Blogs from Spoleto, Umbria, Italy, Europe

My great friend Tim beat the odds and made it to 40 years, having lived in 7 countries on four continents, had 28 girlfriends from 30 countries, one ex-wife, and no kids that he admits to. To celebrate this (or these) amazing feat(s), he hosted about 20 friends and relatives at Villa Piancianinear Spoleto, Italy. Awesome. The first four and a half days of the party were really, really boring. I arrived on the evening of the fifth. Then the party got going. Actually, judging by the dark circles under Loray and Ed's eyes, the party had been going pretty well even before I got there, with a little help from Luke's Limoncello. That's pretty much the extent of this blog entry. There wasn't a lot that we did there that we don't usually do when ... read more

Day 7 Spoleto Bill was still under the weather, so I went out to explore on my own. It was rainy with thunder and lightning in the distance. There were still crowds in the streets, however, and cafes and restaurants were packed. I decided to walk a loop down the hill to ruins of the Roman Amphitheater (not the theater near our hotel), along the river, and back up to our apartment. I started out by going to the costume and fabric Museum, which was closed….then on to a few churches (there must be over 50 in the area!) which were also closed. By this time I was the only one walking around in the rain. I came to a high wall, and went over to read the information plaque. (All the historical information here is ... read more

Day Four Rome to Spoleto We had a relaxed departure from Rome late Friday morning and took the 1.5 hour train ride into the hills of Umbria to the town of Spoleto. We hadn't realized it was the Todi Sainti holiday on Monday (All Saints Day) and had quite of bit of trouble booking rooms here in a hotel. Our plan was to stay in the hotel for two nights and then find an apartment to rent for a week or so. The old town is beautiful and many places are now being renovated (I can imagine that in the 50's when there were two big prisons in town, that the real estate market wasn't exactly booming...). As usual, the Romans built on prehistoric sites, and then the Catholics built on the Roman sites. And now ... read more

Yesterday was one of those days without a plan. We started kind of late (singers don't sleep) in the morning and walked down to Piazza Garibaldi for a little shopping. However, everything closes at 1 or 1:30pm for pausa. We ate a little pizza, had a good conversation and walked outside of the cafe to closed shops. So we did what anyone in our situation would do: we had gelato on a shaded outdoor cafe and decided what to do next. Our next decision was one that took us to the top of a hill and to a beautiful castle: The Rocca Albornoziana. From Wikipedia, here's a quick overview: The majestic Rocca Albornoziana, built in 1359-1370 by the architect Matteo Gattapone of Gubbio for Cardinal Albornoz. It has six sturdy towers which formed two distinct inner ... read more

Most of the time, I talk about the weather (hot and sticky) and the sites. I still have to go to the Castle and the monastery and really spend time at the museums but I'm waiting for la famiglia (the family) to get here. Instead, this blog entry is dedicated to the breakthroughs I'm having with the music staff. I like how I sound and so do you (you're all family - if you didn't we'd have problems) but there are always things to learn to make everything even better. If I can make small changes to make a better sound, I'll grow and growing keeps me from getting a real job. First, I keep a lot of tension in my jaw. You know how you chew bread that has a thick crust and your jaw ... read more