Day 3 – 4th of July in Perugia!

Wednesday, July 4th

It’s American independence day and we’re in Italy! I guess that’s a nice way to celebrate, no? I woke up again today at around 8:00 to make my 9:00 practice slot at the school. Today I planned on volunteering in masterclass so I practiced an hour on my John Field Nocturne #5. I’m telling you, come to Italy for a music program and you’ll practice more than ever!!! The “gang” was supposed to meet me at the music school, but due to a late sleeping Maxim and an overall tired group, they were late!!! I walked myself up to Nana and there they were!

Today we planned on walking up to Pozzo Etruscan, or the Etruscan Well. It is pretty amazing how much talent our ancestors had. The well was HUGE! The 3€ ticket also had two other destinations included. We walked about five minutes to Capella di San Severo. This chapel is the one place in Perugia with a 100% approved Raphael fresco. For those of you who don’t know of this artist, the School of Athens is one of his most famous works. If you can keep a secret: though the sign said NO PHOTOGRAPHY, many of us took pictures. I was a good girl and bought a postcard instead.

Time was running out and we needed to eat lunch quickly because of conversational Italian. We stopped at an outdoor bar/cafe called Osteria. We waited and waited for our food. Of course the service was slow… We’re in ITALY!

This is when I split up from the group. As everyone went to Italian, I walked to the National Gallery of Umbria. As an art history buff, I enjoyed all the history of Perugia that the gallery possessed. It’s huge and highly recommended.

4:30pm rolled around and it was again time for masterclass. As I said before, I wanted to volunteer first. I’m a nervous wreck when it comes to playing in front of people. Mohit played as well – a beautiful Chopin Nocturne. I really enjoyed the pieces played by the other music students as well!

We all went to dinner at Ristorante del Sol, a restaurant with a view. We enjoyed our food and our meal was full of laughter and conversation. We followed dinner with tasty gelato from Grom. Extra dark chocolate for me!

Day 3 Fun Tidbits:

• Daniel pointed out a pointed arch called Gigli on our way to lunch. He showed us that there were remnants of its Etruscan history!
• Make time for lunch if you are going to be in a rush!
• Maxim cracked up by the end of the day due to a lack of sleep.

Also read…
Day 2 – Let the Practice Begin!
Day 4 – Get Lazy, Get Busy…
Great Neck Music Conservatory Visits Italy!