Back from Italy trip!

"A jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges." - Benny Green

Great, two weeks just went by in the blink of an eye. School will be over my shoulders again tomorrow.

Week #1 was the experience of a lifetime. I traveled to Italy with the Lord Byng Senior Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra to perform and enjoy the country’s countless beauties.

Week #2 was quite relaxing a restful. Enjoyed some rock climbing with friends (will update later).

Some quick highlights:

Cremona, with Italy’s tallest bell tower in the background.

Yay! First Italian ice cream! Quanto custa? 3.00 Hmm… looks like I got strawberry and lemon Unlike Italian pizza, the ice cream there was amazing. There were countless different tastes that came in cones and cups. Italian ice cream: thumbs up!

Niiice picture of myself on the cobblestoned steps of an ancient Italian staircase.

Ah, the richest city in Italy: Verona. It’s good luck to touch the breast of Juliet on the statue in the courtyard

Now here’s something really worth writing about: unreasonably priced, greasy, North-American-styled Italian pizza. I was really expecting Italian pizza to be something different from the $1 pizza we get here in Vancouver. Well, I was wrong. It was really not that much different

Thumbs up? Thumbs down? We were standing in the Emperor’s spot in the amphitheatre of Verona. It was quite an eye-opener. The steps where people would sit were each about 0.5 m high, and the amphitheatre it self was still in good shape after hundreds of years of existence.

I have to say that of all the places I visited in Italy, I enjoyed Venice the best. It’s romantic waterways and glorious buildings made the perfect combination.

The performance at an elementary school in Bologna was a fun and memorable experience. As we entered, the whole auditorium was filled with energetic cheers from the little kids. That instantly brought a smile to my face During our performance, the kids started dancing and enjoying themselves with our music! After we finished, about 20 little kids crowded around me and asked for my autograph! Wow, what an experience that was

Atop the bell tower in Bologna. The 500 steps that we climbed was definitely worth it! We got a breath-taking view of the “Red City” and a good workout at the same time.

(No comment, view of Florence is simply too beautiful)