This morning was another beautiful sunny Mediteranean day. I took a noon ferry, a high speed catamaran vessel, that made the trip in one hour, as opposed to the traditional ferry that takes nearly three hours.
I have not practiced in three days. I can feel it in my fingers. So that added to a bit of apprehension about this whole experience. I have never done anything like this before. I feel I am prepared but some passages of the music could use some more practice. Anyway, tonight all that changed. I met everyone.
But first, a few pictures of where I am staying and working for the next week.
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| Leaving the harbor at Naples. I was on the wrong side of the ship to get the historic port. But this is Naples too - a bustling industrial port that carries most of the shipping for Italy. |
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| A bit farther out, the view of Naples expanding up the slope of the volcano, Mt Vesuvius. |
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| The region west of Naples, on the peninsula that extends west into the Mediteranean. Off the tip of this peninsula are the islands of Procida and then Ischia. Apartment buildings are built up the slope of the land giving most apratments, even lower ones, a great sea view. |
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| The Island of Procida with the medeival fortress perched high up on a cliff to guard the straights between the mainland and the islands. Procida is about one tenth the size of Ischia. |
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| Approaching the port of Ischia |
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| Coming into harbor. |
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| Views from my terrace. |
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| A view inland |
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| Poolside at the Hotel Grazia Terme |
After arriving, I sat poolside for a bit of lunch. Many of the festival participants have not arrived yet - not even the director. So I took a little siesta and looked over my music. I attempted to log on to the internet with the codes the hotel gave. It was a real project. Anyway I delayed that until later. The schedule called for a gathering of our group at 6:00PM. The facility where the music will be done is about half Kilometer up the road. So I took the walk of the half-kilometer. The center is actually an apartment complex owned by the same people as the hotel. There are 8 rooms for rehearsals. It also has quite a view (more pictures to come)
Dinner followed, and retire for the evening.
