Time for a Tune-Up

Well, today was my last day in Florence.  After a great practice session, running the town, doing a little shopping and washing laundry at the scariest laundrymat I’ve ever seen, I am ready to hit the road.  Tomorrow I will be in Rome and I will meet Troy on Sunday morning.  The plan is to keep blogging, but probably not quite as often.  So keep looking for new posts and leave me comments if you have the time…I love hearing from you!

My first two weeks have been really great.  I have been overwhelming surprised at the vocal experience I have had.  Rejuvenation was one of the goals of this grant and I have definitely met that goal.  Monica has really motivated me to continue working on my own voice…correction, she hates when I use the word “working”…how about “exploring” my own voice.  I have learned a few new tricks that I can use with my students, but most of all I am really passionate about the music I have selected for this recital and am very excited to perform for all of you…August 16th…write it down!

Of course experiencing the culture, art, and countryside of Italy withmy mother has also been a wonderful experience.  My parents have given me so much throughout my life and spending time together is the best way to show them my appreciation.  My family is always spread throughout the world, but being away somehow heightens the reality of our distance.  Time being of the essence, I have learned to enjoy the time that I have with each of my family members and value the time just as much as the experience itself.  I know my mother also had an enjoyable time and is safely home, swimming in her pool.  She also managed to miss the one disgusting meal I have had so far.  I am not sure what vegetable it was, but dinner consisted of layers of what tasted like soggy bread separated by tomato sauce.  Yuck!  Oh well, tonight’s was amazing!  Angelo…a friend of Vincenzo…actually speaks a little English and was able to fill me in on how to make the tomato sauce on the pasta as well as the glaze on the turkey.  Who knows, maybe I will learn to cook after all.

So as this day comes to a close I will say goodbye for now, but keep you updated as Troy and I travel from Sorrento, Italy to Vienna, Austria a great weekend!

Finally…I got a run in yesterday around the top of an ancient wall built around Lucca.  Lucca is another one of those little towns that you could spend all day exploring.  There are great shops, restaurants, churches, towers, and museums.  Of course the musician in me had to come to Lucca to see the birthplace of Puccini.  The town did not disappoint! 

We decided to go two laps on the crushed stone/paved path on top of the wall, which meant we also had to run across the town to get to the train in order to make it back in time for my lesson.  We boarded the train just as it was leaving the station…that was a close one! 

After another great lesson we headed over to see the David statue.  I’m not really that into renaissance art, but there is something magnificent about this statue.  The size alone is impressive, but the detail work is amazing.  No pictures allowed…sorry :(.  Apparently Michelangelo left in the midst of sculpting several statues to go to Rome and never to return.  This gallery had these ”beginnings” displayed as well.  These were very interesting because it gave a great perspective of how the sculpting process works.  Painting looks easier! 

Finally, my mom and I headed out for dinner and her last bit of gelato.  We found the Florentine version of Baskin Robbins, except Festival of Gelato had 70 flavors!  Mom had me talked into taking a cooking class today, but it is a Holiday here in Florence and the booking agency wasn’t open.   This is probably better for all of Florence for those of you who are aware that my cooking skills are limited to Shells & Cheese and the occasional lasagna! 

I have two days left in Florence.  Today has been my “catch-up” day.  Tomorrow I have my final lesson and will be going to the U’fizzi gallery.  Hope you all are doing well.  Chat with you again soon!

Well as you can all imagine, Roma is amazing.  The ruins are just beautiful, which is kind of an ironic statement.  We stayed in a great little hotel with a charming concierge, Franco, who was extremely helpful.  My favorite part was definitely visiting the Vatican.   Our tour guide was great and a crusader for common courtesy among all tour groups…this is a losing battle, but he tried anyway.  I am still trying to wrap my mind around the scaffolding necessary to paint such amazing frescoes. It would be something that my brothers would love to climb, but that I would prefer to just look at!  Trevi fountain and the city by night were also great stops along our two day journey.  I can’t wait to come back with Troy.  (*note…if anyone else is planning a trip to Rome, check out Rick Steve’s downloadable walking tours.  Another American told us about these and I am going to try them out with a few museums in Florence)

Today after an intense practice session, my mom and I went to a small town called Fiesole.  This town has some amazing views of Florence.  For those of you who are sure that my travel/directional ability may be limited, I assure you that after today’s hike I am awarded some major bonus points.  In Fiesole there are several paths that lead around the city.  The paths are marked well until you get to the nature walk.  At this point signage no longer exits and multiple paths are present in several places.  Somehow we managed to make our way through just as a major storm rolled into the area.  Whew!  Now that was close, but well worth it.  I am sure that the hike compared to the hills of the Morgan-Monroe State Park and we were completely out of breath in getting to the top…which was generally not the top.  It kept going and going and going…up and up and up!  However, I loved it. 

Tomorrow we are headed to Lucca in the morning and then back for a lesson in the afternoon.  We will also be hitting the Academia Gallery, which houses the David, before a dinner on the town.  We have ate most of our dinners at home with Vincenzo.  He is a great cook, gets mad when we aren’t in for dinner at 7:30 on the button.  Tomorrow will be my mom’s last day here so we will be going all day and I will write again on Wednesday!

I had not planned to blog today, but in light of the tragedy that has hit the CG Choral program I have to make an exception.  I learned upon my arrival in Rome about the tragic accident that took the life of  Marieluise Wartmann.  Marie was such a sweet and caring girl…always wanting a hug!  Her personality coupled with her amazing talent as a vocalist makes it even more difficult to handle.  Today I spent the majority of the day at the Vatican.  In St. Peter’s Basilica a mass was in session and with the choir of angelic nuns singing, the drone of the organ resonating  in this huge ornate church, and the smell of incense burning made it difficult to think of anything but Marie.  I think I remember her telling me that I was in church the day she was baptized, which brings me some comfort in knowing that her faith was strong.  However, I know that the mourning and grieving will begin once the shock of this situation has subsided.  As for now, there are no words to say…simply my prayers and thoughts are in Greenwood, IN and with Marie’s family in Florida.

Well I can definitely say that I am enjoying the city of Florence and surrounding Tuscan Villages, but I am absolutely in love with the coastal villages that we visited yesterday.  The Cinque Terre are 5 coastal towns connected by paths that farmers created many years ago.  You can hike the path from town to town or you can take the train…oh, the train.  I should pause for a moment to tell you about our train experince…

So yesterday morning we got on the wrong train…surprise, surprise!  We ended up missing our connecting train and having to hang out in Pisa.  The good thing was that we met a group of American military families who were living in Germany and who were very helpful in explaing the train system.  On the way back…we were like experts.  We made the last train to Florence by about 10 minutes and it was smooth sailing from there!

Now back to the Cinque Terre…the villages are all nestled up in the cliffs and the water is a beautiful shade of blue.  The coastline is rocky, but serves as great summer fun with cliff diving and warm summer swimming.  I am actually going to change my plans for later in this trip to come back.  We only got to hike two of the paths and I just have to see the other three.  I will get pictures up, but they take a while to upload so give me a few days.

After my lessons today we are heading to Rome for the weekend and I will tell you all about that on Monday once I get back to Florence.  Have a great weekend!

The past two days have been awesome…minus the fact that my luggage didn’t arrive until Tuesday night.  On Tuesday I met with my vocal coach and accompanist for about 2.5 hours of lessons.  I am very impressed with the vocal instructor, Monica Benevenuti.  She says that everyone in Italy wants to be a singer and that no one knows how to teach, but I think she is very modest.  Monica travels the world performing with symphonies in Japan, Brazil, China, and of course many other European countries.  She also has many students and is quite good at teaching vocal technique.  My accompanist is also very good and has been helping me with my diction, expression, and general interpretation of the pieces for my recital. 

Also on Tuesday, my mother and I toured the Boboli Gardens.  This palace is very expansive and the view from the gardens is amazing.  We crossed the Ponte Vecchio to arrive at the palace.  This bridge is a medieval structure that contains nothing but jewelry shops.  And of course we had our first sample of gelato…with many more to follow I am sure.

Wednesday we took a tour of Siena and San Gimignano, two Tuscan cities with so much character and beauty.  The pictures cannot do these cities justice, but check them out!  No lessons today or tomorrow…just practice.  

 Some of you may know that I am currently staying with an Italian teacher named Vincenzo.  He speaks very little English…we play charades quite often.  Furthermore, there is one other student staying here as well and he is from Japan…he also speaks little to no English.  I am relying on my years of high school French and the few words I know in Italian from singing to get along…let me clarify in saying that I can count on my hands and toes the number of words I know in each language!  It is quite a site for us to sit down at dinner and try to guess what each other is saying.  Vincenzo has a friend in NC who we have already skyped with twice to clarify what each other is saying.  His cooking is superb and the home is nice, but down a scary alley!  In fact, that is how my mom and I know we are home…look for the pharmacy with all of the graffiti!  Ah…home sweet home!  He is also crazy about us showering before we eat dinner…I know it’s hot, but I didn’t think we were getting that stinky!  I asked him about running the other day and he laughed and told me there is no running in Florence.   The homestay was definitely the way to go…you can learn a lot about the Italian culture by staying with a Florentine!

Sunday June 14th was quite an interesting day!  It started very similarly to my trip to run the Boston Marathon…you know…the trip where I missed my flight.  Yep…it happened again!  Let’s just say that it’s important to pack your passport and your tickets when traveling.  One speeding ticket later, I departed from Indianapolis to Boston, then to Paris, and finally arrived in Florence.  Of course I have no luggage at this point, but things are looking up as it should hopefully arrive tomorrow.  I will begin my lessons with Monica Benvenuti tomorrow and I also hope to start hitting some of the major tourist attractions.  For now I am off to bed!  Buon Soir!

Ciao e benvenuto al mio blog!  Most of you know that I will be spending a month in Italy this summer preparing a vocal recital to be given on August 16th.  I will be making regular posts while overseas updating all of you on my recital progress and exciting new experiences.  Please feel free to ask me questions or leave messages.  I look forward to hearing from you! 

Arrivederci,
    Mrs. Dice