10 July 2014

We went hard the last few days.  Meg and I decided to give them a day off to catch up with everything or sleep or do laundry or sightsee or whatever.  We needed the day too!  So, instead of doing the religion walk, we made a list (and checked it more than once because we’re both a little ocd), and got to it!

My list consisted of getting things done like grading (didn’t get done), the blog (didn’t get done), answering emails (got done and as usual, consumed my life), did some advising as a result of the emails, answered some other emails from my personal accounts, ordered train tickets online for next week, and tried to clean up a little bit in the room.  It kind of looked like a tornado happened, haha!

While I didn’t get a lot of stuff I had hoped to get done, done…..I was able to knock off a huge amount of work that had piled up.  It was a little bit of a relief to have that off my plate.  But sad because my blog kept getting pushed further and further behind.

One of the things we decided was what we were going to do this coming weekend.  We had the first and third weekends figured out in the US, but nothing came to mind for this weekend.  I decided to contact the dive shop in Santa Margherita Ligure that I dove with in 2012.  They are top-notch and amazing.  I knew what I was getting into with them and I completely trust them!  The train tickets on Saturdays are 2-for-1, so Meg and I sat first class on an InterCity train.  They are not as nice (nearly) as the high-speed trains (no wifi, no free drinks, toilets drain directly onto the track), but they are comfortable.

Then it was time to leave for our cultural event!  We were fortunate enough to be able to get symphony tickets again this year!  I realize not everyone likes or cares about the symphony.  In fact, I’ve never been to one in the US!  Yikes, how uncultured!  So, I try to find ones that will be interesting.  This year the symphonycollaborated with the BBC.  The BBC did a series called the Blue Planet and had different themes.  The one we saw was about the ocean.  I thought they’d like it more than plants.  And, I knew I’d like it, so win-win, haha!

First, we went to Maya for aperitivo.  Ah, best laid plans.  Anyway, the tram that normally goes directly in front of the concert hall isn’t running because they are doing extensive, blocks-long road work a few blocks up the street. So, Plan B again….took the metro and we had to walk a goodly long way to get to the area.  It was six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-another case, because there were buses that ran, but we’d have had to walk, blah blah blah.

I had called and they were expecting us to get there.  Let me say that the waiter we had was one of the most inept and ridiculous ones I’ve encountered in a while.  The food was really good (as always) and the drinks were good (as always), but he seemed flustered by the very fact that we needed drinks.  And, then when it was time to pay, he disappeared, he forgot, he came back, he didn’t have the machine.  Holy cow!! The bright side is that the bartender was really cute and liked our girls so the drinks were extra amazing, haha!  One of the girls exchanged emails so they could be friends on Facebook, lol.

Got to the concert hall and took pix with the GMU pennant again.  Then, we all went inside and I met Signora Tania Salamme, who helped me out greatly in organizing everything and getting the tickets ordered for me to pick up.  It was a pleasure to meet her and she invited me back to see a symphony this winter if I am able to do Florence.  How cool is that?!

The concert was beautifully done! The screen hung above the orchestra and there was a gentleman who narrated (in Italian) parts of the show to give us an idea of what was coming up.  It was interesting how none of us felt sorry for the hundreds of sardines that got munched and crunched, but when it was a seal or sea lion being munched and crunched by an orca, people were sad, haha!!

It was my mother-in-law's birthday today, so I called her on the way home from the concert.  It was good to hear her voice.  We sent her a lovely bouquet of flowers and they had just arrived when I called!  A terrific evening and I got some good feedback on the concert, which was nice.