After 22 shows with only a few days off, this part of the tour is about to come to a close and then it is on to the UK. I am now in Milan, Italy staying with my friend here named Matteo. It is good to have some down time filled with sight seeing, food, wine, and ice cream (the ice cream and wine are amazing here!). Tomorrow we will play a show in Vigevano, Italy with a local Italian acoustic duo and I am looking forward to hearing some local music (other than the buskers I have seen which usually play accordian here). To be honest I never thought I would get the chance to perform in Italy so I am very excited to be here as it is not usually a tour stop for most North American musicians.
While in Milan I went to see the Duomo di Milano which is the second largest cathedral in the world and took over 500 years to build. It is a breathtaking site inside and out! You can see a photo of it above. They began construction on the cathedral back in 1386 and it was not completed until 1865 when Napolean ordered it to be finished. The last details of the cathedral were finished only in the 20th century when the last gate was inaugurated in 1965. It is crazy to think about how long people were working on this building.
I only know a few words in Italian, less words than I know in German. Basically I only know enough to order my food, ask for the bill, and say thank you, "grazie" (pronounced grah-tsee-ay). Today I bought a post card in a tourist shop where I was in line with a bunch of Americans and other tourists. The man working there spoke English and I heard an older woman say "gracias" after paying for her things. I just laughed. It's no wonder why people in other countries don't like Americans and think they are arrogant. You shouldn't assume that other people just speak your language and when you attempt to speak the language of the country you are in, be informed enough to get the words right.
Though it has been an amazing experience coming to Italy, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and Austria I am looking forward to going to an English speaking country as I am starved for conversation with people that speak English as their first language. But I am thankful for the many friends I have met along the way that have spoken wonderful English with me. Thanks again to all the people that have housed me or fed me along the way. Show tomorrow, then a few more days of site seeing here in Italy and then I will catch a plane to Scotland. I'm looking forward to what I will find there.
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