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.

Cold in Italy... not as good.

Buono Sera!

We finally started rehearsing on Wednesday! I began rehearsals for Mahler No. 1, and the chamber work I'm in, the Dvorak Wind Serenade. It was really nice to have few days to get oriented with the city (and get into a more regular sleeping schedule), but by Wednesday, I was definitely ready to finally start the music festival. We've only had sectionals so for for the Mahler, but it's been going really well! We have a great brass group... brass members from CCM, Rice, San Franscisco Conservatory, Eastman, and others. It be getting loud. The Dvorak Serenade is incredible... I'm playing 3rd horn on it, which has been a great challenge...amazing music.

So the last three days I've been working on a head cold... not so good. I think my sinuses are just acclimating themselves maybe? Not so sure... all I know is that yesterday I couldn't hear out of my left ear...fantastic. BUT so many great things have happened the last few days...

We met a incredibly friendly and amazing family that are friends (or possibly related) to woman that own this one gelateria in one of the squares close to where we rehearse. We have run into them multiple times, and they have kept inviting us back for free gelato at the store! They are hilarious...and very eager to speak with us, despite our knowledge of Italian is the same as their knowledge of English...but it's great. They found out we were musicians and invited us back to play for them. I haven't uploaded us playing for them yet, but here is a picture of us with the family:

I have some really amazing pictures from last night with the family... we got several other spoleto-ers to come and sing (the woman in the center is a vocalist as well!) and all of us played/sang with the family. It was incredible... they also invited Pam and I out with their family to visit a lake outside of the town, but we had a rehearsal and couldn't make it. There is a chamber concert tonight (Strauss Serenade!) and afterwards we are going back to the gelateria to say goodbye to them... the family goes home tomorrow :(

So, a few changes in our trip this weekend... Pamcakes needs to kick ass in Memphis/Ottawa/Milwaukee, so we are postponing our trip this weekend. However, I'm tagging along with Mario, Tiffany, Jeremy, and Austin to Florence! Mario had wanted to make a trip to Pompeii later in the festival, so we plan on doing that then. I have many afternoons/Sundays off, so I plan on doing Rome during that time. I think I might even do it on my own. It's probably best to split up The Vatican and the rest of Rome into several trips, so that will be my plan. As Toritown says, gotta have a plan.

Well, my battery is almost dead, and we're getting ready to head to FLORENCE! I will update when I get back!

Day 2!

Day 2! Today was much more low key... woke up later, got my espresso and morning internet (of which I ordered in Italiano all by my onesies) and walked around for a bit on my own.

The exciting part of today is that Pam and I planned a weekend trip! Rome, Naples, POMPEII, and Mt. Vesuvius... holy crap. We have this weekend free after a noon rehearsal, so here is the plan thus far:

-Take the train to Rome (about an 1.5ish hours), check out Palladin Hill, The Forum, The Colosseum, the Pantheon, and take an evening walking tour (including the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain). And if there's time, St. Peter's Basilica!

-Spend the night at a hostel, and take the train in the morning to Naples

-Check out Pompeii/climb Mt. Vesuvius (!!!!!!!) right outside of Naples, then check out the town until the evening

-Train back to Rome for the night

-Rome again the in the morning! We're going to check out St. Peter in Chains cathedral, the Appian Way, the catacombs around the Appian Way, and anywhere else we have time for before the evening! I plan on taking another afternoon or day trip later in the festival to explore the Vatican.

-Train back to Spoleto on Sunday evening.

Last night we saw the closing celebrations of the Spoleto festival that preceded the Spoleto Music festival that we are about to be a part of... amazing firework display over the city. Pam and I came back to the apartment and spent a good amount of time learning Italian. It's great because we both are really interested in the language and it's been so helpful having someone to learn with!

Rachel: Lorenzo + pants = reason #1 why i more than likely won't be coming back.... reason #2 cantaloupe soia gelato.

I would just like to comment that Italian men have discovered the real way to wear pants.

America: FIGURE IT OUT.

Alright, battery is running out, and my glass is once again full of vino.

ITALIA!

Uh... I'm in Italy....unreal.

We finally made it! We arrived around 9 AM in Rome (3 AM Eastern time). My luggage arrived, and so did my horn (thanks Broseph for your excellent packing skills... not a dent! and I promise to bring home the foam... if I don't try to sell it for gelato money...)

I got about uh... maybe 2 hours of sleep on the plane, and even after popping Dramamine like candy. Fortunately I was able to get about a 45 minute nap on the bus to Spoleto from Rome. We were dropped off to this ginormous poster for the Spoleto festival.

After getting our Italian phones and figuring out how the heck we were going to carry my horn box down cobblestones and hills to our apartment, we made it to our apartment.

So, we were originally supposed to have 8 in our apartment, but PAMCAKES was added at the end! So excited to be rooming with Pam! She has been so incredibly helpful teaching me enough Italian to get by, and showing me around the city.

The apartment is really spacious! There are 4 bedrooms, and 2 1/2 baths...3 of the bedrooms have 2 beds, and the other has 3. Here are a few pictures:

Pamcakes and my room.

Here is the kitchen!

The kitchen had plenty of cooking ware, so we went to local grocery store (Maxi Tigre) and bought pasta, vegetables, couscous, SOYMILK (thank you god), cereal (it's called 'Nice Morning!', haha), olive oil and other treats.

After we showered and unpacked, Pam took me for a walking tour around town...here are some highlights from the walk... unreal:

^^The Aquaduct... you can walk across it to get to many hiking and walking trails. Definitely on my to-do list!

This was hilarious... it is an electronic lawn mower.... ROBOT MOWER. sooooooooooooooo funny!

As you can see, the views around the town are unreal. Everything is beautiful, and nothing is ugly... much unlike our ever so dear City by the Bay...

Today I finally got some decent sleep, and practiced a bit! More sightseeing today, and we finally figured out the internet situation. Now I'm on to my second espresso of the day (which I successfully ordered in Italiano!). Tomorrow the second group arrives, and on Tuesday we have our first all company meeting.

Well, my battery is about gone, and it's about time for more gelato. :)

Ciao!

Friends! I plan on keeping up this blog while I'm in Spoleto, Italy. I wanted to keep my family and friends updated with pictures and information about the festival, as well as updates on live, online concerts!