Day 11: Amalfi Coast and Salerno

Today we had a full day off until the evening to do as we wished in Salerno. I was not really impressed by Salerno in itself so I kind of wanted to do something other than see the sights around town. There was talk of renting a sailboat and taking a cruise with a few people at a time learning how to work the sails under Susanna and Dr. Gardner and some people were thinking about renting some fishing tackle but, surprisingly, I elected instead to take a ferry ride to a beach town down the coast called Positano. At 11 euros each way it was not the cheapest trip, but as you will see it was completely worth it.

Me and four other guys from Glee Club had originally wanted to go to the island of Capri, but it was not going to work with our schedule for the evening as we had to be back by 5:00PM dressed in our tour polos. So instead we hopped on a 9:40 ferry along the coast and got off at the second stop an hour later. When we were pulling into the harbor of Positano I could not believe my eyes. Along the trip we had seen some nice cliffs and wooded coastlines with little communities carved out in the sheer rock but at Positano I felt like we wer in the Caribbean. We hopped off the ferry and walked along the open beachfront shops and restaurants for a little while until we got to the beachfront. The private beach costed 13 euros and included a beach umbrella, chair, and showering facilities, but the public beach was free and, being college kids, we opted for that one. It was right next to the fenced off private beach so it was really not a problem at all and was absolutely awesome.

The black sand was veeerry hot on our feet but because we had our towels we could bear it until we had to run to the water. When we did get into the water it was unbelievable. Like Salerno, the depth increased very quickly as you went out but about 20 feet from shore, at 25 or so feet of depth, I could see straight to the bottom. I was fascinated with how clear it was despite being about as choppy as a normal beach and with a high amount of boat traffic I would have thought that the water would have been at least cloudy. However, the incredible clarity continued until it was about thirty feet deep and I just couldn’t see the bottom anymore. I really wanted to buy a mask to go check out the clarity from underwater but they were 19 euros minimum on the beach and I was not that desperate. Unfortunately, the water was much too salty to open my eyes underwater (much saltier than the beaches at home) so I just had to be content with the trick I learned from Bear Grylls on television where you hold your hands tightly to your head and exhale enough air to create a pocket to see through while underwater. Here are some pictures for you to get an idea about just what we were looking at on the Amalfi Coast.








After we had spent about 2 hours on the beach (just enough time for me to get a bit burnt…) we walked inland for a little bit to check out the shops and the local vendors. Over the steep, upward-slanting paths vines and flowering plants were supported on lattices and it gave the whole area a beautiful smelling cloud, not to mention a great sight to see. When we reached the top of the market I saw the lemons that Grandma Fabian has told me about during her trip to Italy many years ago and I had to get one. As you can see from the picture, the lemons are about the size of two huge softballs put together. This giant fruit can only grow due to the great number of nutrients deposited in the soil from the volcanic eruptions. I brought the lemon back to dinner and was able to give everyone in the choir of over 70 lemon slices for their water and even some extra to squeeze onto their green beans.





After heading back on the 1:30PM ferry and taking a beautiful nap, we got dressed in our black polos, ate dinner, and went back to the same church for our participation in the choir festival. We had learned two French pieces, one Latin piece, and the Italian National Anthem to perform with 7 other Italian choirs and as an added twist, we got to sing the French pieces as a march from the center of town up to the church. We were about 250 strong and it was kind of fun to be able to see the reactions of all the people in the street. Unfortunately, it was a lot of vocal strain and I had to carefully monitor my singing so I didn’t blow out my throat for the concert.




Then we got to the top of the hill, finally, with our parade and each choir had to do a very short set. Our waiting room was up about four flights of stairs so some of us were directed to the elevator and we jumped in. However, we apparently ignored the 6 people/480 Kg limit sign (about 1000lbs) and when we had 7 American-sized gentlemen inside, our elevator incidentally stopped working. We ended up escaping, but we had to push the emergency call button and wait about 10 minutes for the technician to arrive.



After we escaped, we got to do our concert and we really had a nice time with the other choirs. It would have been nice to interact with them a bit more, but that was unavoidable. I got to speak to a few people and I got to help some of the guys say hi to some of the attractive Italian girls they were fawning over, but for me, it was just polite conversation.

Day 10: Salerno

After our brief respite in Rome, we made it to the south of Italy to a little town in the bay of Naples called Salerno. Our hotel was spacious and modern with very fast elevators and good breakfasts and we were able to go right across the street to the beach. Unfortunately, the beach was less than desirable in that it was full of garbage and Styrofoam. We nonetheless jumped out of our bus, changed into our shorts and hopped in. The water was very refreshing and was surprisingly deep. Going in about ten surface feet it dropped down to about eight feet in no time. I have a feeling that is a common feature of this coastline because it is very black sand and has, I think, a lot to do with the volcanos.




After our brief dip we got dressed into our tuxes and hopped on the busses into the center of town for another concert at the Chiesa Dell’Addolorata. We are part of a larger choral festival in Salerno but our concert today was a chance to give a large section of our repertoire to the board of people in charge of the festival.



Unfortunately, one of our officers forgot the programs and tour gifts on the bus so I had to go with our president back to the bottom of the hill to grab everything from the bus drivers who had already departed. We made it down the hill and got to the busses, but just as we were heading up we were met by a local parade and our progress was halted with no remedy other than to wait. Luckily we were only rehearsing during the time we spent to go get the programs, so we had a chance to sit back, relax, and make our way slowly up the road with our little suitcase of items in tow.







We did finally get to the venue and we got everything in order to sing our concert. By this point of the tour my throat had gotten quite sore from so much singing and I tried to do my best throughout the concert to sing but in a way that would preserve my voice. It is kind of a bummer not being able to be at full vocal strength for the entire time on stage, but it has taught me how to listen better and to appreciate just how good our group can really be. We have a lot of singers who are not feeling 100% but at the same time people are stepping up and blending so well that we are sounding just as good if not better than we would in the United States.

Day 9: Rome Part 1

As strange as it may seem, I really don’t have much to say about Rome itself from the first day of being there. We arrived after our drive from Arezzo in the afternoon and we had to immediately dress and prepare to get back onto the bus. We were all really full of nervous energy because we had all been looking forward to our performance at St. Peter’s Basilica.



Unfortunately, we were not able to take any pictures inside the Vatican, but I can assure you in a few days when we get a formal tour that I will get an overload of photos for you. I can tell you that it was an absurdly beautiful experience and one which I will never forget. Being in the largest church in the world, one which represents a place where millions of people worldwide focus their faith. The entire church was shut down for the mass and we were singing as real parts of the actual mass which was going on. We were greeted extremely warmly by the audience of many hundreds of people and the actual mass was in no way staged or just put on for tourists. We were amplified, unfortunately, but I know that we still sounded great and it was something that was simply incomparable in terms of anything I have ever done before.

After getting out of the Vatican, we returned to our hotel and got ready for the final dinner with the Friends and Family. This group had been with us for about a week of our whole time in Italy and we got to share a special meal intermingled with them at their hotel. We were sad to see them go, but we were very happy to have sung for them and that they could have joined us across the ocean to give us a piece of home.





So, with a bit of regret for not having seen so much of Rome, but with excitement for what lay ahead, we made our way out of Rome and we will be headed south for Salerno.

Day 8: Arezzo

Wow, it has been a long time since I've had good internet so I'm posting a bunch today, but hopefully you get the gist of everything anyway!

We are continuing our journey into the heart of Tuscany and our stop for today is Arezzo. Arezzo is the home of my Italian professor from this semester (ciao Arianna!) and I had heard a lot about it before I got there. On a side note, I had wanted to get some kind of panama/straw hat this summer and I found one here, so we’ll see if it makes it back across the rest of Italy and Spain!



Anyhow, personal vanities aside, Arezzo is a city very relevant to us as a choir because one of the precursors to modern music as we know it occurred there. The monk Guido d’Arezzo was the first to devise a system of writing down music using a staff and notes. This represented an important advancement from when people had to simply memorize music and, as a result, the music had to be written so it was easy to memorize. The use of the writing system allowed for the development of complex melodies and continued to expand into what we have today.



We got a brief walking tour of the city and began with a quick stop at the so-called people’s cathedral named “la Pieve.” This location is special because it was where the common people went to worship, as apposed to the great rich cathedral of the nobility with power and money. Outside, original painted “vulgar” scenes show miniature townspeople working and, along with tiny inscriptions of the names of the months of the year, they were able to depict the yearly cycle of harvesting, planting, and other household tasks.

Inside, the cathedral seemed more simple than others we had seen, but with some unique features. We were able to sing a few songs briefly and it did, however, have some great acoustics.




As we continued walking, we stopped at a piazza which was used to film a very famous scene of the movie La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful). It was a very unique square in that it was slanted down a hill, yet it had a lot of charm and reminded me very much of what an Italian piazza should look like. As you can see below with the before/after pictures, we saw the piazza empty first and then decided that it would make a great place for a Glee Club group photo, which we did right before our concert later that evening.





We then progressed to the Cathedral of Arezzo, located at the top of the town’s hill. This cathedral held the quarters of the bishop and was not only the seat of religion, but also of political and social power. What impressed me most about this structure was the stained glass windows. They were the tallest decorated windows I have ever seen. Aside from the coolness (in temperature) of the church, we were also able to see a monument dedicated to a pope who, in returning to Rome at a time of great sickness, actually died in Arezzo.




Finally, we finished our walking tour, went back to the hotel, and then headed back (in our penguin suits) to the church where we performed in Arezzo. The concert, shared with a group of very talented Italian female singers, was great and we all really enjoyed the time we had at the concert and with the other group.

Day 7: Lucca and Peccioli

Today we were offered the beautiful proposition of having a free morning until 1:00PM to do as we wished and enjoy the little town of Montecatini even more before our busy day of traveling. So, then, what would be a better way to relax than to get a full body massage at the hotel!

For 18 Euro I got my first massage for 25 minutes and it was worth every penny. The hard pillows and awkward bus seats definitely made my feel a bit out of whack, but the massage was more than enough to get it all back together.



I headed to the pool after that to increase my relaxation and enjoy the beautiful sunshine and then we got to have lunch with the Friends and Family of the Glee Club in our hotel. For lunch we had “tuscan appetizers” which amounted to various types of cold cuts (salume), bruschetta, cheese, and some meat pâté. We also got two types of pasta, veal, peas, and Tiramisu for dessert. Believe it or not, this hotel was the worst dining we have had so far (there doesn’t ever seem to be enough food or water for us all), but it was still good in comparison.

We were then off on the bus to Lucca. Lucca is also located in the region of Tuscany. Lucca is famously the birthplace of the famous 19th century composer Giacomo Puccini who wrote many of the world’s most famous operas. This is a statue dedicated to him in one of the main piazza’s.



We stopped in the church at la piazza di San Michele (Saint Michael’s square) and we were greeted with quite a different sight in terms of interior decoration. This church, created later than many of the other renaissance churches which we had seen thus far, was very austere in nature and represented more of a place of quiet meditation than being in awe of what God had done. The wildly elaborate and expressive art in the other churches, as I mentioned, was meant as a type of bible picture book for the poor people because they were not educated and the vast majority would not be able to read or even follow the masses given in the church as they were in Latin. Here in Lucca, however, the later construction of this church meant that more people were able to read and understand the priests and therefore the architecture did not need to do the work of the bible itself. Below you can see a parallel of symbolic and expressionistic works, the first being Jesus Alive on the cross (a symbol of hope and victory), and the second is a picture of four saints, the last being Saint Helen, shown in extraordinary detail characteristic of the expressions being expressed in the painting.




Lucca is also distinguished from the surrounding areas in Tuscany because it was conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte. Its thick walls (surrounding the main, historic city center) show a historical shift as they are walls designed for defense from cannons rather than medieval implements of siege like the trebuchet and the siege tower. The city center as well shows a historical development as it is modeled after a French square rather than a typical Italian one. The 200 year old Sycamore trees lining the square definitely gave it a certain charm and made it feel very cozy and secure.




Another architectural oddity of Lucca is its Piazza Anfiteatro. This plaza was built around the site of an ancient Roman amphitheater/coliseum where actual gladiator fights and other spectacles were held. The four gates entering the closed plaza correspond with the entrance points for gladiators and even lions, and the walls around the plaza are houses constructed on top of the ancient grand stands. We made it out safely, however, and Brian Thomas and I decided to rent some bikes on our free time and take a quick ride along the walls of the city. As I said, these walls are very thick due to the need to stop cannon balls, so they have now been turned into a bike/jogging track, with many of the free, green spaces being used for public parks as well. The bike photo was a bit out of focus but I think well done considering I was trying to ride my bike at the same time as I took the photo!




When we had all had our fill of free time in Lucca we got on our bus and headed off to Peccioli where we would be having our joint concert that evening. Driving more towards the southeast from Lucca we continued to move into the heart of Tuscany and we were not at all disappointed by the scenery. I get the sense that this part of Italy is what people consider to be the stereotypical Italian landscape. Rolling hills are pock-marked with beautiful villas and neat fields, while towns sit perched atop hills with quaint, steep cobbled streets leading up to old churches worn from use. These are a few photos that I was able to snap quickly just from where our bus let us off to make our way to the church for our concert.





We then got hastily changed and walked up the long winding streets to our concert location in a small (and stuffy!) church at the top of the town’s hill. We performed our set with another choir who also did three pieces and we were also very happy to be able to share some time eating with them after our concert.




Peccioli was really eye-opening for me because it gave me the first real idea of what Tuscany is really like. I ate Proscuitto, saw magnificent views, and felt the warm rays of the sun still trapped in the stone church walls after it had already been dark just before we went in to perform. I feel somewhat nostalgic for this place despite never having been here in my life and I know that it will always hold a special place in my memories.

Day 6: Firenze

Wow, already our sixth day in Italy! Today I was extremely excited because we are headed into Florence, one of the foremost cities in Italy in terms of fine art and architecture. After getting our things in order for the beginning of our walking tour, we headed straight to the Accademia di Belle Arti to see one of the world’s most famous sculptures. I had to be very stealthy with my picture taking, so forgive me if they are a bit off-center, but I got some shots to share with you all just how magnificent Michelangelo’s David really is.







I wanted to see so much more in that gallery but there was just not enough time so we continued our walking tour into the heart of the city and much to my amazement, even more breathtaking art awaited!

Our first stop was the Duomo di Santa Maria delle fiore which is simply known as the Duomo by the Florentines. It is the fourth largest church in the world and boasts the largest masonry dome (i.e. made of bricks, mortar, and stones) ever constructed. The dome was designed and built in only 13 years by the famed architect Brunelleschi. It is truly a wonder of the modern world and I was thrilled to be able to see it, but more on that later.




Then we saw exact replicas of the famed Ghiberti Doors on the baptistery just to the side of the Duomo. Because they are outside, the originals could not be displayed but they were just as detailed and awesome as if they were real.




Then we went to the Piazza della Signoria (Square of Lordship) and saw some other publically displayed statues. This is where the original David was once displayed and there are many other fine works of art just out in the open for all to see.






We were then free to go after visiting the Piazza di Santa Croce and I walked around this beautiful city doing some shopping and just taking in whatever I could. I made it to the Pontevecchio, gazed into the Arno River, and browsed the local fare at a caffetteria.





Lastly, and most amazingly, I got to go to the top of the Duomo with some of the guys from Glee Club. For 8 euros and after walking up 463 steps, we got, in my opinion, the most beautiful vantage point I have ever seen in a city (I have seen some gorgeous mountain views, so I keep them in a separate category. We got to circle up and up in a spiral staircase, then we walked around the rim of the inside of the dome where we saw the largest fresco in the world painted, and finally made it to the top where we simply gazed in wonderment at the beauty of the city which, on a grander scale, is just as fantastic as its fine art. Here are a few pictures to leave you with so you can know just what we were dealing with and to keep you coming back to the blog for more!