Mexico Day 7 - Impressive Cathedral

At 8:30 am, we set off on one of the most adventurous bus routes we have ever experienced while traveling. Our destination was the Real Hacienda la Ferreria, which was located very far outside, in the middle of nowhere.

A hacienda is a large estate in Latin America, which can cover an area of several thousand hectares.

After leaving the city, we continued for about half an hour on paved roads, winding endlessly upwards in switchbacks, until suddenly we left the road and turned left. And then the adventure began. Cacti were all around us, a cloud of dust behind us, and an unpaved road ahead of us, on which our tour bus seemed quite out of place. We were shaken quite a bit, sometimes tilting quite heavily, and several times phrases like 'There's no way we can make this turn,' or 'The bus will never make it up that hill.' But Caesar mastered every obstacle with bravery and even stopped a few times to explain to us what kind of plant it was and what it was used for.

When we finally arrived at the hacienda after a very exciting hour, it turned out that the other bus, the 'Camel bus,' had arrived long before us and had probably chosen a path that was not nearly as interesting as the 'Lohse bus.' However, there was still plenty of breakfast for everyone. We could eat our fill, even though most of us avoided the spicy breakfast specialties of the Mexicans and instead stuck to fruit and yogurt, as our European stomachs actually don't handle them very well...
After eating, we had plenty of time to explore the property, take thousands of photos, and enjoy the sun. In between, we also had a short meeting to take stock of the trip so far. Of course, two group photos were also a must. After about two hours, we started our return journey, this time on a slightly less adventurous route.

Back at the hotel, we only had half an hour before we left for the rehearsal at 2 pm. We walked in a long caravan through the streets of Leon for about 15 minutes to reach the Templo Expiatorio.
The construction of the Neo-Gothic temple began on July 8, 1921, and was completed on March 20, 2012 with the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. It is also called the 'Atonement Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' and is known for 'The Renunciation.'
The temple was definitely very impressive, even more so on the inside than on the outside. Unfortunately, the acoustics were not quite what we had imagined. We sounded extremely good and had a beautiful echo in the altar area where we sang, but in the spectator seats everything sounded muffled and quite quiet.
Together with the specially assembled choir from the local music school, we then rehearsed the Mexican song 'Son de la Vida' and the well-known song by Michael Jackson 'We are the world.'
Around 5 pm, we returned to the hotel with the instruction to do 'nothing.' The exertions of the past few days, the air conditioning in the hotels and buses, and the strong sunlight had led to some of us falling ill and unable to sing in the concert.

At 7 pm, we went back to the Templo Expiatorio with our concert attire. The church was filled to the last seat when our guest choir opened the concert at 8 pm with a piece. After our part of the program, they joined us on stage again and we performed the pieces we rehearsed in the afternoon. The audience was thrilled and after much applause and bows, countless photos were taken.
around 10:15 pm, all of the singers from both choirs enjoyed a delicious dinner and we were able to enjoy the end of the day.