At 2.30 a.m. on Thursday 1 July 2004, whilst the rest of Northern Ireland slept soundly in their beds, a tired yet extremely excited Senior Youth Orchestra embarked on their long anticipated tour in Italy. After months of preparation, and by all accounts some rather rushed packing, we set off from Ballynahinch, via Dublin and Milan, for some fun in the sun. We arrived at our hotel around lunchtime. However, rather than filling their stomachs most members were more concerned with diving straight into the pool – a trend that continued throughout the week.

Having settled into our hotel, we visited Bardolino, a neighbouring town full of markets, its side streets filled with shops, and with little bars and restaurants dotted around the place. This was also the venue for our first concert, which was played in the church in the centre of the town. A mad rush of students and cameras ensued as, sitting on the steps outside the church, people tried to capture the all-important photograph of every member of the orchestra in the same picture. The concert itself was a great success, despite the venue perhaps being a little too warm.

Our second day took in a visit to the renowned Garda market, at which I can safely say every member of the orchestra found something they were looking for, from T-shirts with their names on them to presents for family members, girl- and boy-friends. That evening our second concert had an open-air venue, the amphitheatre in Lavis, an hour’s drive from the hotel. Again it was a tremendous success, with a larger audience than anyone had expected.

The penultimate day, Sunday 4 July, allowed the adrenaline junkies to build themselves up for their next day visit to Gardaland with a trip to the nearby water park. Those of us, myself included, who are getting old before our time, returned instead to Garda for another chance to relax and do some more shopping.

Our final concert took place at a campsite half an hour from Garda itself. We performed amongst an array of entertainment that included some fairly over-enthusiastic dancers, and it is fair to say that in terms of spectators we gave the Euro 2004 Final a run for its money. After finishing our performance, and engaging in some dancing led by our very own John Campbell and Simon White, we returned to the hotel in anticipation of our final day.

Monday 5 July consisted of a visit to Italy’s largest theme park, Gardaland. Having been thrown around in roller-coasters and soaked in log flumes, we returned to the hotel in high spirits, and in some cases slightly sunburnt, for the traditional last night party. The tutors were each presented with gifts as tokens of our appreciation for putting up with us, and some even enjoyed themselves by taking part in the karaoke very kindly provided by staff and transported by the van drivers. Sadly all good things must come to an end, and I’m sure that had anybody been awake our journey home would have been quite an emotional experience.

On the whole the tour was a great experience in a fantastic country with fantastic people – tutors and students alike. For those who are coming back to orchestra in September, no doubt there will be great memories to talk about, whilst those leaving will surely remember the Garda ’04 tour for a very long time.

Jonathan Smyth