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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Italia: Day 8.

"Every one soon or late comes round by Rome."
~Robert Browning Hamilton

And finally the time came for our day in Rome!

Jenn and Tory deplaning

Exiting the back of the plane

We flew back from Cagliari to Rome, where we boarded a bus, picked up our tour guide who, by the way, had a perfect American accent, which he'd apparently acquired going to graduate school at Texas A&M (he worked diligently not to acquire a Texas accent), and we were off driving around Rome. We had all of 4 or 5 hours in the city, which is practically a sin. One could spend two weeks in Rome and still not have seen everything there is to see. There are ruins and ancient diddly-doos EVERYWHERE. But I'll take four hours in Rome over nothing any day. Plus, it just gives me reason/motivation to go back because now I know what I'm missing out on. :)

Emery in front of St. Peter's Square in Rome

First stop: St. Peter's Square in Vatican City (a separate country, thus fulfilling my wish to add two countries to my list this year).

What a beautiful sight. Having missed the Pope by just a few hours, we were relegated to just looking at the upper right window of his bedroom (even though he was actually back at his summer residence until the heat dissipated enough to return).

The Pope's bedroom window is in the upper right hand corner of the building, with his office window just to the left.

As I walked around the square, I just had a "moment," realizing how amazing it really was that here I was just standing in Rome, no in Vatican City.

Emery, Kristen, Blythe, and Jessica in Vatican City.

I wish we had time to go into the Sistine Chapel, but alas we did not. This was a working vacation, remember, so tourist-ing was minimal.

We stopped to eat lunch just outside the gates of Vatican City at this casual cafeteria-style joint. I have to say that I had the most delicious meat and cheese tortellini ever. Maybe it was also because it was Roman, but really... it was delicious. And, of course, that meal was followed by gelato.

Our cafe was attached to a Vatican shop with lots of interesting things, everything you'd expect to find in the Catholic Church's headquarters.

Making his way through the city, the driver strategically drove past several interesting sites in downtown Rome. We weren't able to get out everywhere, but we still saw quite a bit. (Excuse the from-the-bus-photos.)

There are ruins everywhere in Rome.

More ruins around every corner.

The Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II

Next stop: The ruins of the Imperial Palace.

Not only are Palatine Hill and the ruins of the Imperial Palace complex a sight to see, but it also had a drinking fountain from a natural spring. Apparently there are a few like this around the city. You can either fill your water bottle from the "faucet" or you block off the spout and make it drinking fountain.

Emery and Lisa

Salt Lake Vocal Artists - ITALY
Rome, Italy
September 2011

Next stop: The Colosseum. Really? I'm in Rome? I get to see the Colosseum? Seriously, whose life am I living?! It's charmed, I know. I'm grateful.

Construction on the Colosseum start in 72 A.D. It was used for gladiator contests, executions (wow), re-enactments of battle, and other dramatic productions.

Kristen and Emery

Salt Lake Vocal Artists - ITALY
Rome, Italy
September 2011

What a dream! Like I said, I saw just enough of Rome to make me want to go back... for two weeks! :)

After our day in Rome, we said goodbye to our guide and continue driving north up into Tuscany.

The competition, 59° Concorso Polifonico Internazionale Guido d'Arezzo, was held in Arezzo and we stayed just outside the city in a small town called Monte San Savino. The drive was just beautiful... Tuscany is beautiful. Stay tuned. There are just three more days to post. :)
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