Things have been busy! So I'm bit behind on posts. Here's the final Scottish post. It's warmer here in Bologna.....
I’m writing now from the flight to Bergamo. It’s been an eventful two days even though we haven’t played concerts! Yesterday was off, it felt good to be alone a bit and confront my own world a bit, seems thing to continue on in Halifax without me and I have to keep up!
First I climbed to Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. Holyrood is a little like a mini highlands in the midst of the city. The hiking requires attention as the paths are steep and built out of rough stone steps. Ascending or descending, a missed step could be painful! (Don’t be enjoying the view too much!) The winds at the top threatened to blow me clean off. It’s an amazing view from the top though and getting out of the stone and traffic was nice. Eventually after a 2 or so hours of wandering I returned home to write, answer email and practice a bit. We met for Lebanese food and ended up up at a jazz bar jam night, where Nicola was determined to play! It was courageous, and completely like Nicola! (I definitely couldn’t have faced the expectations of a jazz audience and musicians.)(I’ll fake my way through a ballad but that’s where I draw the line!)
Today I cleared out of my Air B&B and did some more work in the National Library before meeting the crew, plus U of E prof Martin Parker, (Nicola's PhD supervisor). On the steps of the department we also met Nigel Osborne a retired prof who does a lot of work in Italy, Vancouver and elsewhere it seems! They were both people who would be great to know more about.
Then we presented our work to a graduate composition seminar, with me representing Jerome Blais! I especially liked Nicola’s presentation on his work, as it shed a nice light on his way of working and his philosophies about creation. Then it was straight to the airport
Interesting side note from the plane: RyanAir seats do not tilt back! To save money somehow I suppose....
We arrived a little late, and after some other delays getting Max's car etc, I ended up in a bed finally at 3:45 am....
Sep 28, 2018 at 14:18
