Report from Roger, July 5, 4:00 p.m.

This morning we left Montecatini Terme and visited Lucca, a picturesque city with a huge protective wall that goes all the way around the old city. The city has outgrown its wall, but it remains, and people enjoy walking around the city on the top of the wall for exercise or just to socialize.

Puccini lived in Lucca. Unfortunately, his house was not open to visitors today. Nevertheless, we touched the walls and had our pictures taken with his statue. Lucca is just big enough with enough twisty streets that you can get moderately lost but find your way back without much trouble.

At Puccini's house

After Lucca, our buses took us on over to Pisa. We walked through the gate to the Field of Miracles where Silvana exclaimed, "I can't believe that I'm going to stand beside the Leaning Tower of Pisa." And as it came into view she said, "It's just like the picture in my textbook!"

This evening we had our concert in Montecatini Terme. The concert was held right in the open air theater in the bath. We were worried that the open air venue would not support the orchestra, but we had no reason to worry. The sound came through very nicely. In Italy, the concerts don't start until 9:00 p.m. When it was time to begin the program, the audience was a bit sparse, but by the time we finished the overture, we had a very nice crowd.

The Vivaldi quartet delivered its fourth perfect performance. From where I was conducting, I could see the statue of Mercury on high. What a beautiful experience! The audience was wonderful. At the end of the concert, an Italian woman came up to me, gave me a hug, kissed me on both cheeks and said "Viva Romano!" At least, I think that's what she said. My Italian isn't what it should be.

The kids are great, the tour is going well. Greetings to all of you, and a big thanks for all your support. We should have more pictures tomorrow.