Marcia Thom

As all good things must – it is time to say farewell to this most beautiful of countries. A quick recap of the past couple of days -
We had a wonderful walking tour of San Gimignano which is in the Chianti Region of Tuscany. San Gimignano is probably one of my favorite places. I climbed with Sasha (our trusty guide) to one of the highest places in the town – and, yes, the views were stunning. How much beautiful scenery, fabulous gelato and shopping can one woman ever ask for?????

Next, we were on our way to the Veneto region and Venice!
Apparently very few visitors are ever treated to actually staying in Venice because of the cost – WE, however, being from SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE were immediately swept off our trusty tour bus and into the waiting arms of a “speed boat” driver and sped through the canals to the front door of the most beautiful hotel I have ever been in – which is – yes – right on one of the canals! My room literally looks like a princess should live in it (I am in heaven!)!! The lobby is filled with Murano glass pieces and is gorgeous. We dropped our bags and quickly went for a walking tour (and shopping!) of San Marc’s square – one of the most stunning places on earth. We came around a corner not too far from our hotel and I had to grab my breath back into my body. The square was teaming with folks from every country imaginable and music was heard from several restaurants on the square (violins, pianos, accordians, etc.)!

Tonight we will have our farewell dinner and tomorrow morning 20 people who have become a family will leave each other for their “regular” lives. This trip has been a dream come true and I have cherished every moment.

The main thing I have learned, which is a lesson that I have been learning for a long time, is that people are people wherever you go. The Italians are warm, friendly, loving and musical. They embraced each and every one of us at every turn of the road. 20 strangers quickly became connected with Sweet Briar as our focal point. I am, however, more than ready to return to my “regular” life and hope to share with each and every one of my students a bit of the music that has touched my soul these past 17 days. Italians are always ready and willing to sing – no one ever shies away and no one ever tries to get out of singing by claiming to have a bad voice. Singing is a part of their culture – music is a part of who they are as a people. I couldn’t agree more with their philosophy of “Tutti Canto” – EVERYONE sings!!

I will remember these past two weeks for the rest of my life. Until I am able to hug you all, your weary (but incredibly content soprano) bids you Buona Notte and Ti Amore! Ciao! Love, Marcia

Ciao to All – The past two days have been so lovely. Yesterday, we toured Florence. It is a city of about 400,000 and is beautiful. I was quite thrilled to see the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio (think “O Mio Babbino”)! The cathedral literally takes your breath away – it is so beautiful and magnificent. We toured just one of the many museums (Galleria del’Academia) which is home to the famous “David”. No photographs can ever do this work justice. I just stood in awe. My favorite new thing to learn regarding Michelangelo was the fact that he believed that every piece of marble contained a work of art. His journey was to cut away what was superfluous and to allow the real piece of art to come forth…. While there, I snuck away from the group to take a quick tour of a spot which featured medieval instruments. An artist was there and was playing the harpsichord. I found myself with tears in my eyes – imagining so many centuries ago and how music continues to endure as a vital part of our culture.

Today, we had a lovely time in San Gimignano which is a little town which first appeared around the 8th century. The town is beautiful – since it is not quite a tourist mecca, there were not the crowds you find in the larger locations. Almost all of the smaller towns boast high points with gorgeous views of the Tuscan countryside. The past few days, we have been blessed with beautiful weather! Tomorrow we go on to Venice and, thus, begin to wrap up this dream of a trip!!!

Buona Notte Mi Cara!

Ciao Belli! Internet service is not always predictable, so thank you for practicing “paziencia”!

FUNNY STORY #4 – SO, we are happily situated in a gorgeous renovated castle in Tuscany. The scenery is amazing – it is a family owned hotel. Well, this morning I attempted to leave my room only to find out that I was “Stuck”!! My lock was stuck and would not open! SO – being a Juliet at heart – I opened my window and waited until someone walked by! Yes, the owner’s husband had to get a ladder and climb into my room and get the door “unstuck”! It was quite a beginning to a lovely day in Siena!

TO BACK TRACK – Our last day in Todi, we were treated to a day trip to Assisi. It is a beautiful town and, of course, the main focus is the Basilica of St. Francis. It took my breath away. The frescoes (which are works of art painted on the walls) were beautiful and depict the story of St. Francis. We also visited the Church of St. Claire. Both churches are home to religious orders and both were truly sacred places. You are not allowed to use flash photography nor speak in most of the churches. I am happily in favor of both of these rules!

The next day we drove into Tuscany – there are no words to describe these gently rolling hills and glorious gardens and castles. We were treated to a day in Perugia and were lucky enough to be there during the Chocolate Festival!!! Then, we stopped in Deruta (ceramics!) for a demonstration in how to make pottery (not my gift)!

Now we are staying in Villa Lecchi in the heart of the Umbria region in Tuscany. We have a wonderful trip to Siena today and visited yet another beautiful cathedral which holds masterpieces by Donatello and Michelangelo. Tomorrow on to Florence!!

FUNNY STORIES #5 and 6 – SO – In order to turn the electricity on in your room, you have to immediately put your room card in a slot INSIDE the room. I will let your imaginations wonder as to what happens to a diva standing in the dark with her room card! To add insult to injury – bathrooms are not the primary rooms in Italy – so they have redefined the meaning of the word “small”! I got quite a bump on my nose one evening while attempting to use the facility and hitting the shower in the process!

CIAO to all – more later!!!

Buona Serra Mia Famiglia! Ahh – I think I have discovered the TRUE Italy! Yesterday morning, we left Rome enroute to Umbria. Umbria is a GORGEOUS little town atop a hill. You must take a fanicula to reach Umbria. A fanicula is a small tram car, that literally, goes up the side of the hill (at a slant!)! We all crammed into the car (it holds 75 people) and I, being afraid of heights, began to softly sing to myself. Well, this being Italy, the man next to me began to sing – and – by the time we got to the top EVERYONE was singing ! You have not lived until you have heard”O Mio Babbino Caro” sung by 75 Italians – most of whom know the words! It was a treasure of a moment!!!! Viva La Italiana! Once we arrived in Umbria we were treated to a cooking demonstration at an Italian cooking school! You simply have not tasted pasta like this! We have been so warmly recieved by this country and its people. Already, I cannot wait to come here again!

Next, we travelled by bus in the evening to Todi. Todi is home to the finest example of medieval sqaure in all of Italy. I am in love with the small town atmosphere of Italy. It is here that you truly can see the structures of the Italian people – the churches, local government, etc. Flowers are everywhere and the architecture is breathtaking. Tomorrow we will travel to Assisi.

We have celebrated two birthdays and are becoming quite a “famiglia”! I bought a beautiful hand made sweater in Orvieto, primarily because it has become REALLY cold here – so much for internet weather reports!! CIAO!! Until Domani!

FUNNY STORY #3 – Okay, so just when I thought that Rome was going to EAT my computer – I met Francisco at the front desk who just loves middle aged women who think they can speak Italian!!! I am back!! NOW, for the Funny story:

SO – a funny thing happened on the way to Rome – three days ago we started our journey to Rome which included a “pit” stop at a venue between Amalfi and Montecassino – WELL, in Italy some of the bathrooms are “unisex” (at least on the outside, “wash your hands” part – My friend Margaret Wilson (class of 1964!!) and I went marching off to the bathroom, walked in (I was walking faster and actually got into a stall) when it was discovered that it was the MEN’S room!!! You have not lived until you have had a woman from Charleston screaming your name from OUTSIDE of the bathroom – demanding that you come out. Let’s just say I was in no position to do so – and almost fell over I laughed so hard at Margaret screaming at me!! To say the least, EVERYONE in the place heard Margaret making it impossible for me to sneak out!!!!!!! Yes, my friends, we have laughed everyday since regarding this priceless memory and the jokes are NEVER ending!!!!!!!!!

Back to the adventure! We left Amalfi and headed about 2 hours up the “boot” to Montecassino. This town boasts a beautiful Abbey which is the Mother Church of the Benedictine Order. We had a lovely tour at this sacred place which has been destroyed and rebuilt 4 times.

ON TO ROMA – We arrived in Rome 2 days ago and have been immersed in ancient history! The Colosseum was our first stop – amazing. Again, our guide has been wonderful and so informative. We also have been to the SPanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and today toured the Vatican and St. Peters. Obviously, the history, architecture, culture, etc. that make ROME – ROME, is amazing and my hope is that you will all be able to experience it!

On the personal side of things – the fabulous alumnae and I have been hitting the musical scene all over! Two nights ago a “Wayne Newton” ish pianist became our best friend. Sasha, our guide, arranged for us to have a private room with this jewel of a human being and, honestly, I would never have guessed that the class of 1964 could dance so much! We sang, laughed – wonderful!

More tomorrow if Francisco is on duty! Cross your fingers – we leave tomorrow forTodi, in the Umbria region.
Ciao Mia Cara!

Ciao Belli! Today, we ventured forth (very early) to Pompeii and met our Italian tour guide – Nikola. Nikola has been a tour guide at Pompeii for 42 years, so he knows the territory! It was an awe inspiring morning. At one time, there were 25,000 people living, working, growing in Pompeii. In one moment in history – Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed them all. Much of the originial structure of Pompeii still exists and it is obvious that it was a thriving community. Still on display are 5 inhabitants that were excavated intact from the ruins. I am torn about the fact that these “finds” are on display. I understand the historical importance – but there is something so intensely sacred about their remains, that I had trouble looking at them as if they were some kind of tourist attraction.

After the morning in Pompeii, we ate – what else, – Pizza (which is very different from what we are used to “back home”!) and then boarded the bus for Sorrento. Sorrento is a beautiful city with shops, gorgeous views of the sea and mountains and MANY tourists! Somehow I managed to fight my way through and was happily among the shopping crowd! I am also happy that my Italian is passable, although I am fairly terrified when one of the natives actually begins to speak to me fluently upon thinking that I know what they are saying!!! I am very good at smiling, saying “Grazie” and “Ciao”! Fortunately, the culture is VERY gracious and friendly! I do think that the waiters here at the hotel want to come home with me – but I am running out of suitcases!

I am so enjoying getting to know the amazing women on this trip. I am beginning to be very envious of anyone who was a member of the class of 1964. These gals are remarkable and, I am sure, have left their mark on every field they have entered in the past 40 years. They speak of the Briar with such fondness – I am sure that they are all enjoying the Italian “tap club” that seems to be in the making!!!

Ciao Belli!!! Domani – ROMA!!!!!!!

Ciao Tutti!!! Today we were up for a lovely breakfast and then on the tour bus to Amalfi and Ravello! It LITERALLY poured down rain the entire day – which did not matter after everyone was thoroughly soaked!

Amalfi is a lovely little town – was one of the original coastal ports many, many years ago. Some of us hiked up a very long, winding set of stairs to view a cemetary that has been kept since the 1300′s! It is so wonderful to see that there are places where the natural beauty of the land has been preserved and tended – the culture has developed around the landscape, not the other way around. It makes me very thankful that so much has been done to keep our SBC campus so beautiful!

After Amalfi, we drove to Ravello which hosts an annual music festival – which leads to –

FUNNY STORY #2 – I am standing in the Villa Rufolo which is an art gallery and has an amazing small concert hall. The alumnae who were with me started asking me to sing – what did they want to hear???? The STAR SPANGLED BANNER – of course, I accidentally picked some ridiculously high key and – once you have started that thing – you KNOW you had better sing loudly at the end or the high note will be something you will NOT be happy about! It was loud and a couple of germans even applauded – so —- (moral of the story – always sing the National Anthem 2 keys lower than you think you should and, ALWAYS, sing it loudly!)!

After that, we trotted around the lovely, WET gardens of Ravello (if you google Ravello – the photo you will see is where we were!) and then boarded the bus back to our hotel. The Amalfi Highway (basically a one lane road where you REALLY get to meet your neighbors) makes a roller coaster seem tame!

Tonight I gave my first lecture and by the end of the evening the hotel staff, alumnae and I (and the germans!) were all gathered around the piano singing – yes, you guessed it – LOUDLY!!!!!!

Ti Amore – buona notte – Marcia

Well, here it is at last – my great Italian adventure! Last evening at approximately 5:55PM, a HUGE plane took me and my fellow Sweet Briar folks into the air for the beginning of our adventure. I knew who the SBC Alumnae were, simply because I looked for the most confident looking women at the gate (and I found them!)!!

At approximately 1:45Am we landed in Munich and then made our way to our gate for NAPLES! There were a few issues with boarding passes – but, as usual, Sweet Briar women triumph when faced with a daunting issue – even in a foreign language.

Funny Story #1 – So, I learned today that these airline folk are SERIOUS about the weight limit for bags! Of course, being a soprano AND a diva, my bag was 6 pounds over the limit! Being resourceful, I had packed an empty bag – I then took out the 10 POUNDS of music I am carrying with me, stored it in the extra bag and – VOILA – the bag is the correct weight! Of course, I had to carry much more on board than I had bargained for – but, hey, I’m on my way to ITALY!

We landed today (10/10) in Naples – got through to the baggage claim and – PRESTO – our fabulous tour guide, Sasha was waiting! I promptly embraced and kissed him (in the Italian way) – and – we are bonded for life!!!!

After an hour or so up the Amalfi Coast – we are happily tucked away in our hotel here in Amalfi for the next couple of days. My room is known as “The Castle” – and it overlooks the Sea – yes, life is good, good, good!!

Tonight we will dine as a group, exhausted but very happy! Ciao and Ti Amor!!!

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