POLAND 2008
(to be sung to
It's a Long Way to Tipperary, more or less)
It’s a long
way to Zakopane so we’re going by plane,
‘Cos the
famous Chandos Choir is off on tour again.
Goodbye,
Touchwood Centre, farewell to Mell Square,
No matter
the airport that we fly from, we’ll see you
right there.
It’s a long
way to Zakopane, of that, there’s no debate,
And some
left very early , while the rest went rather
late.
There’d been
some admin problems as you’ll certainly recall
And it’s
thanks to John, Jim and Maria that we got here
at all.
It’s not far
to Morskie Oko so we went there by coach,
And minibus,
and horse and cart for the long uphill approach.
We waited
for an hour for transport to the lake
While the
sun beat down on Chandos Choir and we started to
bake.
The lake is
well surrounded by Tatras grand and high,
It’s rather
small and pleasant and the snow catches the eye.
Get into a
carriage, be quick, for goodness’ sake,
And every
bump and pothole makes our poor old bones shake.
It’s a long
way to the folk evening, do the horses know the
way?
There’s a
meal and music playing and a folk dancing
display.
After we had
eaten and new dancing partners found
Rosie’s two
left feet were busy as she went swinging round.
Some went up
the mountain on the funicular ride,
Maybe took
the ski-lift to come down the mountainside.
Others went
a-wandering and missed the time assigned;
If they’re
not on time tomorrow, they’ll get left behind.
It’s
not far to Holy Cross Church where our concert
will be heard.
There is
quite a good attendance, so someone spread the
word.
Listen to
the echo of “Jesus” wall to wall;
It’d be so
grand if we could sound like that in Bushell
Hall.
A gentle day
of browsing round the market in the town.
Shoes and
wood and knickknacks and cheese all shades of
brown.
Stop here
for a coffee and there in time for lunch.
Don’t be
surprised to see some choir members in a bunch.
So we’re off
to the Sanktuary – concert venue for today,
Built in
thanks for John Paul’s survival when a bullet
came his way.
John could
not see Nigel, Nigel could not see John
So Mike
stood and conducted which helped the beat along.
It’s a long
way to get to Krakow; it seems to be our fate
To depart
two hours early and arrive three hours late.
We’ve
travelled over mountains and down valleys in the
wet,
But it still
persists in raining and we’re not in Krakow yet.
The way to
Krakow’s complicated, catch the Number 10 tram,
they said,
But the 10
doesn’t run on Sundays so we caught the 40
instead.
Got off at a
hill called Wawel, went and had a look up top.
There’s a
castle and a cathedral, and of course, a
souvenir shop.
There are
eight hundred steps down the salt mine, that’s
800 down, not 4!
There are
statues made of rock salt and galleries galore.
Wonder at
the brine lakes viewed in gentle light.
It’s ten to
a lift going upwards; cosy, but a bit tight.
Our final
concert in St Catherine’s was attended by a good
crowd.
Recorded for
posterity, we sang both clear and loud.
At our last
meal together we thanked all those who made
Our holiday
such a pleasure. Here’s to the next, we said.
