Concerto del Duo Nuance

A few months ago Les started playing guitar and bass in the praise band at the chapel on base. The base employs two Italian professional musicians to play with the praise band. Eleonora Trobia, the pianist, and I were talking one day and she mentioned that she plays in a group called Duo Nuance with guitarist Sergio Giuffrida. I asked her when their next performance was and I was told 9:00P in Scoglitti on August 31.

So, last night Les & I did our best to use Google Maps and Eleonora's directions to find our way there. Just a few wrong turns and about 2 hours later we reached Scoglitti, a small beach town in the Ragusa province. It is not far from where we live, but mostly just two-lane, curvy roads to get there.

Once we arrived we decided to find an ATM and some dinner. Les was adamant that he would like something other than Italian food. We happened on a restaurant whose sign said "specialita couscous" and decided to give it a try. It was about 8:00P, just the start of dinnertime in Italy, and we were the first customers of the evening. I realized that we were in for a pricey meal when they didn't have a menu, you go up to the fish display and pick out which fresh fish you'd like. We decided on a fillet of grilled Swordfish each, some prawns, and a caprese salad for antipasti. I opted out of wine for the evening because they had the most expensive wine list I've seen in Italy thus far...and no vino della casa. 50Euro later we were full and anxious to be on our way. It was a few minutes after 9:00P and we were running late for the concert...or so we thought.

The concert was held at Largo Camarina, a parking lot next to the beach. We arrived as they were doing sound checks and tuning. We took a seat and mentioned that it was a good thing we decided to come. There were only a couple of other people there. We waited and waited...more people arrived..waited more...and finally about 10:15P the concert started. By then almost all of the seats were full! Old people, young people, families with small kids...I never ceased to be amazed at how late Italians stay up! I guess it has something to do with sleeping all afternoon for riposo.

Anyhow, the concert was very enjoyable. A mix of classical and South American music. Sergio Giuffrida has a few sound clips on his website if you want to get an idea of what we listened to.

Once the concert ended we were exhausted..and still had about 2 hours drive to get home. We debated trying to find a hotel room and just stay the night but opted for an espresso and a gelato and sleeping in our own bed. We took a different route home, through Gela, and made it in a mere hour and a half.

We finally fell into bed at about 1:30A. I think I was out the moment my head hit the pillow. I remember, not too long ago, when staying up past midnight was the most natural thing in the world. No so anymore. We were exhausted. I think that means we are getting old. All things considered it was a great evening and a fun way to get a bit further into Sicilia's culture.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Sicily's "lovely" weather. Right next to the water at 11:15P it was still 80F and humid...