Monday travel update
We woke up at 7:00 this morning, most of us having had a refreshing night of sleep, and got on the road at 9:00AM for the about 7-hour drive from Roma to Montecatini Terme. All three buses were, of course, full, and the hot weather hasn't relented. So it wasn't pleasant for the passengers on Bus 3 (Schubert) when their AC broke down! I was in bus 2, so I can sympathize with their plight but I am sure glad it didn't happen to me! Fortunately, we don't have need for buses tomorrow so it can go to the shop for repairs. I'm sure the next time we need it that it will be cool as a cucumber...
Heres buses 1 & 3, packed full of Gunn choir students on the road in Italy
And a view of a typical hilltop village in Umbria, one of many we passed:
While on the road, we had a mid-day lunch & sight seeing stop at the monastery (and village) of St. Francis of Assisi, a beautiful spot on a hilltop in Umbria. The monastery is charming, to say the least, and the view from the monastery takes your breath away -- it's like a fairy tale come to life. Sort of like what Disneyland would like to be...
Here's a shot of the monastery itself (courtesy of Dave Ellis):
Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do justice to the marvelous view:
Here are Bill & Sue in the monastery piazza. Don't let their pleasant smiles mislead you; it's still VERY hot!
Some choir kids & chaperones wandering Assisi's winding stairways:
The big excitement in Italy today was the win against Ecuador in the World Cup match. The timing for this marvelous event coincided almost exactly with our bus arrival in Montecatini; as we were checking into our hotel, the streets around us became alive with cheering and shouting -- car horns honking, flags flying everywhere. The wild celebration went on for at least an hour, and the Gunn kids became honorary Italians for the purpose of shouting & yelling. Here's a sample of the traffic:
Here's some pictures of the kids celebrating & shouting on the balconies (front & back of the hotel; it occupies both sides of the block):
The Hotel Goya is a charming and quaint three star about four blocks from the piazza in Montecatini Terme. It turns out that there are exactly as many rooms as there are groups, and as a result every room is occupied by the Gunn choir -- we have booked the entire hotel! This is good news, insofar as we don't have to worry about the kids' enthusiasm keeping others awake. However, it meant that checking in was sort of like trying to move everything between two rooms at the same time; lots of shuffling and crowding was necessary to get everybody sorted out. However, Bill managed to get everybody into their rooms and out in time for a welcome dinner of pasta & roast pork, with delicious roasted potatoes. After dinner we strolled around downtown Montecatini, getting a feel for the town and planning for the next day's sight-seeing. Here's some pictures of dinner:
09-19 Dinner at hotel
And here's a picture of the kids in downtown, strutting their stuff for the locals:
The trip continues to be great fun. Tomorrow is a rest day, and then the music program shifts into high gear with rehearsals & performances. Thanks to Kiyoshi Hamai, Dave Ellis & Don Anderson for the great photos. Stay tuned!
Heres buses 1 & 3, packed full of Gunn choir students on the road in Italy
And a view of a typical hilltop village in Umbria, one of many we passed:
While on the road, we had a mid-day lunch & sight seeing stop at the monastery (and village) of St. Francis of Assisi, a beautiful spot on a hilltop in Umbria. The monastery is charming, to say the least, and the view from the monastery takes your breath away -- it's like a fairy tale come to life. Sort of like what Disneyland would like to be...
Here's a shot of the monastery itself (courtesy of Dave Ellis):
Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do justice to the marvelous view:
Here are Bill & Sue in the monastery piazza. Don't let their pleasant smiles mislead you; it's still VERY hot!
Some choir kids & chaperones wandering Assisi's winding stairways:
The big excitement in Italy today was the win against Ecuador in the World Cup match. The timing for this marvelous event coincided almost exactly with our bus arrival in Montecatini; as we were checking into our hotel, the streets around us became alive with cheering and shouting -- car horns honking, flags flying everywhere. The wild celebration went on for at least an hour, and the Gunn kids became honorary Italians for the purpose of shouting & yelling. Here's a sample of the traffic:
Here's some pictures of the kids celebrating & shouting on the balconies (front & back of the hotel; it occupies both sides of the block):
The Hotel Goya is a charming and quaint three star about four blocks from the piazza in Montecatini Terme. It turns out that there are exactly as many rooms as there are groups, and as a result every room is occupied by the Gunn choir -- we have booked the entire hotel! This is good news, insofar as we don't have to worry about the kids' enthusiasm keeping others awake. However, it meant that checking in was sort of like trying to move everything between two rooms at the same time; lots of shuffling and crowding was necessary to get everybody sorted out. However, Bill managed to get everybody into their rooms and out in time for a welcome dinner of pasta & roast pork, with delicious roasted potatoes. After dinner we strolled around downtown Montecatini, getting a feel for the town and planning for the next day's sight-seeing. Here's some pictures of dinner:
09-19 Dinner at hotel
And here's a picture of the kids in downtown, strutting their stuff for the locals:
The trip continues to be great fun. Tomorrow is a rest day, and then the music program shifts into high gear with rehearsals & performances. Thanks to Kiyoshi Hamai, Dave Ellis & Don Anderson for the great photos. Stay tuned!
posted by Glen at 9:40 AM
1 Comments:
One small correction, Italy beat Australia when we arrived at Montecatini not Equador :P
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