Lajatico experiences

[Anne]

I returned from Tuscany last night, and I`m still in HEAVEN! It was sooo PHANTASTIC!
MILLE, MILLE GRAZIE, ANDREA!!!

But from the beginning: on Monday I travelled to La Sterza, with the plane from Hamburg to Munich, from Munich to Pisa, with the train to Pontedera and than to La Sterza by bus. All went well and in time.
On Tuesday I visited Lajatico and the Teatro, which is only 10 minutes footpath away from the Piazza of Lajatico. It is placed in a really wonderful countryside, the view from above the theatre over the hills is amazing!
On Wednesday than there should be "una prova generale", and I was so lucky to have a ticket (that was Renate`s surprise, thanks again for your efforts, Renate!). In the morning it was cloudy and windy, and through the day the wind grew into a storm. Two hours before the beginning of the rehearsal I walked down to the Teatro (and have seen Andrea passing in a Landrover!). We have to wait at the entrance, nearly two hours, 3500 spectators for the rehearsal, wrapped in clouds of dust from the wind - and 30 minutes before it should begin, it has been cancelled! Because of security problems and technical problems (I guess because of the dust). The next day Andrea said, for one day the "Teatro del Silezio" has changed his name in "Teatro del Vento".
Great disappointement and sadness, and also the fear, if the concert could take place the next day - someone of the staff told us that they have to prove the damage and next morning it would be a decision, if the concert will take place or not.....
Than Thursday, the day of the concert: sunny weather, blue sky, no wind. I called the theatre information in the early afternoon, and they told me: every thing is okay, the concert will start! Puhhh, you can`t imagine what a big stone plumped from my brest!!!

And the concert has been a great success and triumph for Andrea. He sang his most successful songs, alone and in duett. Very impressive Lang-Lang, and also the duett with Elisa, who has a great voice. Together with Laura Pausini "Vivere" - Andrea went down on his knees in front of her! "Canto della Terra" and "Time to Say Goodbye" with Sarah Brightman, "Vivo per lei" and "The Prayer" with Heather Hedley. All these wonderful hits which never or seldom have been presented in concert.
And Andrea, he was very relaxed, he smiled very often and talked to the audience, in the first part he was dressed in black, after the intermission he changed into a white shirt and jacket, both time with a scarf, because it was unusual cold in the night. Fortunately I have had a pullover and a coat, but I did not feel the cold, as long as Andrea was on stage, only when he left it, I felt my icecold feet and hands!?!
The concert took nearly 3 hours - without a short intermission, and I would say 80% of the time Andrea has been on stage.

At the end standing ovations, and before the last to songs, again "Canto della Terra" and "Time to Say Goodbye" with Sarah Brightman, some people were running to the stage - sure including me!! - and so I could experience Andrea only some metres directely in front of me. Amazing! And I could take some nice pictures of him.

Like Andrea said this should be an unique event, unique because it was an only pop-concert. I did not see the concert last year, but for the future it will be very difficult to top this experience from Lajatico!
Thank you to all who make it possible, the people of Lajatico, and especially thank you, Andrea!

[carolyn]

Thankyou Anne for your timely report....words from those actually there are hard to wait for because we want very much to hear everything!

It sounds like it was a scary wait, what with that wind and dust, to learn if the outdoor concert would actually happen afterall. After waiting for naught for the prova, it is so lucky the real event in fact did happen as planned. I think my nerves would have been raw.

How amazing that there would be this 'cold' temperature during the heat of summer. Now that is rather hard to imagine! Each report has bits of new information.

Thankyou again for taking time to write.

[DueBaci]

Welcome Home Anne !!

... what a WONDERFUL time you had !! .. thank you for sharing your story with us

[sam]

Grazie Anne!

[kbarham]

Thanks Anne for your report. It must have been 'heaven' to be there.

[eleanora]

Finally a report in English - thank you so much Anne it was wonderful to read and what a scare maybe having the concert be cancelled - I was holding my breath as I read your report. Thank you

[Southerngirl]

Danke, Anne.

I enjoyed your report so much. I wished I were there and your words brought the night to me as if I were.

I know as you get settled back home more thoughts will come to you of that majical night - please report as these thoughts come.

Did you see Veronica? How about his boys? Is the theater near the farm that Andrea grew up on? Lajatico is such a small town, is there room for all the fans that come in for the concert? Sorry to bombard you with questions - I just can't help myself - I want to know EVERYTHING!

[Anne]

You are right, Lajatico is to small as if there could stay 6500 people. They stayed in the region around and in Volterra, or they came from other parts of Tuscany.
The house where Andrea grew up is in La Sterza, which is 3,5 kilometer from Lajatico, and the theatre again is 1 kilometer from Lajatico.
And yes, I saw Veronica and Andrea`s brother Alberto and also Signora Edi Bocelli, because my hotel has been in La Sterza.

[jlew1949]

[font=Comic Sans MS]Thanks Anne. It was wonderful to read your report. Oh, how I wished I could have attended the concert. It's sounds fabulous! Reading your report is almost the next best thing to being there.

Jane[/font]

[blue]

Hi Anne,

It's Karen from Canada - I think I was sitting next to you at the concert. It was nice to meet you. My pictures aren't very good - I should have moved up to the front as well, but I guess I moved a bit too slowly!

This concert was just amazing. I couldn't believe I was going before I got there, and still can't believe that I was there now that it's over.

THANK YOU ANDREA FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL CONCERT. I'm sure there was a lot of rehearsing and planning for singing these songs you hadn't sung live in a long time or had never sang live before, but you were just fabulous. It was worth travelling from Canada to Italy for even though I know you think we are crazy for doing so!

Karen

[Rosej]

Thanks Anne for the report, I too was there. Andrea was beautiful and wonderful and sang great! When he knelt down to sing Vivere with Laura P. I think the whole crowd just swooned. He was so sweet no?

Hi Karen from Canada. I hope you remember me, I met you several times with Jennie and we sat at the bar together in Lajatico several times. I too am very sad I must go back to work today. But that's life and there hopefully will always be another chance to see Andrea. He will always be in our hearts no?

Renata - Thank you so much for getting the tickets to the rehearsal even though it was cancelled. We did get to go the the 'sound check' and that was so great to see Andrea as he truly is 'off camera' and just as sweet and wonderful as he is 'on.' Thanks again.

Ciao
Rose Marie J

[Ivannia]

Thanks for the report, it was for sure that God's hands moved the clouds in order to get a beatifull day only for Andrea....I ca't wait to see the pictures

[jezabel66a]

Tu relato se ajusta a la perfeccion con otros que se han leido aqui, entre todos conforman un regalo maravilloso para nosotros.
Gracias ANNE.
Un aplauso para LAJATICO y su calida gente, y todavia mas para ANDREA

[Anne]

Hi Anne,

It's Karen from Canada - I think I was sitting next to you at the concert. It was nice to meet you. My pictures aren't very good - I should have moved up to the front as well, but I guess I moved a bit too slowly!

This concert was just amazing. I couldn't believe I was going before I got there, and still can't believe that I was there now that it's over.

Hi Karen,

nice to hear from you. I`m so sorry I couldn`t say goodbye to you and Jenny, because I was running to the stage at the end. After the concert it was impossible to find you again!
Some of my pictures are quite good, I will send them to Renate, maybe she can use some for bocelli.de.
Today was my first day of work again, and it was hard to concentrate because my thoughts always went back. I think nobody of us will ever forget this wonderful experience.

Ciao Anne

[blue]

Hi Karen,

nice to hear from you. I`m so sorry I couldn`t say goodbye to you and Jenny, because I was running to the stage at the end. After the concert it was impossible to find you again!
Some of my pictures are quite good, I will send them to Renate, maybe she can use some for bocelli.de.
Today was my first day of work again, and it was hard to concentrate because my thoughts always went back. I think nobody of us will ever forget this wonderful experience.

Ciao Anne

Hi Anne,

It was crazy trying to get out of there afterwards. We ended up having some sandwiches since we were starving. Looking forward to seeing your pictures.

You're right - I don't think any of us will forget this experience.

Karen

[blue]

Hi Karen from Canada. I hope you remember me, I met you several times with Jennie and we sat at the bar together in Lajatico several times. I too am very sad I must go back to work today. But that's life and there hopefully will always be another chance to see Andrea. He will always be in our hearts no?

Ciao
Rose Marie J

Hi Rose Marie,

I do remember you and it was really nice to meet you! It was difficult getting back to work but I still could smile thinking back to the wondeful experience we had. I hope we meet again somewhere - maybe again in Italy?

Karen

[carolina1954]

Hi Karen, you made it back ok then, back to the real world....

I too rushed to the stage and got some nice pics which are on Bocelliland.
Was not going to send then to Renate as I am sure she has some of her own and no doubt there are others as well.
My home computer has not been working so this is the first chance I have had to get on here, nice to see a few other people's reports.

All I can add is that it was wonderful, and his entrance to the stage was just great. I thought they were his boys at first.

There is just so much to tell, and impossible to do it all !
I loved the fact that Andrea and the others threw their bouquets in the audience at the end.

It all seemed to go quite well, just a few minor glitches and I loved the choice of songs. The new ones were beautiful and I can't wait to get my hands on any CD or DVD that has them on !
I managed to record them on my telephone so I can re-live some of the evening. I also filmed him on my camera, singing " Il Mare Calmo" whilst playing the piano, hope to be able to post that on Youtube when I get my computer fixed.

Must get back now to reading all the other posts, and watch some photos and some Youtube !

[blue]

Hi Carolina,

Yes, back to the real world - it's not much fun.

I saw your pictures and they turned out great. I have similar pictures but mine are not so clear since I was further away. I recorded about 2 minutes of "Il Mare Calmo" as well. You can hear it but can't see him very well. I can't wait for the DVD!

Hope your computer gets fixed soon!

Take care,

Karen

[LaCavallerizza]

I'm back to the real world now too! Definitely an adjustment after 3 weeks in Italy!!

The concert was amazing! I really want to go back next year.

And it was really wonderful to meet everyone.
Rose Marie, it was nice to get to chat with you and with Rosie at the bar in Lajatico . And Anne, we also looked for you after the concert but like you said, with the crowd of people it was difficult to find anyone by then. It was nice to meet you. I think if we are all there again next year it would be nice to plan an evening or something so we can all spend a bit more time together!

Unfortunately many of my pictures aren't that great either. A lot of them turned out blurry - I think I was just too awestruck the whole time to hold the camera steady!! But I have a few that turned out, and I think I have a nice one of his entrance. I still have to download them.

The language school I was at in Pisa was suppose to have internet access but it didn't and I didn't end up getting to a computer so I've been reading and catching up a bit over the past couple of days! All the pictures and reports from the concert are great. I can't really add much more.

Andrea was absolutely incredible as always! The whole thing was just such a very unique experience. I'll never forget this concert!
There is also one specific moment before the concert started that I will never forget either: we were there a bit early and we were standing on the hill where the food tents were etc, which was a bit higher than the area where the stage was. I can't describe the feeling I had, as I was standing there, hearing the sound checks on the stage below, the anticipation of the concert and of seeing Andrea, gazing out over those amazingly beautiful Tuscan hills, and way down below, what looked like still miles of cars slowly crawling up the long dirt road to arrive for the concert, coming from all over just to see Andrea! It was the most beautiful scene; it felt as thought even the air was electric! It was so wonderful...

And Italy was beautiful! It was the first time I'd been there and I loved it.

And most of all, grazie a te, Andrea per questo concerto, per questa esperienza incrediblile e indimenticabile!

[eleanora]

Hi Jenny - It must have been fantastic to be in Italy for three weeks - I am green with envy (joking of course) seems like you had a wonderful experience a the concert and from the various responses it seems that Canada was well represented from this forum - maybe next year for us. Thank you for sharing that unique experience from before the concert started - as you say now back to reality - welcome

[Rosej]

Hi Jenny-

It was so nice to meet you also when we sat by the bar and chatted. It is nice to put a face to a name on the forum now when we post. I have not had a Cappuchino since the bar. I miss it. Take care

Rose Marie

[LaCavallerizza]

I know, I'm not sure which was worse, having to adjust back to the time difference or to the "coffee" here..hahaha!
I really wanted to go back to Lajatico for an afternoon before I left, I thought I could take my books and find a quite spot to study, but it ended up seeming like it would be a bit difficult to get to and back in one day with the bus.

Hi Eleanora, yes it was great. If you can travel, it's definitely worth the trip!

[Anne]

Hi Jenny,
nice to hear from you again! I`m glad you`ve had a wonderful time in Italy and a safe trip home. As you said the concert was an unforgettable experience, so very special! And I also have had this special moment before the beginning of the concert: Andrea and Sarah Brightman have had a last rehearsal for "Canto della Terra", and I stepped away from the crowd which was waiting for the entrance, and took a view over the Tuscan hills in the sinking sun - incredible!
It was really very nice to meet you and Karen, unfortunately it was no time to talk very much, so next year if there will be a meeting, I`m with you - good idea!

[justlaura]

Hey Jenny!

So nice to meet you, and to see your pal Karen again! I will always think of you two as my "waiting buddies" that evening of the canceled rehearsal. Who knew that Tuscan winds could be so strong (or that Tuscan crowds could get so rambunctious)!

Anyway, it was great to see you both.....!

I want to hear more about the language school in Pisa so I will probably email you privately, unless you think that everyone here would be interested in hearing more about it.

Ciao!

~ Laura

[LaCavallerizza]

Hey Laura!!

It was great to meet you as well!
I mentionned a bit about the shcool in my post on the "where is everyone" thread, but my e-mail is linked to my profile if you want to e-mail me also. I'd by happy to give you and anyone else more information about it. (I must run now as I'm late for work)

Ciao for now!