210. The Barber of Seville - Fiesole

After last year's absence, Opera returns to the lofty hills of Fiesole and we've booked seats for the Monday evening. This year it's Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville' that's being performed in the ancient Teatro Romano.

A warm starry evening awaits us and we enjoy a prosecco before settling down to a great show. It's a modern version of the classic Opera with Figaro playing matchmaker, kind of like the film 'Hitch' with Will Smith., complete with balloons and umbrellas. A memorable evening.

(Original journal entry 11/7/05)

209. George Benson - Lucca Summer Festival

My 20-year wait is over... 11 albums later and I'm finally going to see the king of Jazz fusion, Mr 'Bad' Benson. It's a short drive to Lucca, a nice pizza in our 'local' pizzeria and we're in!

After a half hour delay, the man appears - dressed in what seems to be brown pyjamas! He's looking good for his 62 years. A magical two and a quarter hours follows.

He belts out all the old classics - Lady Love me, Breezin, Never give up, In your eyes, etc. Give me the night gets everybody off their seats and On Broadway closes out a memorable evening. All played out in the beautiful Piazza Napoleone under the starry Tuscan sky.

(Original journal entry 9/7/05)

208. Zubin Mehta in Piazza Signoria

What a difference a day makes! On Wednesday London was celebrating getting the 2012 Olympic Games  and yesterday, Thursday 7th July four terrorist bombs killed 50 people. So tonight's free classical concert in Piazza Signoria is dedicated to the families of those poor victims who lost their lives.

Our old neighbour, Hungarian conductor, Zubin Mehta is conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and they are performing Beethoven's ninth symphony - complete with full choir. The Piazza is packed and the forecast rain holds off.

We endulge ourselves in an ice cream from 'Perche no' and check out a classical guitarist in Piaza Repubblica, before heading home.



(Original journal entry 8/7/05)

207. Baratti Weekend

Well we finally get our weekend at Baratti with our good friends Nadia and Alberto. After many arrangements and cancellations it finally happens.



We drive down on the Saturday morning and meet up on the gorgeous beach at Baratti. Nadia and Alberto's friends are there too, Dario and Roselle and Big Mario. Alberto also has his new 'Flying Dutcman' boat ready to hit the waves. Unfortunately I don't get the chance to go out in it as Alberto and Dario spend nearly 4 hours sailing to Piombino - everybody is worried about them and a search party is dispatched. Luckily they are fine, just having too much fun to notice the time! The weather is perfect and I even manage to listen to the 'Live 8' concert on the radio.

We stay on the beach all day and in the evening we enjoy a fish barbecue up in the pine woods. The sunset over the sea is beautiful and the music is pumping, the wine flowing and we even manage to finish a whole bottle of Lagavulin whisky that I've bought as a present for Alberto! It's a wonderful evening and a return event in September is promised.

We retire to their house in yhe hills of Campiglia where we sleep on their sofa-bed and are woken rather abruptly at 7am by the house martin birds and church bells! We go for breakfast in a really cool pasticeria in Venturina, before hitting the beach again for another perfect day in the sun. Annette even gets the chance to do some windsurfing and manages 50 metres without falling in! All their friends are there again and we get the chance to get to know them a little better. At the end of the day we enjoy a very refreshing watermelon and drive back to Campiglia for dinner, bringing a very enjoyable weekend to a close. We depart at around 10pm for the drive back to Florence.

(Original Journal entry 3/7/05)

206. Jazz in the Castle - Pop in the Piazza

Jazz in the Castle

Tuesday and I'm working all day, so Rory heads to the Parco della Cascine, where there's a trendy outdoor pool, called Pavoniere. He enjoys himself among the beautiful people and tells us about all the hot girls he has met! Also he manages not to get himself sunburnt.

This evening there is a free jazz concert on in Prato at the very suggestive Castello del Imperatore. So at around six o'clock we make the short drive over to Prato and enjoy a wicked aperitivo in the pretty Piazza Datini, chilling out and people watching. The concert is really cool, it's the first of 6 summer concerts that we have planned and afterwards we finish the evening in the delightful Piazza Mercatale for a pizza.

Pop in the Piazza

Wednesday morning we meet up with Rory for a farewell lunch at the cool, Colle Bereto in Piazza Strozzi. He's packed a lot in his four days with us and we have some good memories. We walk with him to the station and he's off into the sunset... although it will only be a few weeks until we see him again in the UK.

This evening it's free concert number 2 in Piazza Signoria, as some of Italy's hottest young pop acts are recording a show for French TV. It's a bizarre evening as the Italian acts are joined by some French acts that we've never heard of. There are some good performances by Biaggio Antonacci, Nek, Giorgia and Laura Pausini and a surprise performance by summer sensation, Angun from Indonesia. It's a bit chaotic with the directors getting the crowd to clap and cheer, but we have a bit of fun.

(Original journal entry 29/6/05)

205. Rory 3 - Lake Garda 2

Our favourite nephew, big Rory now becomes our most frequent visitor with his third visit in four years! He's doing a 'marble effect' course in Verona for a couple of days and he wants to check out Lake Garda while he's here. We agree to meet up with him and spend the night somewhere on the lake. We drive up to Verona and meet him outside Juliet's balcony and stop for a quick beer with his course colleagues.

 It's far too hot for city sightseeing, so we abandon the idea of checking out some of Verona's treasures - we need water!!!

We've booked an agriturismo farmhouse on the west coast, so we stop somewhere on the south-west coast and dive into the cool refreshing lake water. Afterwards we enjoy a nice aperitivo in the small town of Lasize and then drive on to a place called Gargnano and eventually find the agriturismo, Sbrigol, up a rather steep hill. It has a fabulous view over the lake. and we are greeted by two goats and a donkey!

The apartment sleeps 10 people, but the guy only charges us 30 euro! After a shower and change of clothing we head out for dinner and find a gorgeous looking restaurant right on the picturesque harbour and enjoy a super fish supper, while catching up on the adventures of socialite-twenty-something Rory. It's a balmy evening and we take a couple of beers up on our balcony chatting well into the night with a big full moon shining down on the lake.

A late start to Sunday as we pack up, check out and go for breakfast back on the lovely harbour before leaving. We find  wonderful sandy beach where we stop for some sunbathing and swimming. It's another hot, sunny and clear day at this wonderful setting. In the late afternoon we head to our final destination, the very picturesque, Limone sul Garda, which has these cool limonaia everywhere and we take a last dip in the lake, before going for a cool aperitivo in a buzzy bar. After bidding the beautiful Lake Garda goodbye we drive up to Riva and catch the motorway back down to Florence. It's a very tiring three and a half hour trip, but what a magical weekend!

Epilogue

On Monday we are working in the morning, but manage to wangle the afternoon off and take Rory to the outdoor pool at Greve. We stop off for a cheeky ice cream in Impruneta before enjoying a lovely afternoon in this super location. In the evening we finish with a late night supper and some wicked Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine.

(Original journal entry 29/6/05)