Firenze

Firenze, Italy
17 November 1996
Watercolor on cold press Lana paper


I stayed in Tuscany for a few nights. Mostly, it was very confusing and exhausting because mostly, no one I met spoke English and my agent had neglected to arrange for me to be met at the train station or for proper accommodation. In one instance, I boarded the wrong train going in the opposite direction of my destination. There was a lot of talking myself down from intermittent panic attacks and carrying on as best I could when I really needed a good, uninterrupted night's sleep.

One night I stayed at some sort of country hotel although hotel might not be the best word. It felt more like an empty convent. Very bare bones with cold terrazzo floors. The woman who hosted me did not speak English but I managed to understand from our conversation that in June and July, the place hosted children from Byelo-Russia who had been poisoned from Chernobyl. You can learn more at The Chernobyl Project and about these children through one of the rescue organization sites . That conversation put my mild discomfort into perspective. I took Pipo, the resident dog for a walk at dusk through the Tuscan hills. Then I was carted off to some incredibly loud and raucous bar where I was set up on the floor in the middle of the place. I could not hear myself think let alone sing but there was a crowd seated on the ground and standing around me paying rapt attention so I did my thing and ripped up my poor voice in the process.

The next day, I was off to Bologna for a radio interview and record store performance. I knew the DJ who'd set that up and he spoke English so it was good to visit and the day went pretty well. The DJ used excerpts from my CD for the interview to save my tattered voice. The most memorable thing about that day was the memorial in the waiting room at the train station for the Bologna Massacre. The effective memorial incorporates a massive crack in the wall and the hole that was left in the floor by the blast.

For the other nights I stayed on a Biodynamic farm at a Rudolph Steiner community. That was right up my alley. It was beautiful and interesting and the people were great — not to mention the food.

I was so close to Florence that as soon as I finished my duties and before I had to go on to the next gig, somehow, I got myself there. I don't know what day it was but not long after I arrived I discovered that the museums were closing at noon or one. I managed to duck into some Medici room and am embarrassed to say that I can't remember what that was. And somehow, I managed to convince the guard to let me just run through part of the Uffizi. That was sort of ridiculous because I really did not even have time to orient myself before I had to run out again.

The day was raw and rainy so I just walked myself across the Arne, leaned against the river wall and painted this picture as the skies gave way to a little late afternoon sun. It was an o.k. way to contemplate Brunelleschi at a bit of a distance, away from the long lines to get a look inside.

Before I left Italy, I performed at a fabulous folk club in Udine where everything — the audience, the host, the food, the room, the vibe — was exceptional. I also managed to run around Venice for a long afternoon on a day when the water was at its lowest mark in years. I'll go back there any time.

Every Sunday I post a new painting and story behind the watercolors I made while touring as a singer songwriter. Follow the stories behind the paintings of these serialized posts by working your way up from the bottom.