Bach in Pisa Cathedral

A glorious way to end the week. It doesn't get much better than this - Bach's Mass in B Minor, sung by the Monteverdi choir, conducted by John Eliot Gardner.  This is the Anima Mundi Festival in Pisa, and we had to queue for hours to get the tickets!  But at least they were free, so we didn't mind. That's me in glasses at the bottom left.  Notice the Italian queue which is about thirty people wide!

When we arrived, musicians were playing up on the Leaning Tower - lovely strains of Bach and Vivaldi floating out over the lawns.

The floodlit Duomo is quite awe-inspiring at night.

Inside, it was utterly beautiful - every corner lit for us to look at without having to pay the big ticket fees tourists have to buy.

And the choir and baroque musicians got a standing ovation at the end that lasted for 15 minutes.

Today, I'm back at Capezzano Monte after the end of the creative writing retreat, watching the thunder and lightning outside the windows.  The rain is torrential.  A good excuse to curl up with a book or catch up on all the emails I haven't answered this week!