Touring Italy Playing Handbells

May 31

Today is a travel day. We woke up at 5 a.m. and flew from Budapest to Rome with a layover in Belgrade, Serbia. Then, we took a separate flight from Rome to Brindisi, which required us to collect the checked baggage and go through immigration, register, and  TSA again.  Once in Brindisi, a shuttle took us to Lecce, our new home for the next week, arriving at 7 p.m. One of the team members, Jeanne, was also on the last flight, and she fell getting on the airport bus and had a nasty injury to her leg. We were glad we were handy to help her.

We are part of a demonstration handbell team with several concerts scheduled once we have had a chance to meet and rehearse with the group of twelve ringers and conductor William.  We have made this pilgrimage three times before in the Tuscany area of Italy, and the last time was before COVID-19.   

We met with other group members and ate dinner in the Piazza.

June 1

The hotel included a very nice breakfast buffet on the rooftop terrace, and then we returned to our room to unpack.  

Our program did not start until mid-afternoon, so we explored the walled city. Many tour groups and locals milled around. We sat and listened to a singer in the square 

before finding a pizza for a relaxing lunch.  

We returned to the hotel to prepare for our handbell intro, followed by our first rehearsal, which went very well. 

Following the productive rehearsal, we had a delightful group dinner. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and conversation, and the wine flowed freely, adding to the jovial mood. We all took the opportunity to get to know each other better, forging new friendships and strengthening existing bonds.   

June 2

We started the day by visiting a local market with a guide to buy supplies for dinner.  

Next, we had our morning rehearsal, a pizza lunch, and time to relax.  At 3pm, we had our afternoon rehearsal, and at 6 pm, we attended a cooking school and were guided by the master chef to create our own dinner.  

I have NO cooking skills, and we were pretty amazed to see how the meal came together.  It seemed simple, but the process's exact ingredients and subtlety were critical, which went way over my head.

We ended the evening by enjoying what we, the group, had made.  Delicious.    

June 3

Today, the group met for serious handbell practice.  The music, which is quite complicated, is starting to take shape.

We met at a restaurant for a simple salad group lunch, 

and in the afternoon, a local guide took us on a walking tour of the historic town of Lecce. Our guide explained that Lecce is known as the Florence of the south.  We saw an Obolist, vintage 1822 to the King.  We visited a 300-seat theater.  There are restaurants and cafes everywhere in every nook and alley, and all full in the late evening.  

There is a 200-foot bell tower, which is said to be the highest in Europe. We went to the 12th-century Duomo, which has Columns in the Romanesque style. Outside, there is a Roman amphitheater from the 3rd century.

We ended the afternoon with another rehearsal; however, we were all hot and tired by now.  In the evening, Merry and I had a nice dinner at a restaurant across the square and chatted with a tourist from the US at the next table.

Gelato is the local ice cream in Italy and is sold and eaten everywhere.

June 4

The day started with another rehearsal, followed by lunch at a pizza restaurant, which was served family-style with five different pizzas. After lunch, the group visited a museum of modern art, which is not my thing. There were small rooms with 12 people in groups and no AC. I had to leave but found myself locked in, and I had to wait for the tour to end to escape. 

Next was a rehearsal from 4:30 to 6:30, followed by a dinner with 4 other ladies from our group.  We did not get back home [hotel] until 11:30 pm.

June 5

The days started with a dress rehearsal from 9:30 to 11:00.  We boarded our bus at 11:30 to Ostuni, a quaint town nearby with a population of 31,000. We had a group lunch at 1 p.m. and then toured the medieval winding streets. Ostuni is a city in the Apulia region known for its whitewashed old town. Ostuni Cathedral combines Gothic, Romanesque, and Byzantine elements, while the arched Porta San Demetrio is one of two remaining medieval gates. 

We had a delicious group lunch.

and spent time walking around the charming town before heading to Alberobello, our second stop.   

Alberobello is a town in Italy’s Apulia region. It’s known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. The hilltop Rione Monti district has hundreds of them. The 18th-century Trullo Sovrano is a 2-level trulli. Furniture and tools at the Museo del Territorio Casa Pezzolla re-create life in the trulli as it was centuries ago. Southwest of town is the Casa Rossa, a WWII internment camp.

Why do trulli have conical roofs?  By stacking the limestone slabs to create the conical roofs that made the homes famous, the trulli houses were surprisingly stable. The thick stone protected the inhabitants from the hot sun of Italy.  

We walked through the fascinating town for an hour before returning to the bus for the ride back to Lecce.  

June 6

Today is our first concert. We spent the morning packing up the bells and all the associated equipment. We are playing almost five octaves of Malmark English Handbells and about two octaves of chimes with a more mellow sound.  We need to take tables, foam pads on top of the tables, and corduroy covers to look nice.   

The equipment was hauled to the edge of town where the bus could load the equipment and us, of course.   Our first destination, Gallipoli, a tourist town, and lunch stop at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the bay with crystal clear turquoise water and the marina, 

followed by a leisurely walk through town on the narrow, winding streets. 

Gallipoli is a coastal town. The historic center is an island off the mainland that shelters churches like St. Agatha’s Cathedral, which has an ornate facade. Nearby, the Church of St. Mary of Purity has a maiolica-tiled floor.  Gallipoli Castle includes the Rivellino Tower, standing apart from the main building. Across the bridge, on the mainland, is the Greek Fountain, dating from the Renaissance.

At 3 pm, we returned to the bus to travel to Matino, which has a population of 11,000, our concert location.  We have rehearsed for four days and are ready to demonstrate this unfamiliar instrument to Italy, its beautiful sound and artistry.  

The church was a modest size with seating for 90 and dates back to 1692 at the arched entrance to the city.  It was chosen as a modest location as our first concert before performing to larger venues.

Before the concert, a guide gave us a walking tour of the historic, well-kept town.  

When we returned to the church, we got dressed in a room next door, ready for our performance.    When we paraded into the church, we were delighted to see a packed house with standing room only and spilling to the street, requiring it to be closed to traffic.  

Our performance was not note-perfect, but every piece received very generous applause.  When completed, they demanded an encore, which we did not have, so they demanded we replay Nessus Dorma, which received a standing ovation.    

After allowing the audience to try out the bells, we packed up and went to the courtyard of someone's home, where we were treated to a feast of homemade cooking and plenty of local wine.   It was enchanting, like a scene out of a movie.  The ride home was very merry.

June 7

Today was our second concert day, but we had the morning free, so we went on a tour to a local museum for Paper Mache, used extensively for church restoration and to make religious statues light enough to carry on parades.  

Today, the 400-year-old craft is used to make any ornament desired. The items on display are truly incredible works of art.  

We headed down into the museum

Then, we went down further into the workshop for a demonstration.

Bailey gave it a try and did very well.

The process is fairly simple: just flour and water, which are cooked, and paper. Special paper gets the best results, but any absorbent paper can be used for simple projects. 

Start with a simple wire frame and cover it with straw to get the basic shape. Then, start adding the glue-soaked paper to make the final shape. Create the head, hands, and feet from clay for best results. Paint the finished item. The artist made it look easy, but getting good results takes a lot of practice.  

We boarded the bus at noon and headed to Stanzie for a group lunch.  On the way, we saw field after field of dead olive trees suffering from the disease that affected this very valuable and adored crop. They are developing sprays and new varieties to combat the disaster.  

We arrived at a farm/restaurant as a Farm to Table. The restaurant, built in the 1100s, is located next to the 400-mile covered wagon highway, and it was a stopping place to rest, eat, and change horses. 

They also made the first lamp oil from olive trees, a valuable commodity in the 1600s, as lamps were the only form of light.  We were guided around the property with Merry on the arm of Elissa, who was amazed at Merry's age and resilience in the steps necessary to traverse the area.  She also told Merry it was fine to enter the kitchen for any questions.  Merry did in fact, go into the kitchen to see if there was burro, a substitute for the oil that is sooooo very popular here in Italy.

At lunch, everything presented to eat is grown and created on-site.  It was, in fact, my meat and potato favorite, a very deliceous pork roast served in a bowl to house the gravy. Again, the wine flowed freely with three fabulous favorites of the group: red, white, and rose.

Old highway. 500 miles long

After lunch, we headed off on the bus to Otranto where our concert would be performed.  

The concert was arranged and marketed for 7 p.m., but at the last minute, the priest announced mass was at 6:30, so it would need to wait until mass ended. This affected the audience attendance somewhat, but we played to a smaller crowd, which grew larger as the concert progressed.  Ultimately, they all enjoyed it and came to talk to us and try out the bells afterward.

We arrived home after 11:00 p.m., and just as we were getting to sleep, the fireworks in the piazza woke us up at midnight. It was no big deal; it is a delight to be part of such a lively little town.

June 8

Our third and last concert is this evening, and it is our last full day in Italy. We had a lazy day and started the packing process. The concert is in the massive Basilica San Giovanni Battista in the local cathedral in Lecce.

We met at five pm to bring in all the equipment, set up, and do a sound check.  Then we had to wait for mass, including a baptismal, which took longer than usual.  Finally, our turn.  We had a good turnout, but in such a large space, it seemed scattered and lacked the atmosphere for a smaller packed house.

We did a great job, and the audience was eager to try out the bells and ask questions afterward.  Then the big pack-up, walk 1/2 a block to a final group dinner, do the autopsy, and start the farewells.  Another late meal which we are not used to, and another late night.

This ends this chapter of the blog.  Please save this page and revisit and refresh in a week or so.