To revive band spirits after our arrival, we went into town with Laurie by motor for an overview of the town. To quote Pat, we "looped the hood", had a couple of cappuccini in two different establishments, and watched our stage being built for Tuesday.
KC toured with Roxy Music in 1982, but the Rome date was cancelled: the stage hadn't been built in time (several months prior notice wasn't quite enough time to get this together) and by 18.00 the gig was formally cancelled. This created traffic blockages in central Rome which made front pages the next day. When Pat asked "Why are they building the stage on a Sunday?" my answer was waiting: "So it'll be ready for Wednesday".
Sunday evening we all went out for dinner together. This is the good side of working in Italy (and the bad sides are another story): the food is great. We visited the crew hotel afterwards: it's much better than ours, with a pool, and equidistant from the town centre in the other direction. It also has one less star than ours: we are 4 star & claimed as "the best in town", apparently. I feel no arising sense of gratitude or well-being on receipt of this information.
At lunchtime, after two failed attempts to call England and speak to my much-missed Little Horse, I set off for last night's establishment and very much enjoyed lunch (or for me, breakfast). For my reading I chose "In Search Of The Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky in a 1950 hardback second impression by RKP which I bought at the same time as "Buddha-Christ" in Glasgow with Toyah. It has a letter stuck into the fly-leaf, which holds its own interest, and various parts of the text are highlighted. I read this book many years ago. For many people it was their introduction to Mr. Gurdjieff, although not for me.
Back at the hotel, practising guitar.
23.32
Another wonderful dinner for Laurie & the Team at the Ristorante al Salisa. A blast of delight in a hard world.
Practical advice: when life is hard, when your spirits are low, have the best meal that you can afford.
"Good habit is necessary, bad habit is inevitable."
