#maestroonthemove - The Maestro in Malta - Boats, Rehearsal, and a Wedding

Monday began with a having a decent nights sleep and then breakfast in the hotel.   Good way to start the day.  As part of the wedding week, it was an option to go on a boat trip that explored some of the areas and other islands off the main coast of Malta.  The boat - 

A Hornblower Yacht at that - took us off the coast of the mainland of Malta 

We passed by St Paul of the Shipwreck island.   Kinda cool

Random Pics of the sea and rock formations

We made it to “The Blue Lagoon” where we docked and got to swim in the Blue Lagoon.  We were allowed to jump off the boat and even use the slide that was connected with the boat.

I opted not to swim as salt water and I don’t really get along.  So I took a little walk on the island and grabbed a cocktail in a pineapple.  It was a Blue Hawaiian - which I’ve never had before…

It was just OK.   Hard pressed to find any brown liquor in this area.  The hotel bar has Johnny Walker and Jack Daniels.  

We took a side-trip to the island of Gozo.  The boat took us there and we took a bus up to the town part of the island.  

Just picture this, a tour bus on very narrow streets - where people drove on the left and didn’t seem to have any traffic laws - talk about major anxiety.   I’m glad I wasn’t driving the bus.   

We ended walking up to a square where there were artists selling things, people selling Malta merch and there were several restaurants.  We didn’t have too much time, however I got to go into St James Church.  As a rule, churches in Europe are simply the best.  

And even Ben and Jerry’s! 

We got back to the boat and headed back to the mainland

That evening, I had dinner with Megan and Katie, two teachers that used to work at OLA.  Many drinks were consumed, as well as some awesome Sea Bass… I never eat fish, but this was really great. 

The next day (Tuesday) was wedding rehearsal day!  Rehearsal was at the church at 4:30pm and I had these great plans to do some tourist things before rehearsal.  Well, to get the real story about what went on before the rehearsal for the wedding, you’ll have to wait for the memoirs.

The wedding was at St. Gaetan Parish.  This is a google image as the front of the church was being worked on and there was scaffolding everywhere. 

When I got to the church, I went to hunt down the organ.  Now in December, Kathleen sent me this picture

OK - so there are pipes. They look interesting…. So we’ll just have to see.  All pipe organs are different, so I had no idea what to expect.  SO - I get there and the pastor had to find the key and we finally got the organ open.  The first thing I noticed that there were no pedals.  This is what I saw when I opened the organ

1 manual and 6 stops.  Well, the first thing I thought was, “Well, I don’t have to take my Docs off to play as there are no pedals an no volume/shade pedal to deal with.  But what will it sound like?  6 stops can’t be that powerful - after all - I had some pretty triumphant pieces to play.  Well, mostly flutes and maybe one principal stop.  It was quite like a calliope - without the steam.  I’m not sure where the pipes actual where as some of the sounds were coming from the organ console.  I didn’t have time to even see if the pipes were real or for show.  Anyway - it was what it was. 

Pictures of the Church

So, on we went to the rehearsal dinner.  The venue was incredible.  The dinner was held outside. 

Wedding Party

The food was incredible.  I started out with this appetizer salad- thing…. Pretty much all Maltese ingredients including octopus!   It was incredible.  

The rest of the dinner was so good that I didn’t take any pictures. Pork, Meatballs with peas and carrots, swordfish, potatoes, and  ratatouille - not to mention some awesome Maltese desserts.

The next day was the wedding.  In the morning, I had breakfast in the hotel, went back upstairs to begin to pack as I was leaving at 5:00am the next morning.  I took a walk and visited the Barretts and the Phillip’s at their place and hung out for a while.  Then it was time to walk back and get ready for the wedding.  

We were all busses to the church and the reception, so it was important to be on time.   The wedding went well.  Kathleen’s 7 year old niece sang “Ave Maria” by Daniel Kantor and did a great job.  I couldn’t take any pictures as I was a little busy.  I did pen the responsorial psalm for the day - I guess it was OK.  The reception was at the Saluting Battery in Malta.  It was very beautiful.  The food was incredible 

Pictures of the bride and groom - and me with an annoying spot on my shirt 

The OLA Connections

Pictures of the venue

Views from the venue

It was quite the exciting and packed week. 

That’s all for now.

 

#mastroontheMove - Made it to Malta

Flights to Malta were uneventful. First leg from SFO to Muich - 11 hours - 3 movies - almost a 4th - some music, some OK food and some dozing and the next thing you know, we are in Munich.  The next leg from Munich to Malta left about 45 minutes late.  I got bumped up to Business, which is great, but I slept most of the time and there wasn’t anyone in my row.  It was a quick flight - 2 hours - and we were in Malta.  Took a BOLT (like Uber) to my hotel, got unpacked and took a nap.

After the nap, I took a shower and headed downstairs to the Welcome Cocktail Party for Kathleen and Brandon’s wedding - the reason I’m here.  It was a fun get together.  Here are some pictures taken from where the party was held

This reminds of what I think a Greek Island would look like.  In fact - this picture actually looks like part of the set from “Mamma Mia”…. 

There is a full couple of days before the wedding on Wednesday.  Tomorrow, is a boat trip to some of the little islands off the coast of Malta.  

That’s it for the day!   Not sure how often I’ll be blogging, all depends on how much time I have at the end of the day or the beginning of the next.  

Ciao Tutti!

Mattei 

#maestroonthemove - The Maestro Goes to Europe 2022 - 54 Days!

Everyone - 54 days is NOT a long time.  For what? - you may say.  5 weeks in Europe.  Who goes to Europe for 5 weeks??  Well, you go for 5 weeks when you have been asked to attend and play for a wedding on June 15 in Malta and have been asked to spend a week in Paris with your best friends beginning on July 10 and have 25 days to kill between events.  How crazy would it have been to fly back to  California and then fly back.  I'm not sure I could handle that.  

So, what do you do?  You brainstorm about things you love about Europe.  Places you've been to that you'd like to re-visit, new places - but no too many because you don't want to over-stimulate your brain.  So, after some struggle with airlines (I mean, who doesn't struggle with the airlines these days?) and trying to find the best places to stay on a budget, etc.  I have come up with a fantastic plan.  I'm going to Malta, Assisi, Rome, Florence, The Netherlands, London and finally Paris.  All I can say is thank goodness I'm doing shows again!

The wedding is in Malta, Assisi will be new to me, but I'm traveling with people who have been there, I[m heading to Rome for a few days - and have an AirBnB 20 meters from St Peters - I love Rome and can't wait to wander around for a few days, then it's off to Florence - a place I've never been, so that will be fun.  I'm going to fly to Amsterdam and spend some time with family and friends and just hang out for about a week.  I'm going to take the train to London - found a cute budget-friendly hotel in a neighborhood I've never stayed in so I'm excited about that.  I plan to see some shows and maybe to the Harry Potter Studio tour at Warner Brothers, and then take the train to Paris and I'll be there for a week with Raegena and Kris and we have a great week planned - the Louvre, Versailles, and Disney Paris - and whatever mischief we can get into on Bastille Day!   

So, the plans commence.  Still a few major things to take care of this week.  Leo's care is of high importance, and that is coming along well.  He will be very well taken care of.  Probably should make some reservations for the Harry Potter Studio Tour, as well as maybe a few theatre tickets for London - or just use TodayTix when I arrive in London.  Should probably grab the Rick Steves book for Florence as well.  Still need to get a plane ticket from Florence to Amsterdam (tomorrow) and reserve a car to drive from Rome to Assisi (and back).  Let's not mention a show opening on Friday, and another in May and all the end of school activities - and then I leave the day after school gets out.  Adrenaline will certainly play a huge part in the next few weeks.

More a little later....

Mattei  

#maestroonthemove - Just the facts, man, Just the facts

 This day is best broken down by the cold hard facts….

• 7:00am. - Rise of the Resistance Boarding Group obtained thanks to Ella
• 7:30am -  In line for the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios
• 7:45am - Get to Hollywood Studios - Coffee, Starbucks Breakfast Sandwhich
• 9:00am - Gang arrives
• Tower of Terror
• Rockin’ Rollercoaster 
• Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway
• Rise of the Resistance (long wait)
• Toy Story Midway Mania (I beat Amy!!!)
• Lunch at ABC Commissary 
• Smugglers Run (obtained 2 coaxials!)

• Fast walk from Galaxies Edge to the Bus to Animal Kingdom
• Bus ride
• Fast walk  to Expedition Everest (I swear it seemed like a half marathon, besides the bus, we never stopped)
• 2 rides in a row on Expedition Everest 
• Maharaja Jungle Trek

• Bus ride to Magic Kingdom
• Starbucks stop
• Peoplemover
• Carousel of Progress
• Space Mountain (I opted out. It basically bruised me the last time)
• Dumbo
• Seven Dwarves Mine Train
• Mickeys Philharmagic
• Haunted Mansion
• Splash Mountain
• Thanksgiving Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern 
• Pictures in front of the castle at night
• Shopping
• Bus Ride

So now you know

Tomorrow - SHOPPING!

And that’s all I’m saying about THAT.

#mastroonthemove - Rollin’ Down the (Lazy) River

 Today’s blog should be short.  For a few reasons, the first being I’m. BEAT, the second being it was a water park day and what can you say about a water park?  

Well… to answer my own question - you can say quite a lot about a Disney water park.  Blizzard Beach is one of two water parks at WDW.  At the moment, it’s the only one open.  It is themed to snow, as well as everything that goes along with it, such as Christmas.  Part of the soundtrack of the park are Christmas songs.  If you don’t figure that out, you might think that it is odd that they are playing Christmas songs.  Anyway, I got there on time (let it be known that “on time “ means before any action takes place - not before the rest of the gang get there) and I met up with the gang and we had to wait before the area was open.  Of course, shops were open before, when is there never a shop open?  Anyhow, we were let in, we found our area, and the kids immediately wanted to do a slide.  Cool, let’s do slide… but what I neglected to mention was that the slide requires a ride up the mountain in a chair lift, similar to a ski lift.  

Now, as you know, I love the Disney Skyliner - maybe a bit too much - but I hate this chair lift.  I’ve done it before a few times and I just hate it.  Turns out, so did Amy and we rode up together - until it decided to stop a little before we reached the top - and it stopped for a while, not just a second.  We were not amused.  After what seemed like forever, we got to the top and we got off - barely.  They don’t stop the lift when you get off so you have to step off and run for it - or you’ll get bumped in the calves with the chair lift.  Anyway, we made it.  For this slide, it was Amy, Ella, Gavin and myself going on the Teamboat Springs slide.  All of us in one big inner tube type thing. This wasn’t the first time I was on this slide, the first time was with Amy, little Gavin and Little Mason, Sena and my Mom - and half way down Little Mason shouted “Matt, you’re gonna die on this ride” - and to this day, we have never forgotten that moment.  In fact, I tried to get a T-shirt made, but Disney did not approve of the quote.  Whatevs..

Afterward, we jumped in the Lazy River and lazied to our patio.  About 5 minutes into this I noticed that my Magic Band was not on my wrist.  Now, when you visit WDW, you use a Magic Band for almost everything.  It opens your room, it gets you into the parks, it can even pay for stuff if you set it up to do so.  Anyway - it wasn’t on my wrist.  I didn’t panic too much.  No one can really use someone’s Magic Band as it has a PIN for charges and such, and since I don’t have a CC attached to my Magic Band, it wasn’t a big deal.  For me, what was a big deal was it was a limited edition Skyliner Magic Band. 

After that, we went on a slide, which was on top of another hill, this time with stairs.  Yeah - one and done for me!  We got back in the lazy river and lazied to our spot and I went and checked guest relations to see if anyone turned in my Magic Band.  No such luck :-( 

So, the gang went off and did what gangs do and I stayed back and read. When Sena came back, I decided to take another lap in the lazy river.  Maybe I’d find the Magic Band.   So, off I went.  When I got to the part where I thought I may have lost it, I looked around and saw nothing.  So, I lazied on.  I decided to look up at a lifeguard as I passed her, and low and behold, on her chair was my Magic Band.  I said “Excuse, I think that’s is my Magic Band” and she asked what my name was since Magic Bands can be personalized and she turned it around and found it was a limited edition and there was no name so she handed it over and I was off.  Reunited - and it feels so good - at least my arm was complete again.  Turns out, Mason and Amy had seen it also, but wasn’t quite sure it if was mine so they tried to go back and check, but I had been there be they were and had already picked it up.   And that’s alll I’m saying about THAT.

The youngin’s were preparing to go down Summit Plummet -  so we watched them do that, which is very brave and daring of the youngin’s.  We all took another lap around the lazy river - this time in train fashion where we all hooked on to each other’s tubes while Mason pulled us down the river.  Not so lazy this time, but we all laughed the entire time.  

I headed back to my room to clean up and relax a little before dinner.  On the way home on the Disney bus, I started talking to the driver about his job.  Not many people know this, but I’ve always wanted to drive a bus.  In Fact, when I was little, I wanted to be a school Bus Driver.  So I’ve been thinking that when I retire, I could combine my love of Disney and busses and become a bus driver at WDW.  I think it’s something to strive for. 

Dinner was at  Ale and Compass at the Yacht Club resort so I took the Skyliner over.  I sat with a couple from Boston who said that they liked the Giants and wanted to go to Oracle Park one day - the husband also really liked the Skyliner as well.  Anyway, dinner was quite amazing and the food was great and the conversation was stellar.  We laughed as we recapped our day together and sorta planned out our day tomorrow. - which I’m told will be park hopping madness - starting at Hollywood Studios and hopefully on Rise of the Resistance again.  

What a great day - I’m missing my guys though - all three of them- quite a lot,   Early morning tomorrow.  Can’t wait!!

So, now you know! 

#maestroonthemove - Nants ingonyama bagithi baba

Another early morning. Animal Kingdom by 7:30am. I got up kinda late and skipped the protein shake, but I ate the banana, and got dressed and headed out for get the LYFT to Animal Kingdom.  I check out the bus line first, and as suspected, it was the longest one, so LYFT it was.  The LYFT driver was nice and his music was good, his windows were open and the ride was quick.  He got a nice tip.  I arrived at Animal Kingdom (DAK) before the rest of the gang, so I grabbed an iced coffee and waited under a tree.  When everyone got there, we got in the park and headed over to Pandora.

Pandora?  In DAK?  What does Avatar and the world of Pandora have to do with Disney? I mean really… does anyone even remember the first Avatar movie?  (2009 if you need to know when it actually came out) Yeah. I didn’t think so - and then there was the promise of 2 sequels.  I just checked the Google on the date of the first movie and when I typed in “Avatar” the google came up with Avatar 2  as one of the suggestions - so maybe there will be a second one?  Anyway, Disney shuck a deal with James Cameron and now we have the land of Pandora.  Besides the amazing theming and such, there are 2 attractions.  The Navi River Journey and Flight of Passage.  The Navi River Journey is a slow moving dark ride set on a river, much like It’s a Small World - but darker and shorter.  The main theme (HERE) and hopefully that link works - reminds me of the song “Diamond Girl”by Seals and Crofts (HERE) and hopefully that link works if you don’t know what I’m talking. About.  The ride. Does have a really cool animatronic towards the end.  There are several ride-through videos on the YouTube if anyone cares to looks.

The next ride in Pandora is Flight of Passage.  FOP - as the fans refer to it as - is a simulator ride.  You’re basically sitting of a Banshee that you have been “paired” with and you fly through the land of …. Can’t remember the name…. And it’s really fun - you wear 3-D glasses and there are some gimmicks, etc, and it’s pretty intense.  Once again, quite the technological feat by Disney. Disney has been on a simulator kick, as well as a trackless ride system kick and an interactive kick.  Many kicks…. But I think we all want something a little more Classic Disney - kinda like Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway - even though it uses a trackless system, it’s still heavily Disney and not Star Wars or Avatar (still trying to figure out WHY on that one in the first place)….  Anyway - we ended up on this 2 times.

We walked around Animal Kingdom and checked out the Otters, and that’s all I’m saying about THAT.  Next we went on “It’s Tough To Be a Bug” - one of my least favorite 3-D attractions ever created - except maybe Shrek at the U-park.  It’s just creepy.  But I took one for the team and went on and it was as disturbing as it was the last time I went on it.  

Next was Rafiki’s Plant Watch, which is basically a “hands on” petting zoo and some inter-workings of how the animals are taken care of at DAK.  Speaking of animals - we went on the Safari attraction and saw a LOT of animals.  Our guide was very good.  I took pictures and hopefully will it them all in a video.  

Kali River Rapids followed - the worlds shortest river rafting expedition.  Grizzly River Run at DCA puts this attraction to shame x100. Expedition Everest followed which is always a great exhilarating rollercoaster.  We would have done it a second time, but the rain kept it closed in the afternoon.  

Speaking of rain - yes - it rained.  After lunch and after we went on Dinosaur. - which is the same type of ride as Indiana Jones in Disneyland, but in this case you are going back in time trying to bring back an Iguana-Don dinosaur for research - it started to rain.

So, there was some walking, sheltering, more walking, shopping, etc and then the gang decided we would park hop to the Magic Kingdom.  Which we took a bus and hopped.  The gang wanted to do the big ones again - Space, Splash, Mansion, Pirates, etc…. which after an iced coffee, we did.  And what fun we had.  I was pretty beat up after Space Mountain, though - it was very fast and very bumpy.  I may feel muscles I didn’t know I had tomorrow - but it was so much fun.  Splash Mountain is always my favorite and I was glad to get to do it a second time on this trip.  Maybe even a third???  Who knows….   We bussed over to the Yacht and Beach Club for dinner at Cape May Restaurant.  Cape May is usually a Buffett, but because of COVID, it’s now a family style meal which they bring to your table and it’s all you can eat.  We had a good time and I can safely say that the spell has been broken and no one spilled anything at dinner.  The past 3 sit-down dinners, someone has spilled something - including me.  Hopefully the spell is broken. 

Tomorrow is a Blizzard Beach day (water park) which I intend to sleep late and get to the park, and just sit in the lazy river all day.  However, I think the gang wants to head back to Magic Kingdom at some point tomorrow as well.  So, we’ll see how things go.

Another great day - 

So, now you know!  

#maestroonthemove - Here Comes the Rain Again

Today started a little later than the last few days as it was an EPCOT day and EPCOT opened at 11:00am so there was no real reason to get up at the crack of dawn.  So, I tried not to, but I was wide awake a little after 6:00am, so I just laid there for a while.  I finally got up, got cleaned up and made my protein shake and drank it SLOWLY as to kill more time.  I read a little, watched some stupid TV and finally left at about 9:30am.  The plan was to meet the gang at 10:00am or so at the Skyliner station near EPCOT.  When I got to the Skyliner station, I find out that the EPCOT line is down and I’d have take a bus.  So, I headed to the bus stop and hoped that the line wasn’t long.  The line wasn’t bad and I got on a bus pretty quickly.  I noticed on the bus that the standing handles were no longer tied up to the pole and not useable, but were hanging normally ready to be used.  Yesterday, we were limited to the number of seats on the bus, now there can be standing in the aisle.  Speaking of which, today was the first day where masks were not required anywhere except Disney Transportation.  It really was no big deal.  I never felt packed into an area where i felt uneasy, people were pretty good at practicing social distancing - which they should ALWAYS do going forward.  Many people, mostly tweens, wore masks in the park, but everyone seemed to be on board with the new policies.  It certainly made ride photos better!

Anyway, got to EPCOT before “rope drop” and connected with everyone else and arranged to meet as soon as we could near Test Track.  We met up and found Test Track had a “delayed” opening so the kids and I went on Mission Space - the Orange side.  The spinning side… the story of the ride is that you are on a mission to Mars and this is the training mission.  You are placed in a small simulator and are talked through a launch and then flying through space. Think i about the Gravitron at the county fair and amp the entire thing up 50x while watching a video.  It’s some intense spinning, but it’s fun.  I’ve been the the Orange and the Green side as well - the Green side doesn’t spin.  I like them both.  However, it definitely a “one and done”on each visit. 

We got on Test Track after Mission Space.  It’s the forerunner of the Radiator Springs Racers Attraction at Disney California Adventure,  Same ride system, etc.  Test Track goes really fast, but I like Radiator Springs Racers better.  Afterward, we headed t the Seas with Nemo and Friends - which is basically the submarine voyage at Disneyland without the submarine and with real fish as well.  That’s always a good time.  

Spaceship Earth was yet, the ride that is housed in the EPCOT Geodesic Sphere icon- it’s NOT A BALL - and that’s all I’m saying about THAT!!!  Anyway, I think we were lucky to be able to go on this attraction before it will be closed and re-imagined in the near future.  It was suppose to go down last year - but because of COVID, it is being delayed and in the meantime, we get the current attraction -which is narrated by Dame Judi Dench.  

Heading on the World Showcase, the afternoon got crazy.  Staring in Mexico, we popped into. the pyramid, but it was really crowded and we didn’t stay long.  When we got to Norway, the ponchos came out and by the time we got to China, it started to rain.  Now, it always rains everyday in Florida for at least 1/2 hour a day- but today - it never really stopped.  We ducked into the American Adventure Pavilion for lunch at the Regal Eagle Smokehouse.  It was an OK lunch, but it got us out of the rain.  The rain subsided and we headed back to Norway to ride “Frozen Ever After” - which we find out is down - and it starts to rain again - HARD.  So, what do you do when it rains hard?  You go back to the Italy Pavilion for gelato, which we ate huddled in a doorway to a store in the Italy pavilion.

We walked through the major store in Japan and while it wasn’t really raining when we went in, it was pouring again when we came out.  We ended up walking back to the Yacht Club - and it stopped raining - and we took a bus to Disney Springs shopping district to kill some time before dinner.  We walked around, found the Disney Store very overwhelming and then hopped on the bus to Old Key West Resort where we had dinner reservations at Olivia’s Cafe.  Dinner was fantastic.  The food was fabulous and the company was stellar.  I had some delicious prime rib and a cocktail and we had such a great time.  We decided to take the bus back to EPCOT to go on Frozen Ever After - which we did - and after, I strolled around the promenade while the rest of the gang went back to the hotel.  On the way out, I may have geeked out and spend a little too much $$ on Skyliner merch.  Gotta have a “thing” I guess!  I got on the Skyliner, with a very noisy family - with a very opinionated and loud male person.  I’ll just let that go - the wife apologized to me as they exited at the Riviera Resort.  Made for a great side show.  

Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom - meeting at 7;30am and will be on time!!!