we woke as early as we could... 10am... and drove down to the riveside, taking badoo the dog with us. the river is mostly riverbed; a small stream that moves around a large old riverbed of limestone and marble. the cliffs up above us show the the ripples and the layers that compose the appennines. the sun is shining so bright and we wish we had time to go for a swim at the the waterfall that is a little ways further up the valley. but we have to pack and leave castel corneglio, make our way to vianino for lunch and coffee, and then drive into parma. the mountains fade into prairies like waves on a sandy beach, it is a slow but inevitable exit from the steep green mountains that seem to sing their history to us.

in parma we meet marco, our host for the night in bologna. he and lorenzo got us the show at modo, a bookstore and bar in the hip university district of old bologna.

we were all four of us packed into marco's polo... there was just enough room for us in this vw hatchback. we had a relaxing and windy and warm drive south, taking about films and dreams and montreal and concerts to be had.

after a brief stop at marco's apartment, we strolled downtown, along with a crew of friends that had arrived in town to see a band from san fran.

we arrived at modo, and met andrea the owner. we did a quick sound check and then got some beers and amazing dips for bread and sat on the sidewalk terrace on the arced and arched street. it was a happening spot, everyone was friendly and had many friends...

our show was around an hour long, in the back of the bookstore which adjoins the bar. everyone listened attentively and we had a good rotation of audience. actually the first person sitting down was a 3 month old, who listened with wide eyes as we tuned and started to sing. his mom was nearby with as big a smile.

aliza and i were already finding a good rhythm and communication in our playing, the set went really smoothly. andrea also recorded the whole show and kindly gave us cd of it after. pretty neat.

we soon gathered together a crew and went to the "osteria dell ourse", which is this great traditional pasta bar with big benches and also a whole basement filled with pasta loving locals and tourists. we had some quality food and a great sparkling wine, and great convo with new friends. one of them, michele, invited us to play a show in verona on thursday. we gratefully accepted, as we had the day off and it is great to have more shows and stories to add to this tour.

after this we had a relaxing walk home with marco, as he told us the history of the city and the area. there are so many stories in every stone and every window, all these places have been sculpted by memories just like the stones have been sculpted by the hands of the past...