Tanglewood

Friday I did the unthinkable from a strictly Spanish point of view: flew the equivalent distance from Málaga to Stockholm, Sweden for a weekend.  That is correct, flying from Portland, Oregon to Albany, New York is slightly more than the distance spanning the European continent North to South.  And in reality, Williamstown, MA. which is where Miriam lives is just about half way between Málaga and Reno.  If you look at it that way, I will have flown "to Spain" three times on this trip!  But let's focus on the most important part of this sojourn which is, of course, my dearest friend Miriam. :)

I arrived very late on Friday night so yesterday was my first full day here in the Berkshires.  We spent the late morning by the pool... but weren't able to properly enjoy the water because a summer rainstorm forced us onto the screened in porch.  Once again, swimming wasn't really the focus of the morning, but rather chattering away to each other and the rain did nothing to hamper our conversation.

I couldn't pass up the close-up of the trombones!

After the pool we changed gears, and headed to Lennox, MA. and the Tangelwood summer concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  As many of you know, I have been very excited about music in general since my class this past spring semester and so when Miriam suggested that we attend a concert of the BSO, not to mention that the concerts are held outdoors, I jumped at the opportunity.  We saw Schumann's Symphony No. 4 and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2.

The concert took place in the "shed", which was a covered, but open building housing the stage and seating.  There were also a number of people who had brought picnic dinners spread out on the lawn beyond the shed.  We chose to sit inside as opposed to lawn seating and in the end I'm very glad we did.  We were close enough to the stage to see the performers and right near a large jumbo-tron screen so we got to really see their faces, the conductor's expressions, etc.  We both decided that the TV screen enhanced the whole experience, but had we sat out on the lawn perhaps it would have felt as though we were only watching a concert on television.

My dinner in Lennox: seared tuna with wasabi sauce... :)

The music was fantastic.  Both Schumann and Brahms were romantic composers and so the pieces, while very different, were filled with the characteristic swells and changes in tempo and dynamics.  Just as my experience with the philharmonic in Málaga, my knowledge of the period made the experience that much richer.

After making our way through the gridlock ("tangle", shall we say?) of the parking fields at Tanglewood, we made our way into Stockbridge, MA where we promptly found a place for dessert: The Red Lion Inn--1773.  It was a beautiful old inn that I should have taken a picture of...  We devoured a walnut brownie sundae with hot fudge sauce. It was superb and exactly the thing to finish off a fantastic evening. :)

Some of Lewitt's work at Mass MOCA.

Today we are heading south to Connecticut (another state to check off on my list).  We are meeting one of Miriam's good friends from grad school in Mystic, CT. where we'll stay the night.  Monday is an excursion with for the interns at WCMA (the Williams College museum) where Miriam is currently working as an assistant curator.  I have kindly been allowed to tag along and so will be heading to Chester, CT. Monday to the Lewitt Collection.  For those of you non-art people, that is his home/studio where he did his work.  It's apparently not open to the general public so I'm very excited.  And I'm even more excited since on my last visit to Massachusetts, my mom and I saw some of Sol Lewitt's work at Mass. MOCA.  I will of course be able to tell you more on Monday.

So it looks as though this visit is shaping up to be time quite well spent.  No one can accuse us of wasting a moment, that is for certain.  Of course, any time with Miss M. is time well spent meaning that even as we lounge about in our PJ's I feel as though we are making the most of the moment. :)