Philadelphia Orchestra in Espania...

I am very happy to finally have the opportunity to write this blog entry. As one can imagine, it is great for us to travel all around Europe and make music (especially with our amazing violin soloist, Leonidas Kavakos) and eat great food. So far my most memorable moments in this tour were in Tenerife, Canary Island where I was able to Wind Surf in El Medano, which was a really great experience. The wind was blowing over 24 knots and it took me almost a week to get over my sore muscles. Violinist Noah Geller joined me to El Medano to learn how to Windsurf but strong winds prevented his lesson unfortunately. I also had great hike on our next stop in Las Palmas thanks to Albert Filosa. We were lucky to be guided by Ivan who who is a clarinetist and librarian in the Las Palmas Orchestra. He took us to Racque Nueblo and many other great peaks of Las Palmas. Then in Barcelona, I had a few free hours in the early morning to see many wonderful cathedrals and explore the old city. Barcelona has such a great atmosphere, especially early in the morning . Then we arrived in Lisbon and it was a great city to walk around and eat fantastic food. So much history and great sightseeing. And now we are back in Spain (Madrid). This city has a royal feeling of grandeur on every corner.

I am very much looking forward to our next leg of the tour in Luxembourg, Vienna and Budapest. All the best wishes from old world.