Hallo from Ampflwang! (Ahmp-ful-vang)
A little recap of the first week:
I took a fight out of JFK and then had a layover in Dusseldorf.
The flight from New York was only about 6 ½ hours, so it wasn’t too bad! The
worst part was the immediate jet lag that set in, since we arrived in Germany
at 10:30am their time, when it was only 4:30am back home. But flying into the
Salzburg airport made up for it- it’s a little tiny airport surrounded by
towering mountains. Incredible.
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| Flying into Salzburg |
We’re rehearsing in a small town in Austria at a resort, the
Robinson Club. The staff is so friendly and helpful, anything we could possibly
need or want they’re there to do. I don’t even need to leave this building.
Everything I need is here: my room, the dining hall, and the rehearsal spaces. I
didn’t need to leave the building for the first three days. My saving grace is
the costume room that is in another building. I’m cherishing that five-minute
walk outside! There’s a sauna and a steam room, hiking trails, golf, tennis and
volleyball courts, and buffets for every meal (with an extensive dessert
table). We’re very spoiled here!
So during the first few days I’d been compiling a list of all of
the things I’d either forgotten to bring or hadn’t brought enough of. My
chapstick decided to run out the moment I got off the plane. I hadn’t brought
enough conditioner. Today I wore my glasses because I only brought a
travel-size bottle of contact solution. Good for the airport’s 3 oz. rule, not
so great for a month-long stay in the middle of nowhere. I grossly
underestimated how secluded we’d be here in Ampflwang.
On Saturday, our first day off, I decided to take the morning
and walk into town. It was a beautiful day and only about a 30-minute walk. I
had no clue where to go, but I stumbled upon a gift/convenient store that had a
few of the things I needed. I walked around the town for a bit, hoping to grab
a cup of coffee from one of the four restaurants I saw, but they only served
cold beverages, so I made my way back to the club (and got a hot chocolate
there!).
That afternoon a group of some of the actors and musicians (and
me!) went on a Nordic walk around the compound. I’d never done a Nordic walk,
but I knew it was similar to hiking, and if it’s to do with hiking you can
count me in!
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| The Nordic walking sticks and Ampflwang in the distance |
Nordic walking is basically hiking with poles. It was invented
for skiers who wanted to train during the summer, so they added poles to keep
the arms going. In the beginning I would have preferred to go without the
poles, but after a bit I started to get the hang of them, and they proved
especially useful when we were hiking down a particularly steep part of the
trail.
We made it up a hill (mountain?) and had an incredible view of
the area and surrounding mountains. We could see the Robinson Club, and I could
see the main part of town that I was in earlier that day. It’s such a reward to
see where you’ve come from many hours before!
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| At the top of a look-out tower |
After the walk, some of us made our way down to the spa area to sit in the steam room and sauna. This was quite the experience! It’s co-ed, and most people sit in the rooms completely nude. It’s OK to cover up with a towel, but it’s considered rude to wear a bathing suit into the sauna or steam room. We covered ourselves with towels (and wore our bathing suits underneath!).
After a majority of the group had left, I decided to stick
around and partake in a ritual that many spas in Europe offer. There’s a ritual
that involves aromatherapy oil and an employee sprinkling ice over the rocks
and taking a towel to disperse the heat. It doesn’t seem like much, but this
all takes place in the 90-degree room, and the temperature can climb to over
100!
I walked into the sauna covered with a towel, and before the ceremony
fully started I realized I could have a perfectly good experience sitting in
this sauna covered up, or I could stop worrying and truly embrace the culture.
Everyone else was nude, why did I feel like I needed to stay covered? I don’t
want to limit my cultural experiences on this tour (or in life), so I embraced
the European way and participated in the ceremony in the nude! It was very
freeing and relaxing. Cathartic. I’m hoping to do it again before I leave.
-Becki
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