sausages, replenishing the energy we had just spent. We even indulged in a second serving of gelato before leaving Oberwart! After a long day of travel and one more performance, Electric Youth was ready for bed; eager to end one event-filled day and prepare for the next.
June 28th ~ Entry by Corinne Falotico, 17, of Wrentham
Today’s activities required a very early start, but we certainly had incentive to wake up: we were going to visit the Zotter Chocolate factory! Although our tour began at the nice-and-early hour of 8:30 a.m., the caffeine in the chocolate definitely kept us from dozing off!
Being in the chocolate factory made me feel like I had just won the golden ticket to Willie Wonka’s factory! I’ve never seen anything like it – in the first room everyone was given a spoon to try chocolate at every stage. 100% chocolate was disgustingly bitter, but 40% chocolate was perfect! In the next room, you could choose from a variety of different flavors of drinking chocolate that was to be mixed with steaming hot milk.
The variety of flavors at every stop was infinite! The last room had a conveyer belt that transported pieces of chocolate with every filling you could imagine – even fish! Yuck!
My favorite flavor was raspberry. The tour ended with the gift shop where every shelf was stocked with every flavor we had just seen on our chocolate excursion, and more! I couldn’t stop myself from spending twelve Euros (sorry, Mom!) on my new favorite flavors of chocolate. It was an amazing experience!
After a very long bus ride where we were all able to take advantage of some much needed naptime, we visited Mirimare Castle. It was so beautiful. I can’t imagine how someone could wake up every morning in a palace like that with such a gorgeous view of the sea. The view was breathtaking. I can’t believe that just three days ago we visited the Belvedere in Vienna. The cultural sites that we have been visiting on this tour are unbelievable.
And now we are off to Slovenia! I can’t wait to see what the culture is like in this tiny country. Being a part of Electric Youth and this European tour truly makes me feel as though I am the luckiest teenager in the world!
June 29th ~ Entry by Kerryn Reeve, 17, of Franklin
This morning Electric Youth woke up to beautiful weather in Slovenia. It was a picture perfect day for shopping and the beach. Many of the girls went to a flea market by the beach. The flea market displayed beautiful hand-crafted jewelry. Unlike at home, there was no sand at the beach by our hotel, instead cement flooring and grass where many chairs were set up. After shopping and the beach everyone ate lunch at our hotel. The salt-water pool complex was the place to go after lunch! We all enjoyed tanning in the sun and swimming in the refreshing pools. The day was very easy going and we all enjoyed it very much!
Electric Youth had a show at Portoroz, within the Life Class Hotel Slovenia. This show featured a lot of our Broadway music as well as a lot of songs from our pop list. The audience enjoyed our version of the famous Italian song “Azzuro”. The song “Volare” also got the attention of the audience. We’re ready for Italy!!
After the show, kids came up to members of EY and asked for autographs. Our show was a great way to end our short stay in Slovenia. Tomorrow we are off to Florence!
June 30th ~ Entry by Jacquie Hurley, 18, of North Attleboro
Day 13 begins the leg of the trip I have been anticipating the most; our arrival into Italy! But before we could take in all the yummy gelato, pizza, pasta, trendy shops and rockin’ shows, we had a long day of travel ahead, departing from Portoroz, Slovenia and driving to Florence. We were quickly asleep and soon waking up for our lunch stop.
Lunch in Padua was a true Italian experience where the pizza and pasta hit the spot!
When we were finished I had the “lovely” opportunity to use a toilet that one often finds in Italy – more or less a hole in the floor. That is quite the experience!
After a few more hours of sleeping on the bus, we finally reached Florence. Once I settled into my hotel room with Meg and Corinne (its fun that we switch roommates at every hotel), we were soon off with the group for a short walk around the magnificent city of Florence. It wasn’t long until we all worked up an appetite for some more traditional Italian food. Every course was delicious, but my favorite part was dessert. I ate every last drop of my hazelnut gelato. With just a small taste of today, I am so excited to see what tomorrow has in store.
July 1st ~Entry by Erica McLaughlin, 16, of Medfield
Today was Electric Youth’s free day in Florence! We started our day with a two-hour walking tour to see a few of the city’s most famous sights including the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, Michelangelo’s David (some of us saw the replica) and many of the beautiful squares and churches. It was too much to see in our one-day visit. After our tour, we broke off into small groups for shopping and lunch. There were so many wonderful shops and everyone had a great time. Florence did, however, teach us to be aware of our surroundings. One of the girls had her purse stolen while she was at lunch and we learned that Italian drivers are NOT going to stop for you so get out of the way!
After our shopping spree in Florence we traveled to the incredible town of Todi in Italy’s Umbria region. We had a delicious dinner served outside at long tables – there were 55 of us! The chef came out so we could applaud and then we sang a song to say thank you. After dinner we checked into our amazing hotel. My room lucked out – our room looks like a palace! We are having a great time in Europe and are growing and becoming more culturally aware day by day!
July 2nd ~ Entry by Michael Egan, 17, of Hopkinton
Today we had a free day in Todi, Italy which began with a walk by our stage for tomorrow’s show. We had time to do a little sightseeing on our own. While walking around, we stopped at a place with a panoramic view overlooking Todi and the hills of Umbria. The view was amazing so we decided to stop and take some pictures. A group of us ate lunch at a beautiful little restaurant on a side alley and afterward we went back to our hotel and relaxed before our trip to the ancient town of Orvieto later in the afternoon. Our time in Orvieto was spent enjoying the sites as we walked through the ancient streets. We did some shopping and many Electric Youth members browsed through different soccer jerseys and Itlalia sweatshirts. For dinner, we took a trip to a huge and very old winery where we were given a tour of the underground cellar where the wine is processed and stored. Dinner consisted of different breads, meats and cheeses with a wine tasting for the adults. While the adults were sampling different wines, EY enjoyed the sunset and beautiful view of the vineyards while hanging out and playing games. This was a great day for Electric Youth to relax and enjoy a part of Italy before kicking off our run of five straight shows.
July 3rd ~ Entry by Ali McCurdy, 18, of Medfield
The last few days have been filled with early mornings, long walking tours and late nights. All of the fun finally caught up with us as we prepared for the upcoming five shows in a row. Luckily, today was declared as a rest day, and it was absolutely perfect. It didn’t even start ‘til noon and for most, sleeping through breakfast. We then were surprised with the fantastic news that we would be able to go to a pool for a few hours before the show. Everyone lounged in the sun until it was too much to handle, forcing us to jump in the refreshing water. Once we were all sunned out, we were given a few hours to nap, pack for our departure to Aviano Air Force Base the next day, and get ready for tonight’s show in Todi.
Finally, it was show time. As we approached the stage I was shocked. The venue was breathtaking. It was a beautiful piazza (town square) ready for Electric Youth. We ran onto the stage even though the crowd was somewhat small. We sang and danced and the crowd grew and grew. More and more people came to see us which made us work even harder. Finally, it was time to perform the song “Beautiful”. We sang it with our hearts until suddenly at the end, it went dark. The electricity went out! It was one of those learning experiences where we as a group had to keep going. When they got the sound back, we went on with the show. We didn’t need lights to make us shine. It ended up being one of my favorite shows. The crowd was great, the stage was perfect, and there was a little gust of wind that kept us cool.
As I went back to our hotel, I felt great about the show we gave and the way we handled ourselves with the electrical malfunction. But it was time to sleep since we would have to be up in just a few hours for our 5:30 a.m. call to load the bus and drive to Aviano Air Force Base for the Fourth of July.
July 4th ~ Entry by Ali Funkhouser, 14, of Franklin
Electric Youth started its Fourth of July at 5:30 a.m. loading our bus in Todi for a six-hour bus ride to Aviano Air Force Base! When we arrived around noon we were greeted by the event coordinator April and brought to the base’s country club. Every one of us was ecstatic to find that lunch was an all-American buffet complete with fried chicken, French fries, and potato salad. After our wonderful meal we headed over to the stage for setup/sound check.
At this time in the afternoon it was blazing hot and we expected the weather would stay this way for our show, but after going to the hotel to change into our costumes, the sun went away completely. As we gathered in our hotel lobby, we watched the rain pour down with thunder, lightning and hail to go with it. Once the rain eased up a bit we went back to the stage (which was luckily located inside a tent) and had a great show in the new cooler weather. We were able to meet the GENERAL of the base! He greeted us before the concert and came on stage with us at the end of the show to do the official countdown to the fireworks. We performed a few patriotic songs as well as our usual songs for the troops and their families who live there. They all enjoyed the show so much and it was an honor to perform for them.
Afterwards we watched an amazing fireworks show and then had our second American meal of the day – hamburgers, corn, baked beans and apple crisp. Colonel Lagassey who arranged EY’s first visit to Aviano in 2003 came by to see us at dinner and it was a perfect end to our 2010 Fourth of July.
July 5th ~ Entry by Samantha Vita, 14, of North Attleboro
After an amazing Fourth of July celebration, Electric Youth woke up to the smell of a homestyle American breakfast that Aviano Air Force Base prepared for us at the base golf course. We took group photos on the putting green with the mountains behind us before we said our goodbyes to our American friends. We then traveled to Lignano, a beautiful beach town on the Adriatic. The ocean views are breathtaking and so was our first lunch at La Granseola (Electric Youth’s favorite Italian restaurant) with an extensive selection of pizza and pasta while looking out over the beach.
Before we knew it, showtime had arrived! The show was at the Pracurte Winery (where EY played a show in 2007) with a great stage and an amazing audience. Many important people, including the Archbishop of the region and ambassador of The Pope. The Secretary of Culture of Venice came to the stage at the end of the performance to congratulate us and he announced that Electric Youth would be invited to play in Venice. Despite the extreme heat and natty bugs, Electric Youth pulled through as always and had fun of a lifetime.
July 6th ~ Entry by Callie Liljeberg, 17, of Wrentham
Electric Youth’s stay in Lignano is a highlight of the trip. Lignano offers a variety of activities including swimming in the ocean, shopping, hanging by the pool, getting amazing food or playing in arcades. There is so much to do in Lignano, but so little time to accomplish everything. Catherine and I decided to wake up early and get a head start on shopping. I needed to purchase gifts for my family members. In addition to shopping at the typical Italian trinket shops, we went into clothing boutiques. One store that is really cool is Nadalini where all the clothes are sorted into sections based on color. It is a really fun store to shop at and all the shopping in Italy is different from the shopping back in Massachusetts.
After shopping, Catherine and I decided to hang out by the pool until EY had to go to lunch – again at our favorite restaurant La Granseola. The pasta is to die for! Oh, how Meg and I had a craving for gelato after lunch. Captain Morgan’s is everybody’s favorite. It is open all day and night, too and some people even get gelato from Captain Morgan’s for breakfast! Yumm! Meg and I got caught in a thunderstorm on the way back to our hotel. We got nervous because we had a show that night in Bibione and this venue at the Piazza Fontana is always the best and most fun show on the tour. Bibione always attracts the largest crowd. The possibility of having our show rained out was really disappointing to think about. The rain did clear, though, and our show in Bibione did happen! I grew nervous when it drizzled for a few minutes during our Stevie Wonder medley, but the rain never came and our show was awesome. Our energy was great. I feel that our Bibione show was our best one yet. The audience was absolutely huge (thousands!) and it is always a little a better to play for bigger audiences and get lots of feedback.
Following the show we ate dinner at a pizzeria near the venue. Since our show ended around 11:00, we were at dinner until 1:30 in the morning! It is crazy how late we eat in Italy, but it is so worth staying up late after an amazing show in Italy! It is such an awesome experience that every minute is precious, no matter how tired we are.
July 7th ~ Entry by Jillian Gleason, 18, of Franklin
We can’t say goodbye to the Italian beaches of Lignano without celebrating our traditional Kids vs. Staff FSPA Summer Games. Filled with both competition and excitement, we began the day by playing against the staff in an “intense” beach volleyball game. Only to continue our tradition, of course, the Electric Youth team unfortunately faced an embarrassing loss. We ended the game covered in sand after watching our graceful dancers take nose dives into the sand in attempts to hit the ball. The volleyball game always reminds us of why we chose musical theater rather than a sports team.
Following the game, we enjoyed swimming, playing games and riding paddle boats in our “Regatta” in the Adriatic under a crystal blue sky.
For lunch we dined at our favorite restaurant La Granseola for the last time. After filling our stomachs with the best Italian food around, we prepared for our show at the Beach Village in Lignano. Despite heavy winds, we were fortunate enough to finally have a very clear sky for our show. The show started without an empty seat in the audience, which gave me an instant adrenaline rush in the opening song. We were also fortunate to have a very enthusiastic audience that sang and clapped along with us: we even had some musical theater fanatics that knew the whole Hairspray medley!
We enjoyed a special guest-star performance during our intermission by our friend Isidoro Nadalini. He sang his original song “Lignano Ciao” and captured the crowd with his showmanship. The second half of our show went very smoothly (accompanied by the whistling wind) and ended with an encore of “You Can’t Stop the Beat”. Once again, I left the stage with feelings of accomplishment and pure joy.
A late dinner was hosted at the pier by the beach, where we enjoyed some traditional Italian spaghetti. After dinner we had to make one last urgent stop for gelato at our favorite Captain Morgan’s Gelateria. We arrived back at the hotel in the wee hours of the morning with full stomachs and smiling faces after experiencing a truly perfect day.
July 8th ~ Entry by Matt Duhamel, 17, of Franklin
Today was overall a very productive yet relaxing day. We traveled many kilometers to Lake Como, while we were able to rejuvenate on the bus ride. After a late night before hanging out at the American Hotel in Lignano, EY woke up, packed our bags, grabbed a quick bite to eat and loaded the bus, leaving Lignano in our memories. While it was sad leaving a beautiful beach town, the excitement of our final leg- Lake Como- was eagerly on he minds of everyone. Once on the road, the bus became very quiet and sleepy as we rode more and more and everyone grew hungry. After what seemed a long while on the bus we arrived at Sirmione, a beautiful ancient town on Lake Garda with many fun things to do and look at. Here we got to walk around, shop, and eat delicious pasta, pizza, salads and gelato. I personally visited the Sirmione Rocca Scaligera, a castle built in the 1200s which delivered a fantastic panoramic view. Around 5:00 p.m. we all loaded back on the bus for a short bus ride to Lake Como. The first views of the lake left everyone leaning over their seats in awe. After sweaty palms from the narrow, winding roads up the mountain and a close encounter with another tour bus, we made it to Hotel Rusall. Shortly after arriving we sat down to a wonderful dinner and made our way to our rooms to rest for our remaining days and final show tomorrow!
July 9th ~ Entry by Sam Terranova, 16, of Medway
Electric Youth enjoyed our first morning at Lake Como sleeping in and having breakfast at our mountaintop inn. I loved waking up to the gorgeous view of Lake Como below. After breakfast EY prepared for our last show of the tour in our rooms. I was in so much shock that the tour was coming to a close. As my roommates and I packed our bags, we reflected on previous shows and pondered what our closing show would be like. Then, we headed out for a delicious lunch. I ate a pizza margherita (cheese pizza) while sitting outside in the breeze. After lunch, we made a gelato stop before going to our venue at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. I ordered an interesting combination of gelato flavors consisting of chocolate, chocolate chip and watermelon! We then had a half hour to do some shopping in a marketplace. By the time I was done, there was gelato in my stomach and shopping bags in my hand. We were ready to head to our venue.
When we got there, I was in such awe at how gorgeous Grand Hotel Tremezzo is. Electric Youth hung out as we waited for the crew to set up the stage which was right in front of the lake. Then we got mics on and did our soundcheck with the band. We got our costumes on in the hotel where is was air conditioned and roomy – a nice change from the hot, crowded tour bus where we usually get ready.
As soon as every EY member was done, we went down to our venue across the street from the hotel. We had a great show! It was a bittersweet moment when EY took our last bow in Europe at the end of the show. Afterward, we headed back to the inn where we had a relaxing and delicious dinner. Then my roommates and I got ready for bed and discussed the bittersweet feeling of the end of the tour before we went to sleep.
July 10th ~ Entry by Ali McCurdy, 18, of Medfield
Our second to the last day of the trip was a day off and we were given the opportunity to spend a full day in Bellagio – a beautiful old town on the opposite side of Lake Como. We took the ferry and the moment we got there, millions of fun memories from past trips filled my brain. It was sunny and warm, exactly what we 18 kids needed to end our trip. Some ran off with friends and family, and I decided to spend the day with my dad, mom, and brother. We started our day of shopping by visiting the well known tie shop that every male on the trip has to enter. We then looked into all of the Murano glass shops. The jewelry was stunning. After a lot of walking and shopping we decided to grab lunch right next to the lake where I enjoyed the delicious gnocchi in pomodoro (tomato) sauce. After lunch we ventured back to the beginning of the main plaza and found all of the other kids eating gelato. It was the perfect way to cool down after the hot day we had. Once it was time to go, it was a little sad because I knew I would miss this place, but there were still many exciting things to look forward to. Our group spent the evening enjoying another incredible home cooked meal at Hotel Rusall and enjoyed our mountaintop view overlooking the lake below. And we still have one more day of the trip! Though I had an amazing day, I have high hopes for the final day and the closing dinner and celebration of the 2010, and my last, EY tour.
July 11th ~ Entry by Jillian Gleason, 18, of Franklin
Closing the Tour
We celebrated the final day of our Electric Youth tour with a phenomenal day. We began the morning with a boat tour around magnificent Lake Como. This was a beautiful way to spend the last morning of our amazing trip. After the boat ride, we primped and dressed to the nines for our closing night dinner and party celebration.
The celebration began with tasty hors d’oeurves, followed by an incredible dinner buffet and a retrospective slideshow made by our parents, reviewing our entire year of EY. We watched our year of hard work and fun memories play before our teary eyes. The slideshow ended with a bitter-sweet senior tribute, reminding the five seniors of how proud we should be of ourselves and also how sad we are to be ending our EY careers.
Following the slideshow were indescribable fireworks “choreographed” to four songs over Lake Como for us! It was truly a sight that can only be understood through experience. The fireworks made us pinch ourselves and reflect on how amazingly lucky we all are to have had such an remarkable experience. After the fireworks, we concluded the night with a dance party, where the parents, band and kids danced together to classic American tunes. We all laughed and cried together, overwhelmed with emotion by such an unbelievable night. I would call this night the perfect ending to a perfect trip.
July 12th ~ Entry by Raye Lynn Mercer, Director
The job of taking inventory and packing away all of our tour equipment is complete. A few repairs need to be done and a list has been created for things that are needed for next time. Our equipment – sound system, monitors, amplifiers, piano, drum set – lives between trips with our bus driver Franz. The success of our tour is clearly built on Electric Youth’s extended family in Europe who help before, during and after every trip abroad! Plans are already underway for Europe 2012 and discussions have begun with new venues and collaborations in Vienna, Wildon, Sirmione, Siena and Menagio as well as with our regular tour venues and fans we hope to see again.
We celebrated a later-than-usual departure from Milan, allowing the group some extra morning time following our phenomenal closing night party. We were able to enjoy a last delicious breakfast with the breathtaking view overlooking Lake Como and an always exciting (not so much for me) bus ride down the mountain and through the narrow, winding streets along the lake.
I think everyone is ready to be home after our epic, month-long adventure, but what a great trip we had! The variety of experiences, opportunities and challenges for Electric Youth is impressive and I am extraordinarily proud of EY 2010 and the work they did on the tour as professional performers and exemplary young American ambassadors. Visit the Electric Youth fan page on Facebook for photos!