North America Guitar Tour - spin off
Florence
July 29, 2008
I woke up in the middle of the night because I felt like the train wasn't moving, and when I opened the curtains, I saw a drunk man sleeping on the bench in front of me. It was Bologna Station, one stop before Florence. According to the timetable, I was scheduled to arrive in Florence in just over an hour, so I was prepared to get off at any time, and the train arrived in about 30 minutes. It seems that the train will stop in Florence for about 30 minutes. I had given the conductor my passport and ticket the night before, so I needed it back. When I went to the private room where the conductor was and got my passport back, he asked me what I wanted for breakfast, and when I told him I wanted just coffee, he brought out a mini cup like a sake cup.
As I was waiting in front of the station, a young man approached me with a smile. Mr. P, a high school sophomore in Japan, was taking care of me in Italy. His mother drove us to the hotel, and after I put our luggage down, we headed to Florence by bus. It was only 7am, so the tourist attractions were quiet and it was a good environment for taking photos. Mr. P wanted to show me all the tourist attractions in Florence with a map in hand, but I couldn't move at a high school student's pace, so we returned to the hotel by bus around 11am and I took a few hours of nap. We were prepared for the heat as this was the southernmost point of the tour, but it wasn't as hot as I had imagined, and the humidity wasn't so uncomfortable. I could hear the cicadas from the hotel window for the first time in a while.
We met Mr. P in the lobby after 2am, had pasta and an espresso that looked like it was left in the bottom of a cup at a restaurant near the hotel, and then walked to his house. He offered to take my guitar, so I let him carry that, but after 5 minutes he started to look tired, so I ended up carrying it. If you're not used to carrying it, it's probably quite big and heavy. On the way, he told me about his plans for the day, such as that his father would make fish pasta in the evening and that after dinner he would take me to a hill overlooking Florence. Mr. P's head seems to be full of plans to take me around. The city of Florence that I visited in the morning was crowded with tourists and cluttered, but the area around the hotel and his house was a normal residential area, and as a fan of old Italian movies such as "The Railroad Man (Il Ferroviere in Italy)," I prefer to relax in this kind of atmosphere. The house is an apartment building, but the inside was just like the set of the movie "The Railroad Man." After a while, some of Mr. P's friends came. Even in Japan, I rarely talk to high school students, and I can't speak the language well, but we had a good time. After that, we went back to the hotel and practiced until dinner.
A little after 7 o'clock, his father came to pick me up in his car and we headed to Mr. P's house again. I wondered what fish pasta was, but it was what we call vongole in Japan. The smell was slightly different from the Japanese version, but it was very delicious. I have a habit of eating more pasta than other dishes, and since the first portion I was given was small, I asked for a second bowl and a slice of bread. However, this was just an appetizer, and after that, roast beef and potatoes came out, and for the first time on this trip, I broke the "eat only until you're 80% full" rule. The slightly shy father began to speak in poor English as time went on, but the mother could not speak without Mr. P's help in translating. She listened with interest to stories about what led to this trip and my time in England and Germany. As a thank you for the meal, I played the guitar after the meal. From the second song, the father started humming in a falsetto voice, and Mr. P started singing along with it, creating a great atmosphere. He said he likes S&G more than the Beatles, so I played "Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair," which are not officially part of my repertoire.
After that, we left the apartment and we went to the top of a hill overlooking Florence. On the way there, the father said, "I'm sorry I can't go tomorrow because there's an important match," so I asked him what match it was, and he told me that Barcelona was coming from Spain to play a friendly match against Fiorentina. It was a great match. I would have liked to go there too. It seems that Mr. P was waiting a timing to say that and he said, "The match was decided after the concert date was decided," which he looked a bit awkward.
There weren't many tourists on the hill, but there were many couples and families, and there were stalls selling bags and dolls on the street. There was a stall selling tripods for digital cameras, which I thought was a pretty clever business. The city of Florence is not lit up much, so rather than a bright night view all over, there are only a few bright spots here and there. If you have a tripod, you can take better photos. After that, I was taken to the hotel, but the hotel door was locked, probably because there was a curfew. Mr. P and his father, who had dropped me off, had already left, so I was a little worried. There was something that looked like a chime at the entrance, but I couldn't tell at a glance which button was which, so I pressed everything I could, and then someone who was at the front desk came and opened the door for me when I was about to leave, and I was able to get back to my room.
*People who appear in the text are listed by their initials until their identities can be confirmed.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home