May 21–Free time in the morning and early afternoon included shopping in the market and numerous stores, and visits to a few museums and churches. We departed at 2pm for Lucca, the birthplace of opera composer Giacomo Puccini.  Upon arrival, we met Claudia, member of the Corale Giacomo Puccini who gave us a brief tour of the city. We saw Puccini’s house, ate some yummy pizza and cecina, a chickpea pizza, at Pizzeria da Felica, and sampled some amazing gelato at Gelateria Veneta.
After a sunshiny afternoon in Lucca, we depart for Camigliano, where we rehearsed and then had a joint concert with Corale G. Puccini. The concert scheduled to start at 9pm didn’t actually start till almost 9:20pm. The Corale sang about six songs and finished performing at approximately 9:50pm. The Chamber Choir started singing shortly thereafter and the concert ended at almost 11pm. The church was packed with an audience of choral music lovers. They were so appreciative of the high-quality musicianship of the Chamber Choir. Of all the choirs they hosted, they said that we were the best! Following the concert, we adjourned to a fabulous reception with home foods, including pasta, bean, cheeses, meats, dolci and, of course, wine and prosecco. There was more singing and exchanging of appreciation for each other’s choirs; we made some new friends. The evening finally came to a close after midnight. Well-fed and happy, we boarded our bus and heading back to Florence; it was a wonderful way to end out trip in Italy!