We're Going to the Opera!

The past few weeks, as well as being extremely busy and tiring, have provided me with several opportunities to appreciate living in a city.  Frankfurt is a relatively small city (approximately 600,000 - the size of Seattle).  And in this small city, we have 7 different companies that offer opportunities for children to experience opera - that's amazing!  There are many other cultural opportunities offered each night of the week, from theater to musical concerts to art exihibitions and other forms of creative expression.

The other week, Monkey was able to see the production (for children) of Strauss' Die Fledermaus at the Frankfurt  Opera.  Although his report was different than what I expected ("we saw Star Wars! And they sang!"), his teachers said he and his classmates were spellbound throughout the event.

Later that week, Igor and I were able to attend an English comedy, The Foreigner, performed by the Theater Language Studio.  Because Frankfurt is such an international city, there are many opportunities to experience theater, music and other arts in one's own language.  The International Theater offers regular programs in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, with special events in other languages.

Last week, Sissy, Monkey and I visited the Musical Zoo at the city radio station (home to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra).  This program focusses on one instrument family each concert  and provides children the opportunity to learn about the instruments and then experiment with playing them while supervised by local music school students.  The program we attended focussed on the Strings family.  We are excited to meet the other instrument families in the next months.

So, all this to say that, despite the negative aspects of city life that I so often call to mind, there are many wonderful advantages to living in a city.  The fact that we can easily attend such cultural events is a great blessing, that many people can only do once in a while and after travelling a long way.  When I remember my time on the Navajo Reservation and how I would drive to Flagstaff (3 hours) to attend a concert or to Phoenix, if I wanted more of a selection, I am very thankful to be able to take the train for 10 minutes to the local symphony hall.

Do you have something in your town/area that has been an unexpected reminder of the blessings of where you live?  If so, what is it?