 |
| Rehearsing my piece "Equinox", with Music Progressive Quartet |
I'm sitting in the lobby of Hotel Çajupi, waiting for the bus to take us to our first concert of the tour! We left Tirana yesterday morning, and enjoyed lunch near a monastery in the mountains, en route to Bujar's village of Antigone.
 |
| View from Gjirokaster |
 |
| Jim & Marissa on the patio |
Six years ago, on our first WCSO tour, we had donated a few musical instruments to help start a music school in the village. Last night, we enjoyed a concert by some students of the new school. It was really special. We were treated to performances by some young violinists, flautists, clarinettists, as well as some traditional Albanian singers.
 |
Music room dedicated to Jim DeFina
(West Coast Symphony clarinettist, who passed away shortly after our first WCSO tour, in 2012) |
 |
| Maestro Bujar, with some young music students |
 |
| Albanian singers |
Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious feast of local food (and raki!), and mingled with the people from Antigone-- very generous and friendly hosts. This morning, we woke up to a rainstorm. Despite the weather, a small group of us hiked up the hill to explore the castle. We were completely rain-soaked by the time we hiked back down to our hotel, but got some beautiful photos-- even in the wind and rain.
 |
| Outside the castle in Gjirokaster |
 |
| Julia and Ken, exploring near the castle |
 |
| David and Elizabeth |
 |
| Marianne and Julia |
 |
| Exploring the castle grounds |
After changing into dry clothes, a couple of us enjoyed a delicious lunch at a small cafe, followed by some raki! We also checked out a couple of the small local shops selling handmade souvenirs. I picked up a beautiful wooden hand-carved bird, and a tiny antique silver coffee urn.
 |
| Outside one of the shops in town |
No comments:
Post a Comment