August 22

We returned yesterday to Wurmlingen and mostly lounged around to decompress from a busy few days. I woke up fairly late to Federico practicing in the living room and Sadao practicing upstairs. Jim made us a lunch of salad and pasta. Simple is best and the magic is in the homemade sauce. Jim is a great cook and could easily open a Trattoria somewhere. I think it also helps that his wife, Giacometta, is from Sicily. The town where she’s from is particularly special when it comes to food. After a couple servings of espresso the quartet started to rehearse for the next program.

Dinner seemed like a chore after our long rehearsal so we decided to drive to Trossingen to eat. This is where both Jim and Sadao teach during the year and where Federico use to teach before moving to Indiana. Federico and Jim wanted to say hello to a friend of theirs in town so we stopped by the Hotel Baren. Hansjoerg was the owner of this hotel and has built a relationship with Federico and Jim through the years when they use to stay in his hotel. When we arrived, Hansjoerg was outside with some men with tools, beers and cigarettes. They were obviously remodelling the hotel. As we approached them, an old German shepherd came to sniff us and greet us. As Hansjoerg, Federico and Jim caught up, a handyman came up to Sadao and me and asked us in English where we were from. I’m sure he was German but he had an Australian accent when he spoke English. He made some derogatory remark about Asians but we just laughed it off. He then started to tell us some bizarre story about a musician he did some job for years ago. I couldn’t follow his English but I picked up on phrases like “yeah, and then he stabbed him!” After a few awkward silences, we said goodbye to Hansjoerg and proceeded to the restaurant. Unbeknownst to us, this was the beginning of an evening from the “Twilight Zone”.

With more than a month left before school was back in session, the streets of Trossingen resembled a ghost town. There was only one man sitting at the bar when we walked into the Greek restaurant. We asked to be seated in the smoking section and the waiter informed us that a nation-wide law was passed that there would be no more smoking in restaurants. He said there was smoking allowed in the billiards room though so we ordered our meal, took our pints, and headed for the sacred room. To our surprise, there were four men and one older man sitting around a table. As they puffed on their tobacco, the only voice we heard came from the old man. It was as though the village leader was handing down some precious wisdom to his tribesmen. We glanced over to the other side of the room and the waiter was smoking too. He gave us a knowing chuckle about how ludicrous it was that even he had to take refuge for a puff.

When we returned to the main dining area, a feast was waiting for us. Kebobs, taramosalata, pita, and feta cheese…mmmm
We also noticed that there were two other couples sitting in the opposite corner of the room. From our first bite to our last and even after we paid the bill, the couples hadn’t spoken a single word to each other. I don’t think they even looked at each other. It was odd and depressing. When we walked out of the restaurant, I saw that there was a full moon above us and maybe even a howling in the distance.

-Yosuke Kawasaki


（訳文）

８月２２日

私達は昨日ヴルムリンゲンに戻ってきてぶらぶらして過ごし、ここ何日かの忙しさから解放された。かなりゆっくり起きたら、フェデリコはリビングで練習し、禎夫は上の階で練習していた。ジムは私たちにサラダとパスタを作ってくれた。シンプルイズベスト、そして、手作りのソースは魔法だ。ジムは料理がとてもうまくて、どこかでイタリアの食堂がいつでも開けるほどだ。彼の奥さんのジャコメッタがシシリー出身なのも関係あるだろう。彼女の出身のその町は、食べ物のことになったら特別なんだから。
エスプレッソを何杯か飲んで、クァルテットは次のプログラムのリハーサルを始めた。

長いリハーサルの後で夕飯が雑用のようになりそうだったので、私達はトロッシンゲンまで車で食べに行くことにした。ここはジムと禎夫が普段教えている街で、フェデリコもインディアナに移るまで教えていた街だ。
フェデリコとジムはその街の友人に挨拶していきたかったので、ホテルバレンに立ち寄った。ハンスヨルグはこのホテルのオーナーで、フェデリコとジムが昔このホテルを使っていた時に知り合った。