Traveling Musicians Use Timeshares

My wife Maggie and I own four timeshare weeks, and we are currently negotiating to buy two more resale weeks. Last November and December we spent three weeks in timeshare exchanges in Austria and Germany (Bavaria and the Black Forest). What made that timeshare trip a bit unusual was our two weeks in Germany....

We invited three other couples to join us for two of the weeks (we had exchanged into two units in each of two timeshares, to accommodate eight people). We four men had been making music together since 1960. We took five baritones and tenorhorns with us, and rented a tuba in Munich for two weeks (four horns to play, with two spares in case of damage).

Maggie had leased a large and very roomy Renault nine-passenger van (the Trafic) that held all eight people, our baggage, and our horns -- including the tuba. The diesel-powered Trafic would cruise at over 100 mph on the autobahns, fully loaded!

I had written arrangements for four horns of the German/Austrian Christmas carols. Their carols, for the most part, are different from the American carols. Our quartet, which we called Alte Kameraden ("old comrades"), played quite a few impromptu concerts at the Christmas markets, including the one in Oberndorf, Austria, on the site of the first performance of "Silent Night." We also went to Basel, Switzerland, one day to join 70 other tuba and baritone players in a TubaChristmas concert. That many low-brass instruments produces a massive sound!

Alte Kameraden's performances were well received, with many listeners expressing amazement that we had come all the way from America to play for them on a volunteer basis. The accompanying photo shows us playing at the Christmas Market in Munich on the day before we flew home. We had already returned the rental tuba, so we were playing baritones and tenorhorns.

We had a wonderful time, and the timeshares we stayed in were located in regions that made for a lot of interesting day trips. And we were happy that our group of 60- and 70-year-olds all stayed healthy for the trip!

Al & Maggie Brogdon Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire

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