:. . tours .

germany

Now in the planning stages, our next trip to Germany is scheduled for late June of 2010.

england

June of 2008 saw ISing Community Choir taking off for an 11 day trip to England where we were hosted by Renaissance Voices of Yorkshire.

• Cambridge

  We lodged for 3 nights in the dorms at Caius & Gonville College at the University. Highlights were sitting in the choir stalls during Evensong at Kings College Chapel, a visit to Ely Cathedral where we had an opportunity to sing in Lady Chapel, and a tour of Burley House and Stamford.

• York

  While in York, we stayed in the dorms at the University of York, a much more modern facility than we had in either Cambridge or Oxford, and one which the choir greatly appreciated. Highlights from York included touring the city and the wall around it, visiting York Cathedral, and wandering the town. Side trips were taken to Whitby (birthplace of Bram Stoker and the Magpie Inn where the world's greatest fish and chips can be had) and Fountain's Abbey ruins. We gave two concerts to enthusiastic audiences in the Sheffield area and in Driffield.

• Oxford

  Heading back south, we stopped by Warwick and visited the popular castle there before continuing to our home for two nights at Wadham College in Oxford. On our last day in England, we travelled over to London to explore for the day, culminating our trip with a round on the London Eye.

spain

In June of 2005, ISing travelled to Spain to participate in the Castille International Choral Festival

• Ocaña

  The little town of Ocaña lies to the south of Madrid and was the perfect spot to recuperate from the long journey through several airports. We stayed for three nights at the Dominican monastery in town where we were very well taken care of by the monks. Side trips were taken to see the palace at Aranjuez and the hanging town of Cuenca.

• Valle de los Caidos

  We headed north to our home for the next 5 days at the monastery at Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen). This monastery is quite large and the site is best known for the cross that can be seen for miles around which marks the monument built by General Franco which is dedicated to all those who died in the civil war.

  Day trips allowed time for exploring Madrid, the biggest city in Spain, including the Prado, the King's palace, and the ever popular Museum of Ham. We traveled to Segovia which has one of the finest examples of a Roman aqueduct and to Avila where we had a quick visit of the oldest, most complete walled enclosure of the Spanish Middle Ages. We presented a concert to a full house of several hundred that evening, followed by an invitation to a country dinner by the Minister of the Arts.

  The other concerts presented were in Aranjuez, Alcala de Hernandez (home of Cervantes and Don Quixote), and we had the honor of singing during a mass at the Basilica at El Escorial.