Double Fantasy Holiday - Italian Style

Was this real or a dream?  If it was real, then it was a dream come true.  It all started with an email from a long-time guitar-playing friend. He sent me a link to a flat-picking guitar workshop in the Italian Alps (Dolomites) and suggested I should consider attending.   I put it off not sure if I had the time and talent to participate.   Then after receiving an invitation from an Italian flight test colleague to come stay at his summer home on the Adriatic Sea in the village of Pineto, I inquired about the workshop and learned that that there was one slot left after someone had cancelled. So I jumped in and started making plans.  I had left my Taylor guitar in Italy 3 years earlier with a street musician who I had become friends with.  I arranged to pick it up near Milan, hoping it was still in good shape.  My Italian colleague who had invited me to his family home, offered that I could bring a friend to stay.  I contacted a bright young flight test engineer, who I had met in May when giving my "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci" talk in Vienna at the European SFTE Symposium.  To my delight, she accepted my invitation!  Flying into Milan, I picked up my guitar and drove down to Genoa to pick up Miriam. We drove across Italian reading DeMello's, "The Way to Love" and discussing life, love, and mystery, which made the 7-hour drive go by in a flash.  Arriving in the village of Pineto after 10:30 pm, we were a little tired and ready for bed. But our friends Nunzio and Ralucca met us at the hotel and informed us the night was young. And so it was!

With their two teenage boys in tow, we walked along the seashore to a vibrant village center, smoking Nunzio's favorite cigars until reaching their favorite gelato shop.  To my surprise, Pineto was hopping with families, strolling, and eating even though it was approaching midnight! 

The next four days were like a movie.  A fantastically unreal experience of beach time, bike riding, historical tours, dilizioso meals, radici, and profound talks far into the night playing guitar, singing, and drinking wine, Greek Mastika, and Crodino.  All too soon, I dropped Miriam off at the train station and a day later bid Nunzio, and his family a fond farewell and proceeded to drive 6 hours north to the Dolomites for the guitar workshop for the second part of this fantastic experience. 

 The first night even before the lessons began many of the attendees  (mostly Europeans) gathered to play and sing together. I quickly surmised there was some real talent assembled. This continued every evening after lessons. The workshop lessons were a fire hose of theory as much as technique. The world-famous instructors, Italian Roberto dalla Vecchio and American Mark Cosgrove were awesome.   I absorbed much but struggled to actually play at tempo.  But it was engaging, supportive, and friendly.  After the day's lessons, I would hike into the majestic mountains for some vigorous exercise and quiet time. Returning for the group dinner followed by jams "that never end" And on the last night I got up with an impromptu band and performed "Wagon Wheel" to the crowd's delight.   I want to return next year. I must practice all year to fully learn from these lessons. 

          

While at the workshop, I learned my old Italian friend, Volpe (Soccer star) lived just 30 minutes away in the Dolomites. I drove to his house and reconnected after a 4-year hiatus. 

Returning to Varese I visited more old friends.  And then the piece de resistance. I drove back to Genoa to drop off my guitar at Miriam's and enjoy a Ligurian seaside dinner and guitar playing near some of  Bruno Catalino's sculptures. 

 The serendipity flow of this whole experience was something out of a romantic movie, something people dream about.  Something in me was healed.  Something awakened.  I for a moment had gone back to my youth, crossed the chasm of regrets, and lived a fantasy.  Now per De Mello, I need to not dwell (too much) on the past and enjoy each new day as they come. Here I come!