The final performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos" was, for me, the best performance of them all. I have often found that matinee (afternoon) performances turn out this way. I can't explain it really, other than the fact that it is that time of day when our bodies are very awake and still fresh from having rested the night before. The rest of the day turned out to be eventful as well, since my flight was scheduled to depart that evening from the Pittsburgh airport. Following the performance, I had about an hour to get back to the apartment and take care of final things, before a car service was to pick me up to take me to the airport. Everything went smoothly. I disconnected my cable modem which I had rented from the local cable company, boxed it up with all the included cords and cables, and left it with the front desk, and a representative at the front desk delivered it to the leasing office of the apartment, who in turn returned it to the cable company upon their next visit to the apartment. The car picked me up on time and I was at the airport with plenty of time to spare. I was afraid one of my luggage items to be checked, probably weighed more than the required minimum weight, so I made sure to check my luggage at the curb to avoid having my luggage weighed on the scales beside the ticket agents! Having succeeded in that endeavor, I found my way to my gate, and still had over an hour to spare before my flight began boarding passengers. It turned out that Joachim Schamberger, our Assistant Stage Director, was on the same flight, but he had much more difficulty getting to the airport, as for some reason, the car that was scheduled to pick him up at his apartment (from the same car company) did not have a reservation for him so his car did not come! After waiting, Joachim called the car company and discovered that there was no car reserved to pick him up, even though he had been given a reservation number for the car to pick him up. He asked for a new reservation to come immediately, and after another 20 minutes, a car picked him up and he made it to the airport, albeit flustered at what he had just gone through! He shared with me that in the hurry to get out the door of his apartment, he also spilled an entire bottle of soda into the kitchen utensil drawer, but did not have time to clean it up. Sometimes, as they say, "When it rains, it pours."

The only problem on the plane, was finding somewhere for my small-sized carry-on luggage and computer briefcase, as there was literally no room in the upper storage areas- less room than I had ever encountered on a flight. I had to put my items in completely different areas of the plane, one of them far behind me, and the other in the first-class section, which the air crew finally relented to after I showed them there was nowhere else to put it. I guess it was my fault for waiting so long before boarding the plane, as I waited so that I could board the plane with Joachim, as he was telling me about his adventures on getting to the airport. Therefore, everyone else got "first dibs" with the placement of their luggage. The plane was completely full (something I am now used to, on U.S. flights), and I settled into my window seat and managed to nap, despite the passenger beside me in the middle seat, who decided to use his overhead light for reading. Fortunately, I kept my fedora hat with me, which I was able to wedge onto the front of my face to block out the light. I'm sure it did not look very pretty, but it did the job and also succeeded in allowing me to breathe with more humidity!

Once we arrived to New York's La Guardia Airport, Joachim found me at baggage claim, and told me that his girlfriend's mother was picking him up from the airport, and they would have enough room to take me to my destination. I obliged to this and his generosity saved me a good $25 in taxi fare. Joachim was extemely helpful in helping me out with my other checked luggage; remember that huge one that weighed beyond the weight limits of the airline? At one point we went the wrong way and found ourselves going up an escalator to an out-of-the-way area, and there was no escalator back down. Sort of like a stairway to heaven, except that it wasn't very heavenly at the top and no way to get back down with all our heavy luggage, except to schlepp it back down. Joachim helped me cascade my luggage down the fixed stairway, back to our original starting point, below. Before I knew it, he had grabbed my largest piece of luggage in one hand and his own luggage in the other hand and stated down the stairs. I don't think I would win in an arm-wrestling contest with him. So thanks to him and his girlfriend's mother, I arrived at my apartment a bit richer, and was thankful to be finished with my day.

And with that, my time in Pittsburgh is done, and I'll sign off of the Pittsburgh Opera OperaBlog. Congratulations to everyone for a job well-done. It was a pleasure to be a part of this project, with the vibrant, energetic and dedicated staff and artists. I hope to see you all backstage many times again! Please continue to visit my own blog, which can be found at my website, http://www.michaelhendrick.com. I hope you'll let me know you stopped by. Blessings always! -Michael Hendrick