A little girl gives coins to a street musician and gets the best surprise in return.

[elleng]

http://www.evadeaza.ro/video-blog/a-little-girl-gives-coins-to-a-street-musician-and-gets-the-best

[matt819]

1. I think this was s few years ago

And it was a staged event as a promotion for a bank. Fantastic to watch, though.

[Raster]

4. I believe you are correct.... However, the emotions it inspires...

[angstlessk]

2. I used to think being born in america was great...now

I wish I had been born anywhere in Europe!

[Doreen]

3. Beautiful. I do not know why but I cried.

[elleng]

6. Same happens to me, Doreen!

[Doreen]

8. I do not feel as silly now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Me, too.

[Jane Austin]

5. Thank you so much, elena.

I really needed that today, and it was like magic.

[elleng]

7. You're welcome.

It popped up, and it's clear we ALL need it!

[Angry Dragon]

9. kick

[Amaryllis]

10. Seen a few years ago but so nice to watch something uplifting and heart opening in the

deluge of news about the dark side of the force.

[rurallib]

11. Thanks I needed that

really lifted my spirits after some trying days

[bluecollar2]

12. thanks for posting this

I needed that.

[Shrek]

13. Wow, that was really uplifting

Thank you so much for posting.

[Stuart G]

17. the most wonderful aspect of this version..is......

as the crowd gathers, and more musicians join, we can see that everyone, seems to be enjoying the performance. Smiles are everywhere..and the enjoyment spreads.....An incredible gift from a writer of music, who at this stage of his life, couldn't hear a thing... Ode to Joy.. !!!!

[femmocrat]

14. Beautiful!

It gave me the chills.

[UTUSN]

15. That's actually the loveliest rendition I've heard. Just about teared up. n/t

[Stuart G]

16. Perhaps the greatest music ever written......"Ode to Joy"...Beethovan's 9th..

Here is a full version of the same piece, 18 minutes.....10,000 people singing...Ode to Joy..

[DFW]

19. This happened 5 years ago right up the road from where I am tonight

Sabadell is one of the main suburbs of Barcelona. Once the people here were allowed to freely speak their own language again after over 35 years of repression (forbidden to have schools, daily newspapers or TV channels in Catalan) the mood brightened here considerably. I lived here during the fascist dictatorship. You could get arrested for carrying a sign saying "català à l'escola (Catalan in school)." While things had loosened up considerably since the 1940s--losing sugar daddies like Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy can have an effect like that--, it was like a long dormant spirit awakening when Franco died. Catalan once again became the official language in the country where it had been spoken for a thousand years. When I lived here, learning Catalan as an American was almost considered a subversive act. Now, every time I come back down here (once a month or so for work), I'm treated as if I were some long lost brother who had just found his way back home.

At this particular point in time, separation from Spain at this point would probably end up being a bad deal economically and politically for both Spain and Catalunya, but it is still a different land with its own language and culture. It's definitely, "Toto, I don't think we're in Spain any more."

*on edit--bellow my hotel window, some guys have set up a karaoke apparatus and are giving an opera concert in the Plaça de la Catedral--at 10:30 at night! There is still a crowd down there cheering them on. On Saturday mornings, the whole city turns out here to dance the Sardana, the traditional Catalan folk dance.

[elleng]

20. Very interesting, and exciting, DFW.

And there's also Euskal Herria in Basque, or País Vasco in Spanish, Pays Basque in French, Basque country! Spain and France are fascinating!

[DFW]

21. I haven't been up there in decades

However, whenever I meet Basques, I can still leave them gaping with "Neuk piskat Euskera aitxutendot (I understand a little Basque)."

[red dog 1]

22. K&R