Musical Journey to Mannheim

Let's embark on a long journey to Mannheim at the end of this month: the goal is to get there in time for their big music festival known as Rheinuferfest (which actually takes place on the opposite river bank, where Mannheim becomes Protected content

Created in Protected content an attempt to redeem Ludwigshafen's not so good reputation, the Rheinuferfest encompassed all music genres, from rock to pop to classical music, and turned out to be a massive hit, with thousands of people flocking to listen to musical acts like Michael Jackson's tribute band on Saturday and Claire Huangci performing Rachmaninov's piano concerto #2 on Sunday.

Last year the festival suffered from rainstorms, but still had its memorable moments.

This year the festival's highlights will be the AC/DC Tribute Band on Saturday and Grieg's Piano concerto on Sunday, with pianist Ying Li (whom we know quite well, since she won the Mormone competition four years ago).

Since Mannheim is fairly distant from Italy, the most relaxing way to enjoy the weekend would be to take Friday and Monday off. If that's not possible, then Friday off is enough, as the festival will end at 1pm on Sunday. More specifically, the plan on Friday is to head to the Black Forest and spend one night there, so as to have the always convenient Black Forest guest card and possibly enjoy a hike around Freiburg, if the weather allows it. On Saturday we'll move on to Mannheim, where we'll spend Protected content , combining music and sightseeing.