The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Trapp Maria Augusta

Author:Trapp, Maria Augusta [Trapp, Maria Augusta]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

EVERYTHING READY FOR FIRST CONCERT MARCH TWELFTH COPENHAGEN.

Our new faithful friends helped us in closing the house and getting the family on the right train to New York. The Drinkers sent their chauffeur with the car for Georg, the baby, and me.

When we came to say good-bye, Mrs. Drinker took both my hands in hers and said:

“Now, why don’t you call me Sophie?”

In New York we all assembled at Carleton Smith’s house, and from there we went to the boat. Last kisses and good wishes, then shouting and waving, and then the Normandie was towed out into the open sea. Soon the skyscrapers disappeared in a golden mist, and we found ourselves on the way to Europe.

The Normandie! What a noble boat, and what a wonderful crew! Although we were only third-class passengers, the French Line went out of its way to make our stay as enjoyable as possible. We got a pass with which we could stroll at any time all over the boat and use all the social rooms and facilities of all classes. We were invited to eat in the tourist class, and for our rehearsals a special drawing room on the first-class deck was assigned to us, adjoining the wonderful winter garden. The third-class cabins were much more luxurious than our places on the American Farmer had been. But the nicest of all was the behavior of the crew. The stewards and stewardesses, the waiters and officers were of such tact and politeness that for four short days we almost forgot that we were poor refugees with a very uncertain future. On board the Normandie we were treated as celebrated artists. People knew about our Town Hall concert and we were asked to give a gala performance on the last evening together with René Le Roy, the flutist. Champagne was served free of charge afterwards. The boat itself was a dream of beauty, and the size was such that it took me eight minutes from my cabin if I wanted to reach the upper deck with Johannes for some fresh air. Long corridors had to be traversed, different elevators taken until we finally reached the “seashore.” There was only one disadvantage: there were four thousand people, and four days was too short to get really acquainted. I felt like asking: When will this town arrive in Europe? When we had just barely learned which passage to take to reach the Chapel Number 1, the Movie Number 2, or the Swimming Pool Number 3, it was time to get ready for Southampton. But four days was not too short to create a warm feeling for the boat and its crew, and when, years later, we learned of the dreadful disaster the Normandie had suffered in New York, we felt as if something terrible had happened to a close friend of ours.

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