A Big "Little Flower"

Last weekend I got to sing with one of my choirs in a truly special space: the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower. This architectural jewel, built during the Depression, is on the near west side of San Antonio and is the center of an active parish as well as being a tourist destination. 

It was put on the National Register of Historic Places, and was awarded the status of a Minor Catholic Basilica in, 1998. (I know the former is a big deal, and, while not being Catholic, I assume the latter is, too!) It is also the first National Shrine dedicated to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, the "Little Flower." You can read more about the building's purpose and history here, and more about Saint Thérèse here.

Isn't this a beautiful space? I was particularly taken with the light fixtures along the side aisles. Here's a closeup of one:

Another gorgeous feature is the dome above the equally amazing altar...

Here's another shot, taken just under the dome (during our Saturday rehearsal the church was pretty empty, so I could go wherever I needed to get the best angles):

maybe not as spectacular as that of St. Pauls, but...

And of course there are lovely stained glass windows...

...and even floor tile art! Both of these features, as long-time readers know, are favorites of mine when visiting houses of worship.

A great place to sing the Carols of Lessons and [ ], and a wonderful place to know is right in our home town!

Wordless Wednesday: this is *real* Austin

 

Siena: a library like no other

It's like no library I've ever worked in, that's for sure. The Piccolomini Library, in a small alcove off the Duomo nave, doesn't have shelves or books. But, boy, does it have decoration!

The frescoes on the walls are the main attraction (although not the only one, as I'll show you in a minute) and they are astonishing. Especially when you learn (through Rick Steves' self-guided tour in the Florence and Tuscany guidebook) that they've never been restored! They look like they were painted yesterday, the colors are that vibrant and rich.

The paintings depict important events in the life of one Siena's favorite sons, Aeneas Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II), but their main interest is artistic rather than historical. They are perfect examples of the Renaissance's trompe l'oeil technique, making each 2-D panel look convincingly 3-D...

thanks to Henry for this 3-in-1

Most of the exterior wall is windows, but even the walls between are elaborately decorated...

...and the ceiling...well, it's nigh-on indescribable...

So why is it a library at all? Well, below the amazing frescoes and that incredible ceiling, there are astoundingly beautiful manuscript copies of music. They're large, since they were the only copies the choir had and everyone had to be able to see them from a distance. And they are gorgeous!

Here's a photo Henry took that gives you a good idea of how the frescoes, ceiling, and manuscripts work together to create and inhabit this wonderful space...

I had to circle the little room twice, just to soak in the wonderful illuminations. Especially after Henry discovered that you could minimize the glare and reflections on their protective glass in your photos by holding the camera slightly above instead of straight on.

illumination seen straight on

flowers using the better technique

Although, occasionally, I think the reflections are kind of cool, superimposed on the illuminations...

Here are a couple of my favorite bits of illumination...

Isn't that exquisitely awesome?! If you want to see a whole page of music, Henry snapped this perfect shot...

A favorite sideshow attraction, in my favorite church, in one of my favorite cities! We have Rick to thank, again, for making sure we didn't miss this somewhat hidden gem.

Brief break from Super-trip posts

Joe Haldeman;
author of The Forever War

Yes, some interesting things have been happening around here since we returned from Europe. Not anything nearly as exciting and exotic as our Super-Trip, of course, but worth, I think, making a brief hiatus to tell you about.

First came Halloween, which was not a really big deal around here this year since we didn't have the Adorable Granddaughter with us. But I did make a little survey of decorations around the neighborhood to send her, and the dancing ghosts above was my favorite display.

Next came a very busy series of days for me. On Wednesday I picked up from the airport the Most Famous Person I Know, my college friend Carol Berg, the fantasy author (who also happened to be part of my work crew in Colorado this summer), and her fellow author friend Brenda Carre. They were coming to town for World Fantasy 2017, a small literary Con that I was also excited about attending.

Terry Brooks;
author of The Sword of Shannara

Four years ago, I attended the much bigger World Con, which some of my readers might remember. World Fantasy is a much more intimate setting and although the biggest names weren't there, and there wasn't as much programming, it was still a lot of fun.

In addition to the interesting and informative panels—think discussions of Tristram Shandy, Jane Austen, and Karl May as well as Tolkien, Martin, and China Mieville!—there were lots of readings. I attended Carol's and Brenda's, as well as those of the luminaries you see on the right and left here. (Joe Haldeman, one of my favorite SF authors, had also been at WorldCon; I'm glad they let him come to a fantasy Con. )

It was a very well-run convention, with even a hospitality suite serving lunches. Everyone was very friendly and approachable. But the biggest surprise was free books! I got this enormous stack in a very handy, multi-pocketed book bag at the registration desk! Definitely a Con I will look forward to attending again sometime in the future.

But no sooner had World Fantasy ended on Sunday at noon, than we were off to New Braunfels for Wurstfest. Faithful readers will remember when we attended this mini-Oktoberfest for the first time in years, back in 2015.

Again, we were there to hear and see the fabulous Alex Meixner Band. We had seen him earlier this year, when we spent the 4th of July in Luckenbach. But you can never get too much Alex.

Alex getting us ready for his final set*

I didn't take any pictures of the band performing, because I decided after my last two attempts that it's just not possible to capture his frenetic, off-the-wall (but very talented) musicianship and showmanship in still photos. You can see some in the links I've provided to my previous Alex posts.

I also don't have pictures this time of anyone in a funny hat except for Henry; you can see a selection of outrageous headgear in my 2015 post.

Henry, after calling up his super-power and
finding us a free parking space

Next up, back to Super-tripping. Stay tuned!

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*Yes, we stayed for all three sets this time and were completely worn out (as was Alex!) by the end of the evening. But what a show! (And fortunately the damage to our eardrums doesn't seem to be permanent.)

Südtirol/Alto Adige: Kastelruth/Castelrotto

This lovely little village was our home base for three nights, the longest stay of the Italian part of our vacation. The reason we picked it you can see peeking over the hills in the background of this photo: it's really close to the prime Dolomite hiking area, the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Suisi. I'll tell you about that wonderful place next time, but I want to show you more of Kastelruth/Castelrotto first.

After our scenic drive east from Lake Como, we wanted to stretch our legs a bit upon arrival here. Fortunately, our good friend Rick Steves described a perfect little hike for us.

It's just up the street, that you can see here, from our wonderful hotel (although it's true that nothing's too far from anything else in this compact little village).

At the end of the street, a nice trail winds around a hill on the edge of town. It's called the Kalvarienberg/Calvario, since it's decorated with life-sized structures and sculptures depicting the stations of the cross. Here's Henry taking a picture of one of the little niches:

There's a little chapel at the top of the Kofel (cone-shaped hill) but what I found more interesting was this informational sign that gives a good thumbnail sketch of the village's history, including an explanation of its name (the sign had German, Italian, and English text):

The hill also offered some great views of the town and surrounding mountains; many of the shots I've shown, and will show you, were taken from up here.

We had time after this little walk to take a peek in the Parish Church, on the square. Not surprisingly, the interior was sumptuous baroque (it was rebuilt in the mid-1700's after an earlier structure burned).

The windows were non-narrative and quite lovely...

Another impressive village sight is this hotel's façade...

After our day hiking in the Dolomites (which I'll tell you about next time) we earmarked our second day in this lovely area for a trip to Bozen/Bolzano. But before we left Kastelruth/Castelrotto, we were treated to part of a special alpine celebration.

notice the German & Italian

It turns out that we were there on an important day, the Almabtrieb/Transumanza, when the farmers bring their stock down from the summer pastures.

This is apparently a really big deal in these mountain villages and while we missed getting to see the decorated cows (google "transumanza castelrotto" to see some) we were able to enjoy some of the festival atmosphere.

There was a talented duo singing regional favorites (the crowd sang along with most of the choruses)...

...cute boys in lederhosen serenading us on very large horns...

...and older guys giving us the most unusual percussion performance you can imagine (and I've heard a percussion concerto!)...

Yes, that's a bullwhip, and there were two more fellows with whips behind him. They were really quite amazing. Although they wielded the whips pretty intensely, the guys were actually very nice...

If you look closely at my friend's [apron?] you'll see the logo for Kastelruth/Castelrotto's most famous cultural product...

"Welcome to the home of the Kastelruther Spatzen"

These guys are apparently like rock stars around here, and you can find lots of their music on the internet. For example, if you want to see some of the countryside that Henry and I hiked, along with musical accompaniment, they've got you covered. 

We won't be singing as we hike (although we did encounter an extremely accomplished yodeler!) but I'll have plenty of spectacular Dolomite photos to share with you next time.

Fun Fourth in Luckenbach

I apologize for the earworm I'm sure I've just given you; I had it for days preceding and following our 4th of July trip to this iconic Texas Hill Country location.

It was hard to convince us to get out in the heat and drive to Luckenbach (even though it's not that far away) for we knew-not-what in terms of crowds and food/drink prices. But we're so glad our friend persisted and got us there.


The crowds weren't bad and the prices for beer and munchies weren't either. I did have to wait in line quite a while for what ended up being really scrumptious fresh-fried sopapillas. But you could hear the music from there (just the warm-up act; I wouldn't have given up my good seat for the main attraction for the world (...see below!) and it was a great place to people-watch some very interesting people.

The flag you see above was right over where they kept the fried items hot in this food booth...what better secondary symbol of America than deep-fried goodies?

Plus, our friend had an ace up her sleeve when she was working to convince us to take in Luckenbach: one of the musical acts set to perform, the afore-mentioned main attraction, was our favorite accordionista and polka-band-leader, Alex Meixner! He'd never been to Luckenbach before, but is a staple at New Braunfels' Wurstfest, where we saw him in 2015 and became instant fans.

The Luckenbach venue is much smaller and more intimate, and you can get much closer to the action here. Especially when Henry uses his super-power of finding good seats at crowded venues. So my pictures of Alex in action (the two words being pretty much synonymous with each other) are lots better...

What an entertainer this guy is! And we weren't the only folks who thought so...

At one point he stopped for a breath and a swig of gatorade and asked how many people hadn't seen his band before. A lot of hands went up, and I imagine he made a lot of new fans.