Florence, Italy
Well, I could hand you a giant load of jibberish, or even hand you something meaningful to me but it might still be jibberish to you. So here it goes. Some dudes and gals catch the blues; some dudes and gals catch the blues but don’t realize it until they turn red with excitement.
That’s kind of how it happened with me. Coming to Florence was a real life twister, and as I sank in slowly to the culture and learned more about myself and the world outside of the “States.” I got used to it, but wasn’t really in my nook.
It wasn’t until about two months in (a week before midterms) when I found people I could really relate to and have fun with.
My art professor, a working artist around Western Europe and a very talented musician and mind, introduced me to a local musician, Derek James Mattuchio, originally from Boston, who plays at local clubs and bars around the city. He also runs trivia nights twice a week at two separate bars.
So, anxious as a little girl headed to Disney World squeezing a Cinderella doll in her hand, I facebooked him and asked if there was a time for me to get on and play.
Contributed Photo:
KSC Junior Greg Fisher visiting Venezia during his many travels while he studies abroad in Florence, Italy.
I had brought my harmonicas over, and luckily, a fellow Keene State College friend, Laura Judge, conviently had to leave her guitar over here when she departed at the end of her semester. So with the loud extensions of my body (J), one thing led to another and I was instantly adopted under Derek’s wing. He seems to control the city with a smile.
Everybody knows this guy and everybody loves him. He’s created this wonderful family of freaks, artists, musicians and good-time friends.
I’m unbeilevably fortunate my wings broke and have fallen into this particular web.
It’s been about a week since I met him, and I’ve already played five or six gigs, some even payed, and plenty more to come.
I’ve met some amazing people through him: students, locals, professional D.J.’s, you name it.
In fact, the local Florentine artist, CLET, who tags all the red and white striped street signs with “special stickers” of a black human-like figure doing something outrageous to the stripe, has Derek help him on some projects.
It seems like this guy has been everywhere at one point or another. But he is honestly one of, if not the, most genuine guys I have ever met.
He just cares so much and would do anything for anyone in a blink of an eye. He’s kind of like a father in this big family he’s netted together.
Again it’s only been a week, but he makes it harder and harder for me everyday, when I know it’ll be my time to go. But I guess he’s just given me reasons to come back.
I’ve been asked to join in on certain musical experiments around the city as well, and to be honest; it’s going to be hard to stay in class. There’s something wonderful to do every night.
But I keep reminding myself how I got here, and it’d be silly to throw it away.
That’s another thing this whole trip has proved to me; it’s showed me how responisble I’ve become. I mean sincerely— what the hell? I never realized how much fun growing up actually is.
Derek keeps me in line as well; he makes sure I have fun but also makes sure that I do well in class. Sometimes it’s strange how much he looks out for me, but that’s just the type of guy he is.
I could go on and on about this guy Derek, but there are so many others I could talk about and bore you with more jibberish.
For instance, there’s Luca the Bartender at the Italian Pub “The William.” He’s hysterical— he barely speaks English, but loves Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, and if you know how I play, well lets just say he never lets me pay for a drink. And there’s Pasha, the Russian D.J. who has created this really wild sound combining EDM with Rock N’ Roll. It’s really out of this world.
And of course there’s Thomas, the classic French Film Noir character, who dresses in black and talks about the experimental music he wants to create all the time, but is too drunk too often to do so. He’s a great guy and is lots of fun to be around.
The list goes on, as does the beat, and if my heart stops anytime soon, I’d say it’d be pretty hard to keep rhythm.
But the rhythm I’m in right now is too powerful for anything to take down. Let’s just hope my train doesn’t derail on my way back from Vienna (Knocking heavily on Austrian wood).
P.S. I saw Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” in Budapest, it was awesome.
And Vienna is a magnificently stunning city, I highly recommend making it out to Budapest and Vienna if ya’ll are ever in Europe.
Ciao Tutti!