1. Introduction "2026 European Summer Music Adventure": Who/What/Why/When/Where/How

WHO

I’m writing this. Unless it offends you. Or is loquacious and/or inaccurate. In that case, it was written by someone you don’t like very much. Disregard them altogether. Skip that awful part they wrote and skip to the super interesting stuff I wrote. That’s what you’re looking for anyway. 

You will meet my terrific travel buddies along the way! This experience is special because they are special. 

WHAT

This is a blog to document my 2026 European Summer Music Adventure™️!  In our family, this sort of thing is colloquially known as “travel spam”, so feel free to call it that! If you're reading this, thank you for subscribing to my travel spam. I hope you will enjoy it!

WHY

We have great experiences in our life. And then we forget most of them. Moments, minutes, hours, smells, tastes, feelings, sunsets, cathedrals, holding hands, wow-moments — they can only continue to exist in our memory. This is a special opportunity, and I want to combine pictures, video, and dramatic-I really don’t want to edit this much- narrative for me and my travel partners to remember. I also want to share this experience with anyone who is interested! Perhaps this is a healthier/more-interesting escapism than other things. Perhaps it’s worse. 

Because I know some students will read this, and at my core, I’m an educator, my tone will definitely be teacher-y/educational at times. I hope that this blog/experience can help invite/inspire/motivate/equip others to travel. 

**I will also be omitting lots of educational, historical, curriculumical, and classroomical content. (Careful, not all of those are words). That stuffs is super important, and cool, and nerdy, and relevant -- just not relevant here -- mostly fun stuff here. That stuffs will make it into the classroom. So yeah, much of this reads as more rest and restoration. I’ll save all the academic stuff for the classroom. Much more to report there and that I’m intentionally excluding here. 

Travel is a joy (and it’s hard work), and it chemically alters your brain and body for the better. Look up the neuroscience. It’s fascinating. 

HOW 

I applied for the Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship Grant. If you’ve been awake, you’ve probably heard of Eli Lilly and Company. If you’re an educator in Indiana, you’ve likely heard of this life-changing program. This program invites experienced educators to write a proposal for an experience that rejuvenates one as an educator, sparks professional creativity and restoration, and meaningfully benefits one’s school community. 

I put together a dream proposal: “900 Miles of Song: Artistic Renewal Through Mediterranean Port Cities”. 

I’m stretching this grant as far as I can. The beginning leg and final leg of this trip in Italy, France, and Spain are the core part of the grant. Sidequests in the middle of the trip away from the Mediterranean coastline are my personal leisure. I wanted to make the most of my summer and the trip across the pond. 

Check out this PR from the Daily Journal for some more context: Greenwood Choir Teacher to Explore Music Overseas

Sidebar: Literally as I finished writing the title of my proposal above and finished typing the word “Mediterranean”,  the Mediterranean ocean/coastline appeared in the train window to my right as we exited a tunnel through the mountains. I’m currently on my way from Florence, Italy to Nice, France while writing this part… This was my first glimpse of where I will be! 

WHEN 

I’m writing whenever I have some spare time, want to document ideas, or am on a train. 

I left Friday, May 23, 2026. 

Not sure when I’m coming back. 

WHERE

Eventually I will link a map so you can see all of this.

ITALY (Florence, Tuscany (mostly Val D’Orca), Elba Island) 

• Florence 

• Montecarlo 

• Lucca 

• Messaciuccoli 

• Siena 

• Badicorte 

• Cortona 

• Castiglione del Lago 

• Castelmuzio

• Pienza 

• Montepulciano 

• San Quirico 

• Bagno Vignoni 

• Monticchiello 

• San Biagio 

• Montalcino

• Isola de Elba 

• Florence

*FRANCE (French Riviera, Provence, Eastern France) 

• Nice 

• Sain-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

• Monaco/Monte Carlo 

• Avignon 

• Provence Region TBD TBD 

• Lyon

• Beaune 

• Chablis 

• Reims  

• Strasbourg 

• Colmar

SWITZERLAND 

• Zurich

• Lucerne 

• Interlaken 

• Mürren 

SPAIN 

• Barcelona 

NOTE 

An experience cannot be immortalized in equivalency through words; rather, it may provide a glimpse of what was. Only some photos, experiences, foods, places, and stories, are documented here. Not documenting it all because I don’t want to write that much, you don’t care, and I don’t remember 2,000+ years of history/names/dates.  

Keep reading for stories and pictures!