Padova, Italy 12 July 2013

The Villa Contarini in Padova was commissioned by Paolo Contarini and his brothers with construction beginning in 1546 and sits in the Piazzola sul Brenta.  Padova is about 40k/25m west of Venice in northern Italy.

Thumbing through our itinerary yesterday I noticed the remaining 16 gigs of the tour are all outdoors, the exception being an indoor bullring.  Most of these shows have late starts as Italy and Spain traditionally commence their evenings much later than other parts of Europe.  Tonight's show did not begin until 9:30.

We arrived at the Villa at 5 in the afternoon, the backstage area a combination of indoor and outdoor lounges, all comfortable enough but a very long time to hang out before the show itself.  More than enough hours to do the following: wander, drink coffee/tea/water, eat, sleep, practice, read, e-mail.  Repeat.  Several times.

When we finally got to the stage it was a beautiful night, the heat of the day gently cooled down and an orange fingernail moon slowly rising in front of us.  It was a seated audience in the Piazzola of 7,800 plus our stand-up band of 8.  Terrifying if you think about, 8 of us facing all those people, so we don't think about it... just go out there and have a great time every time.  The outdoor shows are always fun and relaxed, tonight being no different.

It had been a long day already before we did a 45 minute runner back to the Venice's Marco Polo Airport for an hour flight to Rome.  Liz had barbecued ribs and salad for dinner.  Venice's is not quite the same b.b.q. that they have in Memphis, Tennessee but tasted great and how can you say no to a rib and a couple of g&t's?  It was nearly 2 in the morning when we landed in Roma and closing in on 3 by the time we hit the hotel.  Sleep.

So long,

Richard