2 FESTIVALS
TOUR FOR MBSI MEMBERS TO
ITALY AND ROMANIA
ITINERARY
Following the conclusion of our MBSI Annual Meeting in St. Paul, we will be transferred to MSP International for our transatlantic flight. Dinner, drinks and entertainment (movie or music) aboard our jumbo jet. The tour members not participating in the Annual Meeting, will fly directly to Rome; a separate transfer will be arranged for them.
Breakfast will be served aboard, before touchdown. Upon arrival to Fiumicino, the international airport of Rome, we are transferred to our downtown hotel where everyone has been pre-registered. Time to relax and freshen up – have a beer or a glass of Chianti on the terrace, lunch in the restaurant or just go upstairs, draw the curtains and take a nap Traditional Welcome Dinner - meet the other tour members and Nick Lerescu, your Tour Director.
Following breakfast at the hotel, experience St Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the Christian world, built over the tomb of St. Peter. Proceed to Piazza Venezia, the great Roman Forum, with a stop at Colosseum, a testament to Rome’s great past. View the Arch of Constantine, Circus Maximus, the synagogue and Castel Sant’Angelo and so much more. We are also planning a stop at the Museum of Mechanical Music in Rome
Following breakfast at the hotel we proceed North, thru the wine region into Tuscany, where we stop for lunch. Continue to San Marino, one of the smallest republics in Europe and then to Cesenatico, on the Adriatic Coast. This is our residence for the duration of the Italian festival; we have been pre-registered at a 3 star hotel. A delicious dinner will cap this long day
Following breakfast at the hotel we proceed to Savio and to Marini Museum of Mechanical Music for an in-depth visit and demonstration of the instruments. In the afternoon we plan a visit to Cesena to see the C Racca mechanical music collection of “Piano Melodico”. Meet Franco Severi, head of the Italian Association for mechanical Music http://www.ammi-italia.com Upon conclusion we return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
Morning transfer to Ravenna, former capital of the Western Byzantine Empire. Guided tour of this beautifully preserved city, housing the best mosaic in the world – the Mausoleum of Theodoric, San Vitale and Galla Placidia
In the afternoon, proceed to Longiano for a guided visit of the Period Disc Museum, http://www.museodeldiscodepoca.com documenting the evolution of the recorded sound, from the wax cylinder to the newest technologies.
Accompanied by the festival musicians, we walk to “Le Felloniche” a typical tavern, for dinner followed by entertainment and dancing.
Following breakfast at the hotel, proceed to petrella Theater for a presentation about “Giovanni Pascoli and his pianomelodico”. Following the presentation we walk to the Turchi Oil Mill, an old farm well-known for its extra-virgin olive oil. Guided tour of the farm, followed by oil tasting! Our lunch will take place at Locanda di Luna, right on the farm –fish, caught and brought in this morning. http://www.turchifarm.com/home.htm
Return to Longiano for the official opening of the Festival. There will be music and other artistic manifestations on the village streets in the evening. Our dinner will take place right in the streets, at some of the gastronomical stands (one can’t eat badly in Italy, no matter where you are!). Late return to the hotel
Morning Holy Mass in the Crucifisso (Crucifix) Sanctuary with the Barbery Organ and choir. Also, during this morning there will also be a Mart-type exchange and you will have a choice of either one of the two activities or both. In the late morning we gather in the Petrella Theater for the 3rd International Composition Contest; attend the awarding of the prizes.
Group lunch at the restaurant Delle Colline. The Festival activities resume with street players and other mechanical music activities on the streets of Longiano. Our dinner will be served at “Il Settacio” in town.
Breakfast at the hotel followed by transfer to Rome International for your East European Adventure. Arrive in Bucharest, capital city of Romania, a most recent member of the European Union. Nick Lerescu, your Tour Director, was born and raised in Bucharest, prior to immigrating to the USA in 1976. Upon arrival to Otopeni International, we are transferred to our downtown hotel where everyone has been pre-registered. Dinner at the hotel or a nearby restaurant
Morning tour of the city called “Little Paris”– view University Square, Romanian Athenaeum, Patriarchal Church, the Parliament, the second largest building in the world after the pentagon, Palace of Justice, the Arch of Triumph and more. Guided visit of the Technical Museum with its section of mechanical music. Although Bucharest is the largest city, there are more interesting sites ahead of us. Afternoon departure to Ploiesti, our first stop to visit the Clock Museum http://www.cimec.ro/Muzee/ceasuri/ceas_eng.htm . Continue to Sinaia, in the Carpathian Mountains. Visit famed Peles Castle, a medieval gem housing a Welte # 7 Orchestrion, unique in the world http://images.google.com/images?q=peles+castle&num=20&hl=en&hs=Ilw&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title . Continue to Brasov, gateway to Transylvania, the legendary country in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains. You are now in Dracula country where truth mixes with legend about the Romanian Prince named Vlad (not Blood!!) the Impaler. Arrive at our centrally located hotel where everyone has been pre-registered. Dinner with wine and floor show at “Cerbul Carpatin” a famed restaurant
Following a brief orientation tour of Brasov, to admire the Black Church and other sites, we proceed to Bran, also known as Dracula’s Castle. http://www.draculascastle.com Visit this medieval castle where Dracula himself was a prisoner for several years. Following the same route traveled by 15 C merchants, we continue to Sighisoara, a medieval city settled by the Saxons, presently under UNESCO protection for architectural heritage. Here we visit the Old Town, enjoy a panoramic view from its Clock Tower, several Guild Towers, Dracula’s house, the Wooden Covered Staircase, etc. http://www.welcometoromania.ro/Sighisoara/Sighisoara_Obiective_e.htm Afternoon departure to Tg. Mures and our hotel. Tg, Mures is the place where (according to our Frank Metzger) Joseph Nagy, the inventor of the musical tooth worked and created music boxes. Dinner and overnight at the Continental Hotel or similar.
Brief tour of the city, taking in the Palace of Culture, emblematic of the city with its majolica made roof. Today you will travel back in time, witnessing sights, found nowhere else in Europe. The movie “Cold Mountain” was filmed here because of this unique landscape. Our first stop in our drive through the villages and forests covered mountains is Corund, for unique souvenirs, among them garlic and a crucifix J to protect you from the Count; travel past Bistrita, another Saxon medieval town, on our way to Tihuta (known as Borgo Pass in Bram Stocker’s Dracula). http://nfo.edu/family/borgo.htm Afternoon visit another region under UNESCO patrimony – the outside painted Moldavian Monasteries http://www.geocities.com/paintedchurches
Voronet Monastery, also known as the Sixtine Chapel of the East, still holds the secret of the vibrant and ever changing “Voronets Blue”. Continue to Moldovita, another painted monastery holder of the coveted “Le Pomme d’Or” award, before we arrive in Suceava at our Hotel Arcasul or similar.
Following breakfast we travel to Iasi, former capital of Moldavia and our residence during the Festival. http://www.travel-images.com/romania.html Arrive in Iasi in the early afternoon, where we check-in at the Hotel Traian (designed by Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty fame). Time to relax and freshen-up. Tonight we partake in the unofficial opening of the Festival and attend a concert given by the young musicians of the Conservatory of Iasi
After breakfast we walk to the impressive Palace of Culture for the official Opening of the 4th Festival of Mechanical Music organized by the Stefan Procopiu Museum for Sound Recording and Playback. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ia%C5%9Fi The director of the museum, Mrs. Lenuta Chirita, a member of MBSI will open the ceremonies. You may wish to attend the presentations, held in Romanian and English or partake in any of the festival activities in town: there will be an antique market on Lapusneanu Street, street shows, mimes, street theater, etc. The program, including the presentations, the participants, the performances and the other activities are being finalized. Based on the past 3 festivals, they expect approx 30 foreign participants and performers – Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, as well as many local music box aficionados.
Guided by Lenuta Chirita, we visit “St Procopiu Museum Sound Recording and Playback” Museum housing 400 instruments from the 14th to the 21st Century – organs, cylinder boxes, musical clocks, Eroica Symphonion, Hupfeld Phonoliszt, Edisoniana, etc.
http://www.cimec.ro/muzee/procopiu/scurt_istoric.htm
http://www.cimec.ro/muzee/procopiu/sunetului.htm
Following breakfast at the hotel, we participate in the official closing of the Festival. Activities to be advised. Afternoon transfer to Bucharest and our hotel.
Our traditional Farewell Dinner with unlimited wine will cap this European adventure
Transfer to Otopeni International for our flight to Rome. Connect to the transatlantic flight, arriving Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, or any of the other destinations in the USA the same day in the afternoon.