Roma Part 2

I'm probably going to have several more parts about Rome... I've decided that I will be going back next Sunday to make sure I don't miss out on anything. It's crazy to think this might be the only opportunity in my life to see Rome...no pressure!

So, after our tour of the Vatican city, we walked across the Tiber river on our way to tour the sites of ancient Rome. I successfully navigated our way to the Pantheon:

This is the oldest Roman building still currently in use. It was constructed in 80 AD:

The tombs of Raphael, Umberto I (Italian king), and Vittorio Emmanuel II (man who unified Italy) are here.

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Then we saw the Trevi Fountain:

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After Trevi Fountain, we made our way to the Roman Forum/Palantine Hill/Colloseum:

View of the Roman Forum.

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It's E in Italy!! (note the letter in E in the bottom left of the Colloseum.

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By now it was about 7ish, and we had already been in Rome for almost 12 hours. We made our way up to Circus Maximus, enjoyed the amazing view of the temple of Venus and Rome, and made our way back to the Termini:

You can see a little of Circus Maximus (large open mall) and the Temple of Venus and Rome.

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Next Sunday I plan on paying to go inside the Colloseum and Roman Forum, see St. Peter in Chains, go to southern Rome to see the Appian Way and Catacombs, up to northern Rome to see the Villa Borghese gardens, and if time permits, back to St. Peter's Basilica one last time.

This Friday I am performing Peter and the Wolf! And we are rumored to be fitted for character costumes......YES. Really pumped about this.

Until next time!

Roma Part 1: The Vatican.

So on Sunday, Mario, Tiffany, Pam, Jeremy, Austin, Ben and I made a day trip to Rome. Our morning started, oh, about 4.5 hours after our Saturday evening concert...no joke. We got up around 4 AM in catch a 5:50 train from Spoleto to Rome. On the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museum is FREE! We really wanted to get to the Vatican City as early as we could so we could get in line before the Vatican Museum opened at 9. The line was pretty terrifying when we arrived at 8:30ish, but it moved fairly quickly and we made it inside the museum around 10:30.

I had no idea how GINORMOUS the Vatican Museum is...literally miles and miles of hallways covered from the floor to the ceiling with art. My favorite room was the Map Room....and the Sistine Chapel:

The Map Room.

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The ceiling/wall of the Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel... with the help of my panoramic software.

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We had packed food for the day, so we decided to take a lunch break in St. Peter's Square... no biggie.

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Then we entered St. Peter's Basilica. I remember Cecilia telling me how overwhelmed she felt when she first walked through the doors...I can't begin to describe how I felt when I first walked in. Walking through the Basilica was a very emotional experience. To give you an idea of the sheer size of it, the Duomo in Florence and St. Mark's in London could both fit inside of it. The columns inside St. Peter's are 7 stories, and the gold band on top of them is 7 feet tall.

The main altar. Beneath the altar, about 20 feet is the remains of St. Peter the Apostle. As in THE Peter. As in the first pope. Wow. Totally mind blowing. We went to the crypts below the church and saw every pope's tomb. Every single pope. Unreal.

Remember how I mentioned that the Duomo in Florence was the most amazing thing I've ever seen? Yeah, doesn't hold a candle to St. Peter's. I have to go back. I have to go back. Um, I have to go back.

After the Vatican we went to see the ruins of Rome, which I will update with pictures when I have more time!

As requested, more pictures. :)

Here is a picture of the Mahler section:

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The Duomo in Spoleto.

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Tiffany and I with this razy sculpture outside the Palace Pitti in Florence. Below is the inscription describing the sculpture:

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So I've had several requests for food pictures, so here we go! I have a lot of them on my phone that I hope to upload soon:

Homemade cucumber, tomato, olive oil, basil and garlic salad with homemade croutons.

Zucchini, tomato, and eggplant pizza.

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Probably the most amazing pizza I've ever had... green beans, olives, artichokes, tomato, eggplant, and peppers.

More to come!

The last few days.

Hey all! It's been a busy last few days...we are gearing up for our Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2/Sibelius Violin Concerto/Swan Lake Waltz concert this Saturday. I am playing Assistant 3rd/4th on Rachmaninoff and 2nd on Sibelius and Swan Lake. Lots of playing! We also started Brass Choir rehearsals with Marie Speziale on Tuesday.

So, I've been extremely fortunately and grateful that my chops haven't been causing me any serious issues so far! I have to be honest, I was really shocked that I hadn't felt any pain at all through the Mahler rehearsals and concerts. I have, however, developed an irritation on my bottom lip after extensive low loud playing. I spoke with Gardner about this, and he wasn't too concerned. I am finally shifting my support to my bottom lip, and I'm sure it's just getting accustomed to playing with more support on my lower lip.

I did feel a slight discomfort on my top lip today (the only time so far at the festival.. very positive sign)... only because I literally had 5 hours of rehearsal. That is the most playing I have done since before I hurt my lip. I'm getting stronger each day, and it's beyond encouraging seeing the result of my embouchure changes and seeing my the results in my increased endurance.

Now, enough shop talk...on to pictures. :)

Here are a few panaromic shots I've stitched together with a editing program I have:

Florence.

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View of Spoleto just outside of the Duomo.

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Another view of inside the Teatro Nuovo. I'm trying to get enough pictures of the front before our concerts to get an entire full on shot of it.

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Santa Croce in Florence. Home of the tombs of Michelangelo, Rossini, and Galileo.

I want to post more pictures, but the internet has gotten slow again... hopefully more tomorrow or this weekend!

Oh, yeah, and I'm going to Rome on Sunday, no biggie.

Pictures!

I have a bit of time on the internet, so I'm going to post some highlights from the last two weeks:

This is the Teatro Nuovo, the theatre in Spoleto where we rehearse, practice, and have our major concerts. We are performing Mahler No. 1 here tonight. I know riiiiight?

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The Rocco Albornoziana, or the "Fortress" up the hill of Spoleto. This used to be a prison, as well as a place to house the Pope when he traveled.

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Mario, Tiffany, me, and Jeremy in Florence.

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The last four people on the right are friends/family of the owners of this Gelateria, who live in Casserta. We would visit them almost every night last week, and they were so much fun to talk with. And very silly.

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And I leave you with homemade bruschetta. :)

Mahler No. 1 tonight! And a free day tomorrow!

Dvorak Concert!

I had my first (and only) chamber concert on Wednesday night...Dvorak Serenade for winds. I've been working for almost two months on the 3rd part, and it went really really well! I made a recording of it, that hopefully I will be able to post at some point.

Mahler rehearsals have been in full swing, and our concert is tomorrow night. Apparently there won't be live broadcasts of our concerts online, which is really unfortunate...I was hoping people might be able to see it! I'm really excited about it, and it should be a great concert.

We've decided to stay in Spoleto on Sunday instead of going to Casserta/Naples. Train travel on Sunday is sooooooo expensive...it was going to be close to 40 euros each way...yikes. We're thinking about taking some of the hiking trails, which I've been wanting to do now that we have some free time.

Also... I hate to admit this but I've been CRAVING burritos. Absolutely craving. I want one pretty much all day, every day. It's pretty embarrassing. But I literally can't stop thinking about burritos.

Missing Rachel/C/Aud/Sean right now. Start planning the porch sits now, k thanks.

I want to post some pictures, but the internet is waayyyy to slow, haha. When I have a longer period of time free, I'll post more!

Ciao!

florence.

So this weekend Mario, Tiffany, and Jeremy made a trip to Florence.

Wow.

I wasn't expecting to make a trip to Florence, but Mario, Tiff, and Jeremy had plans on going, so I decided to tag along. What an incredible trip...

We had a bit of a train mishap... as in we missed our train to begin with, haha. We bought our tickets, just as the train was leaving, so we wait about another 2 hours for another train, and had to buy another ticket...BUT they said we could refund them! Annnnnd then we lost the ticket to refund. Booooooooooooo

The train ride to Florence was about 3 hours, and we got there around 5 PM. We made it to our hotel, and had an amazing evening walk around the sights. We saw the Duomo, the 3rd largest christian cathedral in the world on our way to walk across the river:

We got to the Ponto Vicchio (the bridge across the Arno River) and was made our way up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, one of the highest points in Florence, and literally watched the sun set. We could see the entire city...this may have been one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen:

Then I had one of the most incredible meals of my life. We had Chianti wine, which is of the region we were in, and I had pasta with truffle oil and shaved truffles. I literally didn't talk for about a half in hour...so amazing.

The next day we went to the Acadeamia Gallery, home of Michelangelo's David. Jeremy, at the risk of getting arrested by the Italian government, took a picture. Haha. Just straight up took out his iPhone and took a picture.

After the Gallery, we went to several street markets, and I bought a bracelet and two scarves! You have to argue down the price, which was definitely an adventure... I got all of those things for 11 Euros. Awesome.

Then we waited in line to go inside the Duomo, which was incredible. After that we were pretty exhausted, so we walked to the river to see the bridge once more, then headed back to the hotel, and went on our way back to Spoleto.

I wasn't planning on going to Florence...but it was so incredible, and I had such an amazing time with Mario, Tiff, and Jeremy.

I have my first chamber concert tomorrow! Dvorak Serenade... and Mahler No. 1 on Friday.

We we we so excited.

AUDREY AND RACHEL EMAIL ME PLEASE I MISS YOU.