Classical MPR's European Vacation

We're taking a European vacation. Starting Monday, we'll highlight pieces that have been ascribed cities, (like Haydn's "London" Symphony and Mozart's "Prague" Symphony) on our 10 a.m. Morning Glories. It needn't stop there, though — we also want to share your musical experiences abroad. Whether it's a professional orchestra, or a serendipitous encounter with an ensemble performing in public, we'd love to hear your favorite stories of music and beauty in far-flung lands.

Share your comments below, or on our Facebook page.

I'll start.

In the summer of 2000, my sister worked in Barcelona for a 6-week book conservation project. My mother and I went to visit, we rented a car, and traveled from Barcelona to A Coruña; via the north coast... or at least we tried. It was a long drive, and we ran out of time and needed to turn back before reaching our intended destination.

We went back toward Barcelona via the overland route, and stopped in some of the bigger cities along the way; one of them being Burgos. It was early, and we were looking for Breakfast (we joked: perhaps a Burgos King croissan'wich?). We were walking around the Plaza Cathedral and ran into three gentlemen, arms around each other, serenading some lucky soul in the apartments above.

They were probably drunk, but they sounded amazing. None of us could identify the music, so I snapped a photo, and shortly thereafter we found some coffee and pastries and we talked about how you just never see that sort of thing in the U.S. (or at least in the midwest).