Wedding, Siena, Florence…
Hi there! This week we celebrated Verena’s wedding. It was a very nice event at Castello Montalto in Italy. It was three days of celebration. There was food, many people, dancing, religious mass, laughter and all in all very nice time there. I was staying at a tower which is probably more than 300 years old, where I had many companions like worms, big spiders and even a small scorpion. It was in the middle of the mountains in Italy so I was the visitor not them, hehehe. Having said that, yes, I got little sleep because of them, I was very much aware while trying to sleep that it make it really difficult. However, I saw it as a new experience and adapted to the situation. I was told by the lady in charge of the castle they were not poisonous so that was a relief.
The wedding was very nice, Ana Durlovski and I sang at the mass, and it was really special to sing to my friends at a very old chapel and like just 50 cm away from me. There it was the beautiful couple Pablo and Verena, with their 2 kids seating at the side. They have two little ones and they are really beautiful and very smart. During the days of celebration I met new family members, friends of the couple, got to see Peter and his family. I met Peter over 10 years ago and since then I have not seen him, he has a beautiful family and I got to talk to his wife and daughter. I finally had the very proper first conversations with my ex boss from Stuttgart Jossi Wieler. The morning after the big party we took Ana to city Siena as she had to catch few trains before flying back home. After having a coffee at the station, Jossi and I decided to go for a walk and some coffee to the city center of Siena. It was my first time there and it is a city at the top of a hill and very old, very special and with a beautiful Duomo and curve streets going around with many tiny shops along and many coffees, as the morning progressed many tourists were appearing from nowhere, around midday we went back to the Castello to continue with the celebration. Talking to Jossi was surprisingly good and we got to chat a lot and make jokes, he has a very nice sense of humour and he had so much energy I hope when I get his age I can have similar energy and attitude towards life. Thank you Jossi for the special time, that, if I did not get up at 6 am to go with you to pick up Ana, I would not have visited Siena nor talk to you and get to know you better.
After three days at the Castello I made my way to Florence again where I spent until yesterday. I took the train with the parents of Verena which are like my german parents, I call them Papa and Mama. We spent a nice afternoon in Florence and we talked a lot and got a very nice pasta and coffee near the Duomo in Florence, we walked towards Ponte Vecchio and kept chatting, later I took them back to the central station because they had to go to a nearby station and wait for the overnight train back to Germany.
The following two days I had a fantastic time visiting places I never visited before. It was I think my third time in Florence so I visited different churches and museums, I Iearnt more about different painters and personaggi of Florence. I ate very nice food and tried one of the best gelatos of my life, tartufo flavour and gorgonzola with honey gelato, delicious. I also got the chance to try Mantra Coffee and again Fluid coffee, very nice specialty coffee roasters, specially Fluid, the quality of the beans and the aroma of their different coffees was great.
I almost forget to mention, I met Paulina, a flautist friend from Mexico. We studied together at the Conservatoire like 20 years ago almost. I saw she posted she was in Italy and then exactly the days I was in Florence she would be there. We met and I got to meet her little son and her mother, both really nice and we got to catch up a bit over a walk and coffee. I was really happy I got to see her after many years. The last time I saw her was in Salzburg like 11 years ago because her husband was doing a masters in Classic Guitar.
Last night I flew to Munich and I stayed at a hotel and now finally home after like almost 6 hours on trains. Really tired but happy of my adventure in Italy from all the people I met, new friends, old friends. Thank you God for allowing me to experience this world and live this week, I am grateful for the surprising way it happened.
I got to have my everyday coffee place at Vintage Coffee, near the hotels I stayed. I got to walk in the streets, taking my time to see the sea of tourists and just take all in, in a slower way than I normally do. It was very refreshing to approach a city in a slower pace than usual. I also got to see and hear many music on the streets. I got to approach two singers who studied and are living in Florence, both from different corners of the world one baritone from Turkey and a soprano from Taiwan. I had a very nice conversation with them and I really admire their love for music and that they sing on the streets of Florence. Few comments on how they see singing moved me a lot, because although different countries and circumstances we see music as our salvation and a way to express to the world and also a window into our internal self. Very inspiring and I truly learn from listening stories of my fellow musicians who got through their path in this beautiful and noble Mestier and way of living and seeing life.
I kept this week almost my 4 times a week exercise routine, it was more like 3 and a half, although I did much more walking than normal, hehehe. I did keep my daily writing and my reading of Holiday and Tolstoi.
Please take care and see you next week.
