Week 4 in Montepulciano: Concerts, Il Bravìo, and Telemedicine

“Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.”
Roy T. Bennett

I love the small towns in Italy. I love the festivals, traditions, and sense of community. I feel like this is missing back home, and it was so much fun to participate in and learn about the different events that take place throughout the year.

During my final week in Montepulciano I was fortunate to be there for the start of the Festival di Pasqua. A two-week music festival where the town hosts multiple concerts in different historical venues. It started a little over ten years ago, and brings musicians and singers to historical venues in Montepulciano and the surrounding area. It was inexpensive, €15 per concert, and each performance was sixty to ninety minutes long.

The first performance I attended was at Palazzo Contucci, constructed in the early 1500s, located in Piazza Grande, and featured a soprano, mezzosoprano, and an organist. I wish I had taken a brief video of their performance. Their voices were absolutely beautiful, and I was surprised at the quality of the acoustics in the room. I wondered if long ago the family living here hosted concerts for their guests in this same room. The venue was small, and the performance was sold out. Their encore was truly spectacular. It was a performance that literally filled your eyes with tears as you listened to their voices. I am amazed that people are so blessed and talented with voices that can move you to tears.

The second performance I attended was a concerto with a small orchestra, and featured violinist and oboist solos. The venue was Chiesa di Gesù, it was both beautiful and simple, and again, the concert was sold out. The church was built in the early 1700s, and the acoustics once again were amazing. I knew the violin could produce beautiful music, but I had no idea the oboe could produce such beautiful notes. This time I shot a few short video to share.

A brief video from the concert.

Another tradition in Montepulciano takes place in August. At school I had the opportunity to learn about Il Bravìo delle Botti. It is a race where eight two-man teams roll an 80kg-90kg empty wine barrel through the streets of Montepulciano, up hills, around corners, down hills, and eventually end in Piazza Grande. The course is about 1.8km long, and the race is over in minutes, well, 8-10 minutes I’m told. The teams represent their district in the old town. There is no large cash prize, and if you don’t win, you get nothing, anything other than 1st place doesn’t matter. The prize for the winning team is banner displaying the year and the patron saint of the town to be hung in their clubhouse. The team colors are displayed throughout the town with flags. The start, not far from the main entrance in town, is marked by a sign on a building. You can see where the eight teams line up, eight white lines with a red and white circle on the stone street. The starting order is selected by a child, I believe the night before. The men start training months in advance to prepare for the run. The streets are lined with spectators and the piazza is full of people cheering for the racers. All this, for tradition, for bragging rights, for the pride of their district.

Sign at the start with the colors of the eight districts

I think my biggest fear when I travel is that I will get sick. A simple cold is no problem, but what do you do if you need a doctor? Panic? Well, early Saturday morning of Easter weekend I woke up from a sound sleep not feeling well. I knew I had been a bit dehydrated so I tried drinking some water to see if I felt better, but I didn’t. After thinking through all my symptoms, I figured out what was going on, and I knew I needed antibiotics so I wouldn’t get worse. I quickly checked online to see if pharmacists in Italy could give them to me, and no, you need a prescription from a licensed doctor. I could feel the panic set in. I wasn’t sick enough to warrant an Emergency Room visit, it was a long holiday weekend, and I hadn’t remembered seeing anything that resembled an Urgent Care clinic. I felt my heart racing, and I was trying to think of what to do. Then I remembered seeing a video on Instagram where a woman talked about the great telemedicine services in Italy for tourists. I checked online, and sure enough a number of companies came up that offered English speaking telemedicine services. I recognized the name of one, Doctors In Italy, that I had seen on Instagram. I knew I wasn’t dying, so I tried to get more sleep and figured I’d try it out in the morning.

After I woke up, I got on the Doctors in Italy website, and filled in the “intake form”. They had options for urgent care, setting up an appointment for non-urgent issues, and refilling a prescription. Based on their criteria, I needed urgent care. Their preferred method of contact is WhatsApp, and within five minutes of entering my information, I received a message with the name of a doctor that had availability, within ten minutes I had four doctors. You can see the times they have open, their ratings from other patients, and their fee, as each doctor charges their own fee. Once I selected my time and physician, I entered my credit card information and my appointment was set. The doctor contacted me prior asking for more information on my history, drug allergies, etc., and within 2-hours of my initial request, I had a prescription in my email to bring to the pharmacy. The total cost for the appointment, prescription, and a probiotic they wanted me to take after I finished the antibiotics was just under €75! Also, I had direct access to the physician via WhatsApp for an additional 7 days if I had follow up questions, or the medications were not working at no additional cost. In the United States a single telemedicine visit with my insurance with no ability to follow up is $150. I’m grateful Italy has these services available.

I cannot believe my time in Montepulciano has come to an end. Next I’m on tour with some friends in Cortona and Bagno Vignoni. I loved my time here, and I learned so much at Il Sasso. I’ve already reserved my apartment for November so I can return and continue my studies. Below are some photos of some of my favorite places in town and my beautiful studio apartment.