It’s all worth it

so i did what i said i would do
i started the day with gelato.
chocolate, pistachio and cinnamon.
criminally good and creamy at bianco latte.

i believe that this is a
sure way to stay happy.
in the olden days,
i would start the day with a spliff
but now i simply have the
occasional morning gelato

even though gelato is not
exactly THE healthiest thing,
for me, it’s a lot healthier than weed,
and i never begin to believe
that everyone is out to kill me
after a gelato.

i am listening to yoke ono songs
on this trip to umbertide
i am remixing a track for an album
and i have to choose one.
at this point, i think it will be
“loneliness”.
she sings about how loneliness
is the one thing she cannot handle.
i can relate.

yoko is someone i see frequently in NYC.
she’s around. she’s present.
she takes advantage of the city.
i am always floored that she looks
so damned good.
certainly, when you start with good genes,
it’s more likely that you’ll look better longer
but she really looks amazing
and can pull off outfits most 20 year olds couldn’t.

she’s chic. no doubt about it.
and she’s a survivor.
i tip my hat to that woman,
wherever she is right now.

and now……….
umbertide! piazza san francesco

this is the view from the stage
NOT BAD!!!!!!
and what’s better is that
the show went splendidly
the crowd was fantastic

really, how could you have
a bad show at this location?

we were told that alessio
would bring us to the hotel
after the show
but what we didn’t know
is that we were to arrive
at the most astounding place
i have ever seen

we started driving
and we just kept driving
up and up and up and up
and the air got cooler
and fresher and purer
and we began to pass
olive groves and then
onto a dirt road and then
we arrive at alessio and
valeria’s compound.

this place is zion
now i know it exists.
apparently this palace
was recently a ruin
but alessio seems to be a
restoration genius.

stone walls, arched doorways,
outside stairs winding around
to whole other wings of the “house”
(it’s really a mansion or an italian chateau)
there are exposed wooden beams everywhere
they have olive trees, fig trees, a pool,
a vegetable garden, an herb garden,
an outdoor BBQ, a kiln to make tiles,
stables with horses, chickens, 2 massive dogs,
an aqueduct AND A RECORDING STUDIO(!?!)

i honestly considered that
i must be dreaming.

and THEN we ate!
i forgot i was hungry
after seeing this place

valeria made us the best meal
we have had on this tour by far
plus the very best tiramisu
i have ever tasted.
afterwards i felt like i was tripping.

i am already trying to work out
how to make an album here.
i would be an idiot not to.
but then again,
i wonder if i’d get anything done.

as i was having dinner
i was thinking
THIS
is what music gets me

all the endless traveling
the countless hours in the studio
the limitless exhaustion
the missing home

it’s all worth it
when i get to experience
a place like this

ITALY! I LOVE YOU!