Amici della Strada--or--Friends from the Road

I think this may have been the most wonderful handful of days in the past 2.5 years of touring with Barrage...and though I'm prone to exaggeration and hyperbole, I don't intend that statement as such. But, really, this handful of days was what it was because of the fact that this is our 3rd time to Aosta, Italy.

Touring with Barrage is an exercise in rapidly experiencing the arc of a great friendship. Imagine, if you will, the last time you met someone for the first time and you just hit it off right away: great conversation, great laughs, great times. Given normal life circumstances, you might very well become good friends with that person, especially if you and said person live in the same city. Now, imagine that when that conversation came to a close, you knew odds were strong you'd never see that person again (and not because you actively chose to not see them). That is so often what life is like on the road. We go to these amazing places, meet amazingly wonderful people, and then say goodbye, without a clue as to whether or not our paths will ever cross again. We frequently leave venues, parties, etc., and say to ourselves things like, "Wow, So-and-so was really great--I feel like we'd be really great friends if we lived in the same city."

That being said, I feel absurdly lucky that we're back in Aosta, and I've been able to spend quality time with three truly great friends: Federico, Claudio, and Iain. I've met them over the past three years, but finally got to hang out with them outside the confines of a performance this past week. What's more, my admiration and respect for them has grown as I've spent more time with them, an often hard-to-find quality in friendships.

On Thursday, we had a day off, so I went to Federico's house to hang out with him and Iain, and also to help him prepare for his birthday party (which was Friday night). Federico's house, in Chatillon, was built by his grandfather into the side of a mountain:

His house is between a switchback on the side of a mountain--the edge of the road is up on the left.

Looking back at the driveway.

The far side of the house.

Looking down into the valley.

Building tables in preparation for the birthday dinner.

The front room.

Yup, a giant piece of mountain rock is the bathroom ceiling.

Going upstairs to Federico's bedroom--once again, mountain ceiling. Ridiculous, right?!

In Federico's room, with a giant piece of mountain exposed through the wall.

I can't imagine what it would be like to grow up and see sunsets like this every evening.

With Federico.

I think that day neared perfection in a way I've not experienced in recent memory. I don't know if there's a way to explain how this was. So much of the time spent with Iain and Federico is spent trying to navigate the language barrier, which, if you've never done this with anyone, has to be one of life's greatest, most poignant, and most hilarious pleasures. Both Iain and Federico speak conversational English, but our conversations are also filled with the blank "I don't understand" stares. Truly priceless moments. Iain taught me tunes all afternoon, and then we'd play them with Federico on drums. I showed them my house on Google maps, awed by the distance between Arizona and Aosta. We enjoyed lunch outside in the breeze, and dinner inside the coziest of kitchens. And, most importantly, I think we each understood the circumstantial craziness of our friendships.

Sheer, utter happiness all day long--the kind where your face hurts because you can't stop smiling.

After dinner, Iain and I picked up Claudio and Daniel, and went to hear a famous French pipe band play in Aosta. The concert was rockin', but the company was better.

Friday night was Federico's birthday party...and when I say party, I should qualify that this was a party of grand proportions: Iain facetiously joked that it was going to be like an episode of MTV's "My Super Sweet 16," and that Barrage was the famous guest. There was a stage (complete with performances by 3 separate bands of Federico's friends), ridiculous amounts of delicious food prepared by Federico's dad, and all around good times. We even took to the stage for about 30 minutes as a special gift to Federico (for the record, I do believe it's the first time Barrage has played at a birthday party)!

The view during dinner.
(You can always click on the pictures in my blog to see them as larger images. I'd definitely recommend it for this one!)

Dean even had a mixing board!

Daniel jammed out on pipes with Iain and Federico.

And then there was more jamming!

Federico getting his cake.

In the same way that I wish I could bring my friends from home on the road, I also wish I could bring my friends from the road to my home. Now wouldn't that be something?

[P.S. Iain and Federico, I hope Google translator did this post justice!]