Selectively Juggling

On July 5th I will be a world away from where I’m sitting now. My family and I will be flying back to Europe, so we can spend some time with my Dutch in-laws. My eldest son and I will fly into Amsterdam 5 days after my husband and youngest two children. We will fly the first two legs of the journey together, Sydney to Japan’s Haneda Airport, Haneda to Helsinki. However, from Helsinki, my son Xavier and I will fly to Geneva, Switzerland. We’ve got 4 days to see Geneva, Annecy (France) and then board a train to VIENNE (France) where we have an incredibly exciting concert to attend. My son has been in love with the Electric Swing genre since the age of ten. He’s always been a little precocious, with interests beyond his years. Anyway, he loves the Parisian band ‘CaravanPalace’, so I did some research and discovered they’ll be playing in the south of France while we are in Europe. I jumped at the chance to see them, or more so, enable my son to. It is a real dream come true for him. The real kicker is that they’re part of the VIENNE Jazz festival, which is being held in an ancient Roman amphitheater, framed by a picturesque French town. I can hardly contain my excitement, to get to enjoy great music, ambience and energy amongst the ancient Roman ruins. I’ve been listening to ‘Caravan Palace’ as I drive to and from work, and when on the treadmill, as I want to be able to give 150% to the experience, and this includes being able to completely immerse myself in the situation and music. After the concert we will fly from Lyon, France into Amsterdam, The Netherlands and rejoin the rest of the family. This will be more than a mere concert, but the manifestation of a dream, an incredible moment and memory in the making, for both my son and I. Plus, there are a few others who’ll be loving it vicariously through us.

The last concert I attended was Icelandic performer ‘Ásgeir Trausti’ at the City Recital Hall (Sydney). One day I’ll get back to Iceland and see Asgeir perform with the Icelandic symphonic orchestra, set against the otherworldly backdrop of Iceland. Now that would be something amazing.