It’s 7:30 pm in Modena, and yet the day seems only half over. To come: a picnic arranged by Daniela at 8:00 pm, and then the youth concert at the same park where our kids performed so enthusiastically last night. It promises to be a beautiful evening again, since the sun will set on the stage just before Roosevelt Jazz Band performs, and that will drop the temperature down to, oh, say about 80 degrees perhaps. Such is life. Most of us are getting used to living in this hot climate, no thanks to Seattle for preparing us!
Concert at the park on Friday evening
It was warm in the late evening, so most of us stayed up fairly late. But we still had an early start. We went to Bologna for a day of sightseeing on foot, sans Andrew (under the weather), Daniela, and Betsy, a chaperone and also one of the real doctors on our trip. Cutting to the chase, Andrew is doing better and we hope he feels well enough to join us for the concert this evening.
Milan is an old city with a variety of buildings, churches, arches, and statues spanning centuries, it seemed. Right after leaving the bus zone where Andrea dropped us off, we encountered what appeared to be an ancient Roman well which fed an aquifer. Currently, pigeons and lizards are making use of the crumbling brick structure. I’m sure the Romans would be thrilled at their legacy at that spot.
Johann led us to the center of the city so we could orient ourselves for our later rendezvous at 1:45. Then we dispersed, a couple student clumps and a couple chaperone groups. My group ended up heading down to a university which was built about 1000 years ago (that’s not a typo!) and eventually ended up at a nice (and relatively inexpensive) local restaurant where we all sampled the best of lunch fare — pizzas, pasta, and a calzone for me.
A bit more exploring and it was time to regather. The usual frisbee game by our jazz kids occupied the center of the plaza, then it was time to head back to the bus. That is the point where Johann bid us good-bye, for he would be joining another group soon. Andrea drove us back to Modena and we were rejoined by Daniella who will be our courier for the remainder of the trip. Both have been simply ideal travel helpers/guides/friends. We *all* feel very fortunate to have them on this tour, and Andrea who has a great sense of humor and driving skills which are simply phenomenal.
In Modena, the kids have already played the first concert of the day, in a square just a few minutes’ walk away. Everyone is ‘chillin’ at the hostel and gearing up for our picnic and evening concert. Andrew needed to skip the early concert, and Scott Brown filled in at the lead trombone spot (his own specialty) and he played a great rendition of Tall Cotton. I think he was having a lot of fun out there. Lots of local shoppers stopped for a song or two, and many simply took a chair and stayed for the entire show.
Just an FYI — I have two more albums ready for upload, but my wi-fi connection here at the youth hostel blocks everything except internet browsing — no photo uploads are possible. So, tomorrow I hope to upload them when we check-in at Perusia.