25 June 2008

Testimonial From Grateful Tour Member

From the SBCC touring choir and other guests on this Ireland adventure, many impressions and reactions to the trip will be shared by the individuals to families and friends for a long time to come, no doubt. What follows (shared with permission) are excerpts from a letter of recommendation sent to our tour management company, Incantato, from a grateful Santa Barbara "Kathleen" [McGuire].


I am now one week home from my wonderful singing tour with your company and... I've just looked at my almost 600 pictures for the 4th time and felt compelled to write you to say thank you for such a beautiful experience. Not only is Ireland breathtakingly beautiful but the well-run and thoughtful manner in which the tour was conducted added to the beauty...

I was particularly impressed with the caliber of tour guide. Not only was Barbara extremely well-versed in what we were seeing and experiencing, but she fielded questions from the tour group and had ready answers and information for all. She went out of her way to share with us ideas for filling our free time and often would check to see that we had proper directions for getting where we wanted to go. It is appropriate to say that everyone on the bus fell in love with both Barbara and Sean. Sean knew just when we were getting tired and would put on some lilting Irish music or Irish comedian to brighten our spirits. Both Barbara and Sean went out of their way to see that we were able to do things which appealed to us - like stopping along the road so we could walk on the bog and see the peat moss and bog cotton up close...

To sing at St. Patrick's Cathedral was a highlight of the trip and even more special was the beauty which surrounded us as we performed in the Gothic Cathedral at Kylemore Abbey outside Galway. Most touching to my heart, however, was our sharing of the mass with the Polish Church of St. Augustine's. er was delightful and all will remember this trip for a lifetime.

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