In the last three days we’ve made it through 8 hours of studio rehearsal in Milan and a 12 hour drive yesterday down to Lecce, which is right in the south of Italy.  Are we ready to go?  Mmm, I hope so.  We are in an incredible studio and feeling very inspired, if not well rehearsed.  Last night we arrived at about 9pm and went out for a pizza.  Stefano’s car ran out of petrol, but luckily in the south here there are never any problems that can’t be solved: people are very friendly.  Here are some pictures of Campi, which is about 15km from Lecce.

There is so much history here, with the city of Lecce dating back over 2,000 years, and the region is full of Baroque architecture.

My brain is in a bit of a Salento red wine fog from last night so please excuse my lack of ability this morning.  We’re sleeping in a super little wooden cabin outside by the pool.

It’s a very nice place to wake up in the morning.  No sun today but not soooo cold.

It is very flat in this area.  This is my third visit; last time I was here was on the way back from Sicily in August 2009.  It was 42 degrees and hot hot hot.  I could have done with the pool then, on this visit it’s not going to get a jump in.

 

This is a photo of the studio taken from their website: http://www.sudestudio.com/

It’s very impressive.  The recording room is enormous.  Today we are setting up; it takes a long time to get everything ready to record so I have plenty of time on my hands.  In fact, in the hanging around studio time and driving time we have just had I made a new pair of black fingerless gloves for Pete.  However, when both he and Dimi tried them on in the car it was clear that they were Dimi’s rather than Pete’s because they fit him perfectly.  So Dimi has warm hands, and I am pleased, and Pete less so.  I have a big bag full of wool to keep me occupied while I’m waiting, but perhaps I ought to go and help, or finish the lyrics.