Practicing at the Museo Civico

Next day: Picked up from hotel via cab and very friendly driver. We make our way to the real town of Osimo. A beautiful drive through vineyards and soft sloping hills, winding our way up to the historic hilltop town. As we approach the center, a grand wall surrounding the town obviously built by the Romans suddenly appears as we drive through the main road or the "Corsi". We see marketers selling their goods on cobblestone and brick streets. We are dropped off in front of a beautiful cultural center built in the 16th century. The cultural center called Museo Civico plays host to Osimo's first ever International Piano Festival (founded by Gianluca Luisa - our host) which we are scheduled to perform on the last day of September 18. Such a gentelman of a man, Luca (not Gianluca - yes, that was confusing on our first day because we thought they were one in the same!) warmly greets us inside and shows us to our practice space. We are impressed by the grand staircase adorned by oversized paintings of unknown men dressed from another century. We then enter a small concert hall with two pianos. Right away I notice the ornately painted ceilings and walls. I think I was expecting Mozart to make an entrance at this point. Wow! We get to practice here?!... and without disturbance or a time limit?! This is not the Europe I remember. I peer outside our second floor window looking out onto the town square where the vendors proudly display their merchandise. Beautiful, sonorous church bells can be heard nearby. A warm summer breeze finally makes its way into the stale room. At the moment that we begin to rehearse our music, we suddenly become one with the room, the bells, the history of the museo, with a hushed excitement of knowing our debut in Italy will happen in just a couple of days in this charming, Romanesque town called Osimo.