Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Getting in the spirit at the BSO

Friday night we had tickets to see Handel's Messiah performed at the BSO to kick off the holiday season! Our tickets were in row G on the orchestra level, so we had a beautiful, undisturbed view of the upright bass section. We arrived at the last minute, and the show was sold out, so we didn't get a program, or I'd have lots more to tell you about the guest conductor and the choir. 

Long story short, the performance was two hours long, and Joe made a great observation. Sitting through a music performance of that length reminds you of how it must have been not too long ago before radio and TV, when everything centered around live entertainment or the debut of a new painting at a salon. The fine arts were the crux of society, and opening night of a new performance was THE event of the season. 

We headed across the street to Abacrombie for drinks and dessert after the show. We hadn't been since the renovation and appointment of a new head chef. We sat in the bar, which is below street level. Joe had escargot served in a small crock, baked in a puff pastry. Beautiful presentation. We shared a cheese plate of two cow's milk and one sheep's milk cheese from Italy and Spain. I had a glass of the Montrasell, and Joe had a Cab. 

The service was great. Our server took a liking to us and brought us samples of one of their finest ports (and talked about chick flicks with me!) to sip on while we hung out.

Note to drivers. The University of Baltimore parking lot across the street from Abacrombie closes at 11:00pm on BSO show nights, 8:00pm other nights. Do NOT pull a Meghan and get your car stuck in there overnight. In addition to our tasty Abacrombie experience, I also accrued a $36 parking fee, plus an $8 cab ride to get my car out the next morning. Good times.

But thumbs up to the new Abacrombie!

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