Today I climbed the 300-something steps to the magnificent carillon of St.-Romboutstoren for the first time since the accident. I had played the van Noordt Sonate voor cimbalo solo in complete form for the first time--and succesfully--only days before the accident, and had been looking forward to playing the real carillon more frequently from then on. This made my first trip back even more poignant.
I was aghast, entertained, and gratified to discover that Geert turns into someone else entirely while teaching at the real carillon. He became a mad professor of sorts, gesturing wildly, interrupting my playing with impassioned commentary about the music, making me repeat measures again and again for all of Mechelen to hear and then playing them several times himself to experiment. I learned much and was much humbled. My leg ached through the lesson, but on the way down I discovered that going down counterclockwise stairs is much easier when you have only a good left leg. Going clockwise puts weight on the right leg for a longer time. Seated on my bike, I held onto his shoulder while he dragged me back to the school.
In addition to the north and south staircases in the tower, he claims that in his youth, he found two more that led directly into the church. But everything was unlocked back then, before the restoration. *green with envy* I need to learn to pick these damn skeleton key locks.
Earlier today, representatives from the American Embassy in Brussels came to involve the school in its upcoming exhibition about Herbert Hoover at the Royal Army and Military History Museum. Overall an exciting and mildly momentous visit, but things got a bit tense when Jo briefly went off on his "true music calms the animals" bit.
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