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The "Long Night of the Churches" take place on may 28th, where the visitors are entertained in many ways.

Like in the past the "Arion - Bluegrass-Family" will participate in this ecumenical event of all 14 christian denominations this year, too.

In the evangelic Church of Styria (Bahnhofstrasse 20) we present between 21:30 und 22:00 many a musical delicacy of our repertoire.

BACK FROM FLORIDA

Hi Friends,

we are back home again. Our flight from Linz to Frankfurt and further straight to Orlando was, as much as the return flight, silent and without any further unforeseen occurrence. We picked the right time for our journey between the Lufthansa pilot strike and the vulcano eruption in Iceland.

The family Riepl own a Real Estate on a nice lake in Umatilla (2 hours north of Orlando airport).
At this place we got an accommodation for our time in Florida. The temperature at the first two days was unusual cold for Florida. But nevertheless Walter & Gabi took a morning bath in the lake.

After a few days of acclimatize we visited the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral. One evening we visited for supper time a restaurant called "Gator Joe" . Some of us tried crocodile meat and it tasted very good. Another restaurant was the "Hooters". This is a biker saloon where very pretty
girls in hot pants serve you the meal and beer. It was further a duty to visit the „Universal Studios“ and „Epcot Center“ in Orlando.
One afternoon the Riepls took us to the "Villages" . This is a place where people listen and dance to the music and have a drink or two. On Thursday morning we visited the "Farmers Market". At this market you get everything you need (food, clothes, tools, presents, sports equipment, …).
Time is flying fast … one week was already over.

At the weekend on Saturday we had two performances. The first one was in a small Cafe called "Olivia" and the second one was in Cassia in the afternoon and evening. This afternoon was a highlight for all of us.

Every two weeks there is a festival of Bluegrass and Country musicians in Cassia. They got an open stage where groups performance in front of the audience (about 100 people) for one hour. But it was fantastic, that the musicians meet each other outdoor and everyone is invited to play and sing. So there are playing many groups and the members did not know each other before. Hannes and his Dobro was very desired and he played from 2pm till 10pm without a break. Our performance of the "Arion-Bluegrass-Family" was appreciated with standing ovations. This was a very happy day.

At the second week we made a trip of 4 days around Florida. We have got two cars and planned to make the trip together. Even though we lost each other expeditiously and we recovered each other accidental only on the last day, however we have seen Miami and the Keys. In Key West we had a drink in "Sloopy Joe's Bar" and we spent an evening on the beach looking at the "Sunset Sailing Ships" and drinking Pina Colada. We went back through the Everglades and took a „Boat ride“. Via St. Petersburg we went back to Umatilla. In „Silver Springs“ we met each other again.

On Friday evening we had a nice jam session at the "Riepl's" and this was a very nice conclusion. Next day to the Airport and back to Austria where our families picked us up.

It was an interesting and impressive journey and a lot of photos are telling you of it.

The
"Arion-Bluegrass-Family"
goes Amerika.

We got an invitation from good old friends of our bandleader Karl, Mr. & Mrs. Ludwig & Ingeborg Riepl to visit them in Florida.

We will not miss this opportunity and we are looking forward to seeing them in Umatilla from March 6th until 20th 2010. Ludwig Riepl made an arrangement for us to play in Cassia at „Music in the Country“ on March 13th and we are really excited to see what is going on over there.

Of course we will report on our experiences in Florida on this website. Pictures of our trip will be found under "photos"