North America Guitar Tour - spin off
The Last Gig
July 30, 2008
As I often do in hotels in Japan, I fell asleep lying down on the bed cover, and woke up around 3:30 because my body was itchy all over. I realized that this was the reason for the mosquito killer device on the table. Up until then, there had been flies and bees flying around, but no mosquitoes, so I was careless. If there are cicadas, there are mosquitoes. I regretted not bringing anti-itch medicine, but it was too late. I let my sleepiness get the better of me and crawled under the covers and went back to sleep.
I woke up around 8:30 and went to the front desk for an espresso. The landlady of this hotel is the mother of Mr. P's friend, and she knew that I had come to Florence at Mr. P's invitation, so we spent the morning talking about how we had gone to his house the night before and how he had taken me up to the hills. I guess she thought I was younger because I was a friend of her son's friend. They seemed surprised when I told them I was nearly 55 years old. I was older than them. They gave me a complimentary espresso. Breakfast was served until 10:00, so I went straight to the restaurant in the basement and had some croissants and yogurt. The Italian croissants had a fruity scent and were very delicious.
I went back to my room, took a shower, and did my last laundry of the trip at a coin laundry about two blocks from the hotel. The washing machine was made in America, so there were instructions in English, but the machine where you buy tokens for the washing machine and the dryer were all written in Italian, so an elderly woman who was there showed me how to use them. I didn't know the approximate time for the dryer, so I put in two tokens, but when I checked it about halfway, it was completely dry. I told the two women who came to wash the blanket after me, "You can still use it for about 30 minutes, so please go ahead," and they said they would pay the difference. I declined, saying I was the one who put in too many tokens, and they thanked me with a very apologetic look. I felt that this was something they could relate to Japanese people.
After 1:00, Mr. P arrived by bicycle, and his father arrived by car at 1:30, and we were taken to his house for lunch. I wondered what kind of rice with mushrooms would be served, but it was mushroom risotto. This was also very delicious, but since I had learned from the pasta the night before, I refrained from having a second helping. If there hadn't been a live performance after this, I might have eaten it all. As expected, roast beef, salad, cheese, etc. were served afterwards. After the meal, I practiced for the live performance and headed to the venue just before 5:00. The venue was like a small movie theater, and the stage alone was about the size of a venue in the UK. After the sound test, we went back to the hotel and took a nap for about an hour, and decided to head to the venue again after 8:00. There were already a fair number of people near the venue, and Mr. P introduced all of his friends. It was my first time to see a live performance with so many high school students. Because the venue was so large, it could have been a disaster if it had been quiet, but about 50 people came, although it wasn't full. There were also many women who looked like mothers, and when I talked to a few of them, they lamented that there are a lot of Italian men who are crazy about soccer. It's like baseball crazy in Japan. Because of the location, it was more like a recital than a live performance, but I think the performance was calm.
After the show, we went to a pizza place near the venue and were treated to a margherita. There were many people wearing Fiorentina uniforms, and it seemed that they had won the game. Apparently Barcelona's (then) star Ronaldinho had not been there, but even if he had been there, they were still gushing that they had won. It seems that this is not an area that tourists come to, so they looked at me with a guitar curiously. All that was left was to go home and sleep, so I ate the whole pizza, which was about the size of two servings. After that, I was taken to the hotel, and this was where I said goodbye to Mr. P. so we hugged each other tightly and promised to meet again. The next morning, Mr. P's sister was going to the station one stop beyond Pisa, so I decided to go with her, even though it was one train earlier than the one I had planned. I knew it would be difficult to buy a ticket by myself. I asked the front desk for a 5am wake-up call.
*People who appear in the text are written 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