Today is Sunday the 2nd of July, and we are now in the process of travelling home from Italy. Sorry for the sparse updates, but between our schedule and the absence of internet access it's been hard to catch up. Anyway, we're flying in 3 separate groups to Munich, and then assembling as one group for the final flight to San Francisco. We had a similar itinerary when we came to Italy, and our group was the last to depart. On this side of the trip we (14 of us) were the first to leave Milano, at 8:45AM. We're in the air now, on an AirDolomiti AIR (a turbo-prop puddle jumper). The flight is pretty lightly booked, so most of us have a pair of seats to ourselves. This is a terrific luxury these days!
My last blog entry updated for Wednesday and Thursday. So, let's recap Friday and Saturday now.
Friday:
This was the first dress rehearsal and performance of the Mass in C Minor (or "Do Min"), at Piazza Santo Stefano al Ponte, very close by to Ponte Vecchio ('Old Bridge') in Florence. The morning began with breakfast at Hotel Goya in Montecatini, followed by a (very!) quick trip to Pisa to see the duomo and the famous leaning tower (here's Sue Ellis trying to put it upright again:
Then we returned to Florence for a rehearsal at the church, dinner at a restaurant near Piazza Santa Croce, and back to the church for the performance. The performance of Mozart's Mass in C Minor was another feather in the Gunn HS choir's cap -- they held their own against two more experienced choirs (the UC Long Beach choir and the
Camerata Singers). The combination of the almost 150 voices and 100 instruments was incredibly powerful and moving -- Dr. Talberg's choirs provided the solos (mostly soprano voices, which Mozart is said to have written for his wife). The weather continued to be very hot, but the church was cooler than the outside even with the standing-room only crowd which had been attracted by the Kingsway Tour group's advance advertising. Here is a snapshot (thanks Kiyoshi) of what the combined choirs looked like inside the church:
As you can see, it's quite a group!
Just a quick interruption here -- our plane is flying over the Alps right now, and it's a shame that my camera's battery is dead; otherwise I'd be showing you some incredible pictures. Hopefully Natalya or Jessica Baloun (who are behind & ahead of me, respectively) can share the pictures they're taking. Wait ... is that Julie Andrews down there, spinning around & singing? No, I don't think so...it's just a goat. Sorry.
Wonder of wonders, Natalya gave me a copy of one of her through-the-window photos. Here's a picture that calls to mind (at least for me) the thrusting of Olympus from the clouds:
Okay, back to the narrative. Friday night's concert was, as I said, an amazing experience, and Don has posted pictures at his photo website. The beautiful renaissance church, the amazing voices and the wonderful orchestra made for a once in a lifetime evening. But wait! We get to do it again on Saturday! Speaking of which -
Saturday:
Saturday morning began the most travel-intensive part of the trip; we checked out of the hotel at noon and boarded our buses for San Gimignano. Check out was, well, pretty hectic. Because of the separate flights and the need to stage our baggage for the planes, we had to prepare all the luggage in piles in the lobby according to flight. Unfortunately this didn't really leave any room for people, so we had a couple of hours of milling, shouting and questioning until we got everything all running smoothly. The bus trip to San Gimignano was a couple of hours, and when we arrived we had time for more sight-seeing (and shopping) before the rehearsal and the concert. Here's a view (courtesy of Katya) from San Gimignano of the countryside:
San Gimignano, like Assisi, is a picturesque hilltop medieval village with classic meandering cobblestone streets & scenery. It's beautifully maintained, but for us poor Americans who are unused to walking it can be a little difficult to get around (especially in the unrelenting 100 degree weather). Here's a typical view:
The buses are parked in a lot below the city, and access to the village itself is almost exclusively by foot. The village has a beautiful medieval church (Basilica della Collegiata) in the Piazza del Duomo. This is where the final performance of the trip was held, and it is an amazing contrast to the other (newer) cathedrals we've seen. Instead of being elaborately decorated with carved marble and granite, the interior is of relatively unadorned stone carving (almost like a cave) but illustrated with hundreds of elaborate painted frescoes. Sorry not to have any photos of this, but my camera battery died & I don't have any pictures yet from anybody else -- I'm sure some will become available soon, if so I'll update here.
The group had several free hours in San Gimignano to explore and enjoy prior to the rehearsal and performance. Two events collided with the concert: The World Cup (two matches; England vs. Portugal -- Portugal won, sorry Chloë, and Brazil vs. France), and a courtyard performance of popular tunes by a brass band across the piazza from the church. Fortunately the anemic brass band was no match for 100 instruments and 150 voices, and it wasn't even heard inside the church during Mozart's mass. The World Cup match, as in past instances, was more a distraction than a problem; keeping up with the scores occupied lots of fans as they passed the bars & pubs where screens showed the matches in progress.
It was here in San Gimignano that our group started to come apart and the trip began to end. Several chaperones who are continuing their vacations in Europe booked hotels in the town, and some families showed up to take their kids with them. Those of us who remained boarded our trusty coaches (homes away from home by now) and made the trip to Milano, about five hours long. If you do the math (one hour performance at 9:30, walking to buses, world cup traffic, five hour bus trip) you'll see that we arrived at our final hotel near Milan about 6:00 AM. This meant a very brief stop for those of us on the earliest flight out of Milan, and it also brings me back to the beginning of this narrative. I'm about to post this blog from our flight by virtue of Lufthansa's 'Connexion by Boeing' in-flight wireless service which will bring an end to the narrative part of our trip. I hope to send out updates with links to shared photo albums as I get them. The Camerata singers have a web site of their own
here; check it out.
I want to give a shout out to my chap kids: Megan, Miranda, Alexandra, Vicky, Stephanie H, Rachel, Stephanie Y, Vera, Ilana, Stephanie T, Chloe, Audrey, Blake, Kanako, Andrea, Nina & Deanna in Italy, and Jessica P, Jessica B, Amanda, Natalya, Mami, Nicole, Katherine, Jre, Katie, Tiffany "awkward fish" & Caitlin on the flights. If I nagged it's only because I care and I worry!
Special thanks to our tour guides Cecilia, Chloë, Patricia and Vincenzo, (and their boss Sandra) who put this trip together and got us from Rome to Milano with a minimum of fuss and incidents. Also, thanks to the chaperones who did their best to keep their cool and calm in the face of hot weather and unplanned events, and their best was good indeed -- many went above and beyond the call of duty more than once and some almost daily. Bill, extra special thanks for providing musical miracles almost every single day, and allowing us all to come along for the ride.
I most especially want to thank my feet for not leaving me despite the abuse I heaped upon them. Guys, I'm sorry, and I appreciate your patience. But please
stop complaining.
Then we returned to Florence for a rehearsal at the church, dinner at a restaurant near Piazza Santa Croce, and back to the church for the performance. The performance of Mozart's Mass in C Minor was another feather in the Gunn HS choir's cap -- they held their own against two more experienced choirs (the UC Long Beach choir and the Camerata Singers). The combination of the almost 150 voices and 100 instruments was incredibly powerful and moving -- Dr. Talberg's choirs provided the solos (mostly soprano voices, which Mozart is said to have written for his wife). The weather continued to be very hot, but the church was cooler than the outside even with the standing-room only crowd which had been attracted by the Kingsway Tour group's advance advertising. Here is a snapshot (thanks Kiyoshi) of what the combined choirs looked like inside the church:
As you can see, it's quite a group!
Okay, back to the narrative. Friday night's concert was, as I said, an amazing experience, and Don has posted pictures at his photo website. The beautiful renaissance church, the amazing voices and the wonderful orchestra made for a once in a lifetime evening. But wait! We get to do it again on Saturday! Speaking of which -
San Gimignano, like Assisi, is a picturesque hilltop medieval village with classic meandering cobblestone streets & scenery. It's beautifully maintained, but for us poor Americans who are unused to walking it can be a little difficult to get around (especially in the unrelenting 100 degree weather). Here's a typical view:
The buses are parked in a lot below the city, and access to the village itself is almost exclusively by foot. The village has a beautiful medieval church (Basilica della Collegiata) in the Piazza del Duomo. This is where the final performance of the trip was held, and it is an amazing contrast to the other (newer) cathedrals we've seen. Instead of being elaborately decorated with carved marble and granite, the interior is of relatively unadorned stone carving (almost like a cave) but illustrated with hundreds of elaborate painted frescoes. Sorry not to have any photos of this, but my camera battery died & I don't have any pictures yet from anybody else -- I'm sure some will become available soon, if so I'll update here.
