147 - Opera singing in the morning

Three years ago, I went on summer vacation in Europe. My mom and I joined a tour which brought us to Italy, the Vatican inclusive, Switzerland, France and England.

My favorite holiday destination out of those just had to be Switzerland. In the same day, I was exploring the ice caves on the peak of a snowy mountain, and then cruising on the beautiful lake Lucerne. And the water... now, this may seem like the most unlikely 'dish' or 'delicacy' you'd think of when it comes to Swiss cuisine, but the water... the Swiss water that was so cool, and pure, and reminiscent of the journey I took from the Swiss mountains down to lake (like a river)... that water was perfection.

Anyway, there was a forty-something couple in our tour that usually shared a table of four with us whenever our tour stopped for lunch or dinner. They usually stayed in the room beside ours, too. We talked a lot and we discovered that the wife was actually an opera singer. Every morning, I woke up, cranky and grumbling, because she would be doing her daily projection exercises. I guess she felt Switzerland is a very European, music-y, opera-esque place, and it's close to Italy, and it's the morning time in Europe, so it's the time to rise and shine to a good soprano...

Not that her voice didn't sound nice, I'm not saying it wasn't good... but that is the last thing I need to, or want to, wake up to in the morning. Maybe projecting your voice over the lake while we're feeding bread to the ducks and the swans is acceptable, but when I'm shirtless, in my boxers, curled up under the sheets in bed, there is no other sound on this planet that sends more, or chillier, chills down my back. The line between professional opera singing, and creepy, horror film music is a damn fine one.