The Many Doors of Italy.

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."
~Martin Buber

Tortolì , Italy

Tortolì , Italy

Tortolì , Italy

Arezzo, Italy

Arezzo, Italy

Arezzo, Italy

Arezzo, Italy

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Italia: Days 10 and 11.

"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is
to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time,
to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted."
~Bill Bryson

Another great day of competition yesterday. Total of five first prizes, plus an invitation to compete today in the Grand Prix tonight with Japan and Estonia! Great walk around Arezzo! Beautiful town with some excellent gelato! My favorite flavors since I've been here are carrot, blood orange, pine nut, and coconut. :)

Today was beautiful. My heart is full. I am so incredibly blessed to be a part of Salt Lake Vocal Artists and to experience the power of music. We are coming home with five 1st prizes.

Our wonderful Japanese friends are taking home the Grand Prize. They are absolutely lovely people who deserve such an honor.

Emery with Ko Matsushita

Lisa with Ko Matsushita

What an incredible opportunity to sing with them under the direction of both Brady Allred and Ko Matsushita! Thank you! "I know that I am honored to be witness of so much majesty." This experience, this trip as a whole has been one that I will never forget.
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Italia: Day 9.

"Travel gives me the opportunity to walk through the sectors of cities
 where one can clearly see the passage of time."
~Jerzy Kosinski

Ah, the beautiful city of Arezzo!

Our hotel room felt much smaller in Arezzo, but it was still clean and nice. Our hotel, Hotel Domenico, was tucked up on a Tuscan hillside in a suburb southwest of the city of Arezzo called Monte San Savino.

Our first rehearsal space happened to be a morgue. No kidding. In fact a few from our group, ran into a body awaiting embalming when they were looking for the restroom.

An old-fashioned hearse.

At the 59° Concorso Polifonico Internazionale Guido d'Arezzo, we are competing against several other (like 10 or so) choirs from Japan, Estonia, Germany, Colombia, Indonesia, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, and a couple other countries.

I'm having such a great time with the Salt Lake Vocal Artists! We have spent time walking around Arezzo, shopping, eating gelato, and just having fun together. These are great people. We have been going back and forth from the center of town via bus to our hotel for meals (not one of which included seafood of any kind).

Arezzo is a quaint town with a beautiful city center, replete with cobblestone streets and narrow alleys, just as you'd imagine in Europe. It is tucked into the sweeping hills and green countryside of Tuscany. It's just beautiful and the people are so kind.

Looked a bit like an LDS missionary tag from afar. Up close you can tell I'm just a Coro Partecipante. :)

After our first day of competition, we were thrilled to learn that we placed first in both categories! We were at a very informal dinner when a few of the competition workers began to announce that day's winners. It was rather weird because we had no idea that the announcement was going to be made and not all the choirs were there. But, we were happy to have some results!

What a great first day in Arezzo and first day of competition! Just two more days! Ah, Tuscany.
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Sexy.

"Good grammar is sexy. That's all I'm saying."
~eclaires

Correct spelling and grammar go a long way for me. But then again, so does a really nice smelling man who wants to kiss me. If you've got both going for you, you may just be in.
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Funny FB Friends.

"Laughter is an instant vacation."
~Milton Berle

Just a few too many outfielders.

Dude, my friends are funny tonight. Seriously, I don't know what it is, but as I scroll through my news feed on FB, I keep finding myself laughing out loud!

So that you too can join in on the laughing...

Here's hoping your days are full of increasingly more laughter. It's healthy.
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