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From there, the students excitedly headed out to brunch. Heeding Fr. Salzmann’s advice, they decided to get their meal to go and take it to Harvard Yard. There, seated on the steps outside of Memorial Church, they enjoyed the meal in the sun amongst the historic red brick buildings. After brunch, the students split up to explore the area. The Harvard bookstore and the Grolier Poetry Book Shop particularly stood out. “When we walked in the poetry bookshop, we were greeted by a violinist playing live classical music,” Thaddeus Gotcher (’25) fondly recalled.

The students eventually met up at the Harvard Art Museum, where multiple original works of Van Gogh, Monet, Botticelli were on display. “I really loved the Italian Renaissance section,” said Isabella Caughron (‘26). Then came dinner at local restaurants, followed by dessert at Mike’s Pastry, famed for its delicious cannoli.

At last came the day’s main event, the concert!

The opera included a lovely serenata, “Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho,” which sees Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, stumble upon the wedding of wealthy sheep rancher Comacho to the beautiful Quiteria — but her childhood sweetheart Basilio is ready to disrupt the festivities, if it’s the last thing he ever does! Woven throughout the entertainment were movements from Telemann’s delightful orchestral suite “Burlesque de Don Quichotte,” a work that uses strikingly evocative music and ballet-like dance choreography to depict various humorous episodes from Cervantes’ classic novel.

Many of the students in the group had never experienced the opera prior to this trip, and it made a lasting impression. “I have now fallen madly in love with opera,” exclaimed Grace Flanagan (’28). “It was like a musical, only with much better dancing and music!”