As you can see from the title, we have had quite the day! We began the day with an hour-long rehearsal in the Bari LDS Chapel, which the elders very kindly opened up for us. The push for the Greece music festival becomes a little stronger every day now.
After the rehearsal we loaded the coach yet again, and headed to Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I have never heard of this place before, but I certainly will remember it! You can see the centuries it has existed just by looking at the stone houses built in multiple stories on top of the ones below. Some of the homes have been turned into stores or restaurants, but many are still inhabited—the laundry hanging out the window was a give-away! There were also the occasional satellite dishes; though the right color, they seemed just a bit out of place.
The stone homes and walkways were livened up by many gorgeous flowers of red and pink blossoms, all set against a deep blue sky most of the day. Absolutely spectacular.
We all eventually found the meeting place that had been set in the morning for the choir to continue to shoot their music video. Apple Maps wasn’t nearly as helpful as it thinks it is. We attracted an audience while filming, and answered a few questions. The setting is truly beautiful, as you’ll see once it is released.
We managed to find our coach more easily than a few of us found the video location, which was good as we were tired of walking by then. By day’s end I had walked 10,500 steps, and at least 8000 of those steps were up and down stone steps of varying depth.
We drove next to the Brindisi chapel for another hour of rehearsal. All week long we have been hearing about the ferry experience we were to have getting to Greece, and our expectations had been managed very well. So well, in fact, it was a very pleasant surprise to get to the ferry and find what looked like a small cruise ship, with lots of rooms for people and a decent cafeteria for dinner. The rooms are small, but all we need them for is sleep!
I think our tour manager might have done this on purpose so that we could be pleasantly surprised. It will be about a 10-hour trip to Igoumenitsa, Greece. We are underway now, with just a little jiggling. I hope those who took Dramamine to live through the night do so!
