tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post5134346055658930743..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: The Bologna ExperienceBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-49219724086592518842017-05-24T06:05:40.338-05:002017-05-24T06:05:40.338-05:00Thanks so much, Ricardo! I found the link you sent...Thanks so much, Ricardo! I found the link you sent reminded me of lots of people and voyages I had nearly forgotten. Yes, the Portuguese were very important. I suspect we underrate the global reach of the Dutch as well...Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-19826013353324561842017-05-24T05:10:21.425-05:002017-05-24T05:10:21.425-05:00Hi Brian,
When you mention "One has only to r...Hi Brian,<br />When you mention "One has only to realize that Spain was the first global empire with many jealous European rivals to understand the source and motivation"... ahem, actually it was Portugal. :o)<br />http://www.historytoday.com/roger-crowley/first-global-empire<br /><br />Always a pleasure reading your posts.<br /><br />Ricardo. Lisbon|PortugalRicardo Quintasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-7045799739797893162017-05-21T02:25:49.937-05:002017-05-21T02:25:49.937-05:00You are very welcome! When people comment on my po...You are very welcome! When people comment on my posts, that is what makes it worth while.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-68094695952211892572017-05-20T13:06:31.453-05:002017-05-20T13:06:31.453-05:00Thanks for your ongoing traveler's impressions...Thanks for your ongoing traveler's impressions. They are fun, the only vacation I can afford right now, and happily infused with the perspective of a serious musician with a sense of history.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-42571014394354411552017-05-19T12:48:21.625-05:002017-05-19T12:48:21.625-05:00I'm sure you know how I rely on my commentator...I'm sure you know how I rely on my commentators to correct me when I go astray! I have spent several weeks in Italy, playing concerts, but it was many years ago. I had left with a fine impression of Italy, so I was surprised at how many things in Bologna I found disappointing. So yes, I really should not base too much on one experience.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-68573296361439693632017-05-19T11:31:03.952-05:002017-05-19T11:31:03.952-05:00Naturally I'll not contest your impressions of...Naturally I'll not contest your impressions of Bologna -- which I have "visited" only briefly, from the window of a train, in the middle of the night -- but it pains me to hear that you'd disdain to visit Italy again! Don't give up on <i>il bel paese</i> so easily. <br /><br />Spain is lovely, of course, and I've enjoyed myself in Galicia, Barcelona, Madrid, and Sevilla, but for history, art, and religion there's nowhere like Italy to dazzle, delight, and instruct.<br /><br />I've been very much enjoying these posts on your travels. Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-29937213237907587022017-05-18T15:57:28.321-05:002017-05-18T15:57:28.321-05:00That's what they're called: earbuds! At ho...That's what they're called: earbuds! At home I have a really nice set of headphones from AKG but I almost never use them. I don't like the feel on my ears, except for brief periods.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-70774140226701945312017-05-18T14:11:04.004-05:002017-05-18T14:11:04.004-05:00Bought headphones not all that long ago, early thi...Bought headphones not all that long ago, early this year perhaps, to replace the use of earbuds; the sound quality is superior to the buds I have but I can't stand to wear them for very long at a time unless I really am sitting still-- the physical feel of them over my ears and head becomes obnoxious-- and even then after twenty minutes I'm done so they've been relegated to the back of the closet where the cassette player and VCR are entombed. Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-73278271977897403432017-05-18T12:33:51.673-05:002017-05-18T12:33:51.673-05:00Too bad you haven't been there; it would have ...Too bad you haven't been there; it would have been interesting to compare notes.<br /><br />I don't want to come down too heavy on Ryanair. It was my first experience with them and they are a highly efficient budget airline. Everything is very organized. You can actually print out your boarding pass a week ahead. But, yes, there are no complimentary beverages or snacks or anything. You want it, you pay for it. And they are constantly flogging their merchandise.<br /><br />I very rarely listen to anything on headphones--not sure why, I just don't really like it. And I didn't have my earpods with me!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-34449337048445661162017-05-18T09:40:36.912-05:002017-05-18T09:40:36.912-05:00I 'know' Bologna only through a cop show t...I 'know' Bologna only through a cop show television series set there, in the early 00s, I believe. But in a country where tax avoidance and evasion is the second national sport one has to make certain adjustments of one's expectations of civic/public behavior, particularly when one comes from the awful Anglo-Saxon regions, ha. And now that in so many places in Italy the importance of holy religion is increasingly diminished there is even less thought for public virtue than there was in, say, 1960. <br /><br />Your Ryanair flight sounds truly awful! Did you travel with your iPod and headphones? Marc in Eugenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04331547981498637474noreply@blogger.com