Phenomenal

Last night mom and me went to the first one of two André Rieu concerts. Although I am not a fan of him, it was a superb evening! This morning's newspaper headed "Phenomenal André Rieu in Amsterdam". And all of it was true.

The concert - a better word is the experience - took place in the Arena in Amsterdam. It was the first time in my life that I set foot in a real football stadium. We went very early because I suspected a lot of traffic and when you come late you might not find a place to park your car. When we sat outside on the side walk, eating the sandwiches we brought with us, a white stretched limousine with a police motor in front stopped in front of the main entrance. Already a crowd had formed and everyone gathered together to see who would be coming out of that car. Must be a celebrity! It was quite hilarious when a 102-year old man with a cane stepped out, together with one of MAX TV presenters (I didn't know this guy), telling us that this very old man had only one wish in his life, and that was to see André Rieu live! Inside I was overwhelmed by the stage. They built an exact replica of Vienna's Schönbrunn castle (in actual size!), complete with 2 fountains, a ballroom and 2 ice skate tracks on the sides. Wow, this was something!

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so I had to do with my mobile phone :-( The concert was great. Especially, the performance of a young soprano with a beautiful voice, singing "Wishing you were somehow here again" from the Phantom of the Opera, brought tears to my eyes. That's music right to the heart!

It was a very late evening, caused by the many extra's in the end, André just couldn't stop! Also, we had a hard time getting out of the parking garage. Not so hard to imagine, when you have just visited a concert, attended by 25.000 people!