Tuesday in Montecatini Terme
Today was as close to a day off as the choir will have on this trip -- a full day without a performance, rehearsal or bus trip to anywhere. Local (by foot) destinations in Montecatini Terme are primarily shopping (some very nice shops; Gucci, D&G, Calvin Klein -- credit line increases, anyone?), spas, a swimming pool, an internet center, and on the hilltop above Montecatini a medieval village 'Montecatini Alto' which is reached via a funicular running up & down on the half-hour (with a one hour break for lunch). Most of the kids spent the day either shopping, sight-seeing, or a combination of the two, and the chaperones were more interested in finding a good meal and getting internet access (it was my first chance to update the blog in Montecatini).
In the evening we had a dinner with the singers from the other participating choirs and their conductor. It's an enourmous group of people, almost 200 all together -- once the orchestra joins the group it will be pretty impressive!
There are two other choirs that have joined us: a college choir from UC Long Beach and a community adult choir from LA (both affiliated with Johnathan, the conductor). The adult choir consists mostly of academics (teachers, deans, etc) and should provide an interesting musical counterpoint to the youthful sound of the Gunn choir and the college students.
In other news, the weather continues to be very, very hot. Most of us are drinking at least 2 to 3 liters of water a day, and because it's mostly bottled our water budgets are easy to blow. Fortunately we've found some convenience stores selling 1 and 2 liter bottle packs for less than a euro a bottle, so we're no longer spending 2 euros for a half-liter bottle four times a day (that was more or less the going rate in Rome). Normally the weather would be causing significant weight loss but we manage to break even by drastically increasing our consumption of gelato & pasta.
Here are some pictures from Tuesday; as always, Don's pictures are available here. There's not many pictures of the kids in this group because they're getting a little tired of the chaperones and enjoyed the opportunity to avoid us -- instead they concentrated on interacting with local residents around their age and some visiting students from Spain staying in a hotel nearby.
This is the funicular track leading to Montecatini Alto. It's basically a cable car on about a 45 degree slope:
This is the terminus of the funicular track at the top:
Here's the view from the north side of Montecatini Alto, looking away from Montecatini Terme:
The view from Montecatini Alto towards the town. It was a little hazy today but still very nice (apart from the heat):
A typical house in Montecatini Alto:
A satisfied diner after the big combined choirs dinner (Don's page has more pictures of the dinner here):
In the evening we had a dinner with the singers from the other participating choirs and their conductor. It's an enourmous group of people, almost 200 all together -- once the orchestra joins the group it will be pretty impressive!
There are two other choirs that have joined us: a college choir from UC Long Beach and a community adult choir from LA (both affiliated with Johnathan, the conductor). The adult choir consists mostly of academics (teachers, deans, etc) and should provide an interesting musical counterpoint to the youthful sound of the Gunn choir and the college students.
In other news, the weather continues to be very, very hot. Most of us are drinking at least 2 to 3 liters of water a day, and because it's mostly bottled our water budgets are easy to blow. Fortunately we've found some convenience stores selling 1 and 2 liter bottle packs for less than a euro a bottle, so we're no longer spending 2 euros for a half-liter bottle four times a day (that was more or less the going rate in Rome). Normally the weather would be causing significant weight loss but we manage to break even by drastically increasing our consumption of gelato & pasta.
Here are some pictures from Tuesday; as always, Don's pictures are available here. There's not many pictures of the kids in this group because they're getting a little tired of the chaperones and enjoyed the opportunity to avoid us -- instead they concentrated on interacting with local residents around their age and some visiting students from Spain staying in a hotel nearby.
This is the funicular track leading to Montecatini Alto. It's basically a cable car on about a 45 degree slope:
This is the terminus of the funicular track at the top:
Here's the view from the north side of Montecatini Alto, looking away from Montecatini Terme:
The view from Montecatini Alto towards the town. It was a little hazy today but still very nice (apart from the heat):
A typical house in Montecatini Alto:
A satisfied diner after the big combined choirs dinner (Don's page has more pictures of the dinner here):
posted by Glen at 7:18 AM
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