Happy July 5th from Europe! Last evening we arrived in La Spezzia to the most amazing July 4th Independence Day dinner a USA jazz band in Italy could hope for. Our wonderful tour guides, Danyella and Johan had organized a special dinner for us at a restaurant a few blocks from our hotel. We were ALLLLL at a long table–Italian Style–33 of us with students, chaperones, tour guides and our dear bus driver Andrea (he is amazing!). The staff had decorated the tablecloth with hand-drawn American flags and they had a giant flat-screen tv with American flags on it. We enjoyed a 5-course dinner over 3 hours, from pizza to quiche to pasta to tirami su. Molto bene!
Today Roosevelt Jazz spent 12 hours in Italian Heaven–Cinque Terre, the Five Lands. We took the train from La Spezzia, south of Cinque Terre, to the northernmost town, called Monerosso al Mare. The students spent the day hiking, swimming in the Mediterranean, kayaking, paddle boating or taking the tour boat from town to town. Did I mention eating? Seafood, gelato, pasta, more gelato, focaccia with tomato, mozarella and olive oil. Everyone had a fabulous day “off” on the Italian Riviera. Until next posting, Caio!