This is a lovely review sent in by Victoria Wilson. Her and her husband celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by going to Italy to see Il Volo. They had many obstacles in their way, but they did not let anything stop them!
Dear Flight Crew,
This trip was like watching a cute movie following an older couple completing their dream trip to celebrate a special Anniversary. We still cannot believe we did it. And to make it even more special, we got Meet and Greet tickets.
Taking a wheelchair, service dog, and a woman in a lot of pain to Italy for the first time became a full time job…. outdated passports, getting medical records for my service dog, finding flights and hotels that would accommodate us…..It was all a great adventure.
Our flight from Minneapolis had an hour layover in Amsterdam and I got really worried with my wheelchair and getting us through immigration to change planes to KLM. I didn’t think it could be done and got scared. KLM wasn’t much help so I emailed the CEO of Delta. His assistant arranged everything for us. Delta Airline was wonderful, upgraded us to first class, and had an aid meet us at the plane to take us through immigration to our KLM flight. Delta was equally as wonderful on the way home meeting us with a aid to shuffle through the crowds. They promised us a wonderful trip. It was amazing and they wanted us to have a wonderful 50th Wedding Anniversary. I hung up the phone, thanked God, and cried for joy. All my worries faded away.
I’ve never had a trip like this in my life. We’re in love with Italy. We saw everything in Florence, then Venice, and WOW, Rome. We ate our way around the country with the most delicious food and fell in love with gelato. When they meet us in heaven an Italian will hand us a gelato.
I paced myself for the concert May 12. We wore laminated ‘Flight Crew’ badges on a silver cord around our neck hoping we would meet other Flight Crew lovers. We met a lot of Americans so I gave our badges to people who will be joining the Flight Crew group. They too saw Il Volo in America and followed them to Italy.
We were at the concert and looking up at that wonderful chandelier. My God we actually did it! We pinched each other to make sure this wasn’t a dream.
WE WERE TOLD……NO FILMING AND NO FLASH PICTURES and again the concert was sold out. We taped the concert and I filmed what I could from the big screen and stage.
THE CONCERT WAS SIMPLY AMAZING!! They behave like brothers. They were funny and charming. Their voices are so pure and full that it’s impossible to believe they’re still boys… (To people celebrating 50 years of marriage they are still boys). I cried and laughed. It was over too fast. How can they do this every night, sound so fresh, and be so charming to their fans? Gianluca tool selfies of himself singing with some fan’s camera and then would give it back. What treasures for that fan.
The boys were delightful at the Meet and Greet. Ignazio came right over to pet Phoebe and told us Piero was allergic to dogs. I explained Phoebe was hypoallergenic as I too had been allergic to dogs. He told me what to say in Italian explaining that Phoebe was hypoallergenic so Piero need not worry.
The photographer took several pictures and when Gianluca saw Phoebe in the picture he ran back so he could definitely be in that picture too. I wish we could get all the pictures they took of us. I’m trying,
These boys are everything I expected…. unspoiled, love people, and were darling to everyone.
We thought the evening was over. However, no taxi would come and get us so late at night. The Concert Hall people tried for an hour to get us a taxi. It was after midnight. Finally they said they found a taxi and told us to go down the road and a taxi was on the way.
Ahahahahahaha….. We were in the pitch black in the middle of no where with a special collar for Phoebe with red lights flashing.
We saw all the Il Volo cars pass us by. I told God I needed a car or we would be sleeping on that road overnight. Within 10 seconds, we saw the headlights of an Il Volo staff car come up the road. They had been sent back to pick us up and drive us to our hotel – another unbelievable miracle.
Fenia and another male staff member loaded my wheelchair, me, Jay, and Phoebe into their car. Fenia is in charge of planning all the Italian concerts for Il Volo. I was in a daze. All the way to our hotel (40 minutes), we talked about the boys…the concert…. and the symphony. Fenia asked so many questions. I told her I can fake normal and could tell how much energy it takes to sing like those boys sing every night….. and then to appear fresh and full of energy for all their fans. It takes a lot to give so much of themselves. It only happens when you love what you do. Fenia wanted to know if the concert was good and I think the energy is very draining to sing like that every night. And their schedule is very full.
Fenia was sweet and kind. She explained how we were seen on the road and they were told to make sure we were taken care of and to take us to our hotel. It was after 1:00 am when we got to the hotel, the gates were locked, and Fenia took care of everything,
That ride was unbelievable. Fenia said over and over again that she was going to tell the boys all about us and our story of why we came to Rome to see them. She wanted the boys to know how much their voices erased pain for me. They are such a gift and more than just enjoyment.
I couldn’t dream up a better adventure than the one we had. We enjoyed everything….the bumpy cobblestones, the food, getting lost, visits to the hospital – I lost my meds. Nothing could disturb the fun we were having. My husband even dragged luggage over all the bridges in Venice for an old couple (well older than us) because they were limping and looked like a heart attack in the making. He is now called ‘Santo Jay’.
We got home to Minneapolis. Jay woke up early in the morning and wanted to know if we were still in Rome — I said YES — and he went right back to sleep. Why spoil a great dream he was having.
Thank you for all your help. Everyone has been wonderful on this site. We couldn’t have done it without you. I read your emails every day and we are still reviving from jet lag.
Please keep our daughter in your prayers as she came home for (we hope) a minor surgery Wednesday. Life always has something for us to do that sure wasn’t on my list.
Blessings to everyone.
Victoria and Jay Wilson
Here is a short video that Victoria took of the last song….
What a great photo of you and the guys!!
Hi Victoria & Jay I’ve just finished reading your fantastic experience at the Il Volo concert. I am so happy it was fun for you getting there & all the people you met & also the fantastic concert. It seems the highlight of your trip was meeting the Il Volo guys & how wonderful & kind they are to send their car back to you to take you to your hotel. I have always said from the beginning God sent these guys here to teach us how treat each other & also how to sing & not spoil a song by screaming. I will pray for the three of you & say a special prayer for your daughter. Hope your life goes smooth & easy for you & your pain subsides. I look forward to more of your comments. Good luck & God bless the 3 of you. Jay is a jem when he can see someone needing help & drops what he is doing to help them. I have read from other comments you have sent in & mentioned that. Lucky, lucky lady
I love your story especially the part of Il Volo staff picking you up and getting you into your hotel. I just know these guys and their families are God sent.
Victoria, Your Italian adventure read like a real life fairy tale. I told my daughter, who works for Delta, about their part in it, and she said that she had heard about it at one of their meetings….small world??? It would be lovely if at some point you could get together with our MN Il Volo fan club. We would love to meet you. Marie would give you my email address if you would like to make contact.
I have most of the names and some emails and we would simply love to get together with all of you. Just let us know when and where. Hugs and kisses.
Betty Young’s daughter is a flight attendant for Delta – would they know each other? That is an amazing story, for sure!
Victoria, how beautiful your trip was, I understand your timorem is fortunately all right. I’m glad that Italy liked you, it was a shame that if you came to Verona instead of Rome, we could see it, but we sent several mails that made us company.
Beautiful your photo and also the video, all the videos I’ve taken are on you tube.
I also think that Jay was great.
A prayer that your daughter’s intervention is all right.
Daniela, we fell in love with Italy and are already planning another family trip. This group is the highlight of my day. Love and hugs!
I forgot to ask you. Please tell me how do I find you on YouTube? I don’t generally go on YouTube and would follow anyone who has il Volo videos though. I’d appreciate it if you would let me know. Thanks a bunch.
Last night we had a wonderful Notte Magica at
the Royal Albert Hall in London with our fantastic
Il Volo. This afternoon we boarded our plane en
route to Verona for our holiday. The first thing I
saw when on board was a beautiful pair of brown
eyes – yes, it was Piero with Ignazio. I told them
how great their concert was and that we would
see them again in Taormina on 4th June. My
husband shook hands with Ignazio then we had
to find our seats. That was a special moment
for us.
Kathy wonder what a surprise you had on the plane trip to Verona. With that FLY you have touched ILVOLO.
OMG, Kathy! I think I would have fainted and been speechless again! Had you seen them in a meet/greet? That is an incredible story! I’m sure they were gracious as always. It still amazes me they fly commercial with everyone else. Were they in first class?
Jana, in the past I have heard they fly business class
Hi Jana, I didn’t have time to be speechless as there was a queue behind us waiting to board!!
We have never done a meet and greet so this was the first time we have been so close to them. Don’t know where Gianluca was as he didn’t appear to be with them. My only regret is that I didn’t go and ask Peiro for a photo at Verona Airport like the customs man did!
I felt it would be intrusive but my son says I was mad not to!! I will never forget those beautiful brown eyes of Piero!
I think they may have been in the first row of economy but I could be wrong.
How wonderful to meet them on the plane. What a miracle to meet them like that. My heart would have been pounding. What a great memory.
Lucky you Kathy! I’m envying you a little, Taormina will be a special one, enjoy it! 🙂
oh wow, Kathy! this is soooooo much better than a short ‘meet & greet”…… i love this story too. thank you for sharing it with us!
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Victoria and Jay: Thank you for sharing your experience and I am so thrilled you had the time of your life for your 50th Anniversary. God gave you many miracles on your journey and I know he was smiling at the joy you both felt. I am glad everything was safe for both of you and, of course, your special service dog! You have bought tears to my eyes, as I am sure you had also. My prayers and God’s Blessings to you and your daughter. Thank you for sharing your best trip every!! My name, also, is Victoria. Much love to all of you and your family! You are a very special couple.
Hi Victoria, I still get tears in my eyes when I think of that concert and our trip. Phoebe is an amazing traveler. She helped me so much. And they boys bring such joy with them. They have such loving hearts. Bless you!
Victoria, Jay and Phoebe, I’m so glad that everything went as planned on your trip( with a few bump’s along the way) It was an experience that will bring fond memories for the rest of your lives.
It is true you are a very special threesome!
I knew Ignazio would head straight to Phoebe😊
Kathy Pritchard, how lucky are you? That’s the kind of luck Marie usually has . I don’t know about you but I am getting Marie withdrawals! Are we ever going to hear from her again?
By the way Kathy, was Alessandra with them?
No I don’t think she was as they seemed to be on their own leaving the airport.
yeah…. where’s Penelope… oops…. Maria…. oops i mean Marie!…. am missing her too…
What a wonderful report both for your fantastic trip and the reaffirmation of what wonderful young men IL Volvo are.
Ciao a tutti! Going out for my birthday, catch y’ll later!
Have a wonderful Birthday. All great thoughts for a wonderful time. You deserve the best. Blessings on such a special day.
Thank you so much Victoria! It has been wonderful so far and filled with many surprises! Your story was incredible!
happy happy birthday, Jana! cheers!
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Oh, my! Just saw this – now that is some ice cream cone!! Grazie mille!! 🙂
i made sure it’s a GELATO…. just for you 😉
Happy Birthday Jana🍰🍾🎉We need an Il Volo emoji!
I don’t know, maybe some birds?
With all the “Flights” they take, maybe an airplane is more appropriate!
What a wonderful trip Victoria and Jay, and in spite of all the obstacles, you had a beautiful vacation to celebrate your special anniversary. It’s so lovely to hear about all the people who went out of their way to help and of course the beautiful concert of Il Volo and the concern they and their staff had for you. Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca are remarkable in so many beautiful ways! Best wishes to you and your daughter.
Happy belated birthday Jana. Hope your day was special
Thank you! In spite of having to work, it was lovely. I’ve kind of been celebrating all week and having fun spending some birthday money and gift cards and going out to eat! 🙂
What a wonderful chronicle of your trip! I’m glad you liked Italy, next time I suggest Verona, the acoustics is much better and the Arena is magical! I Hope your daughter is all right now, blessings for you and her <3
Oh Daniela, it was heavenly…. the entire trip. I will plan better next time and we will be at every concert. The only thing we did wrong was think I couldn’t do more than one concert. I am fragile. Italy revived me so much that I cannot believe it. We will be back.. We came home to our daughter’s minor surgery… she downplays everything…. and then hell took over. Her doctor looked at the lump on her arm, rescheduled everything and had her in surgery the next morning. She was in pain all day and they increased the oxycodone she has to take anyway for her head and by night time, she and her Dad went to the Neil Diamond Anniversary concert. Only a gun would stop her from that concert. It was the first concert we took her to as a child, Doing too much costs a lot so we spent most of the next day in the ER when her head exploded…..She thinks we have a perfectly normal family….We warched the movie ARTHUR and laughed and laughed… that’s her cure…. LAUGHTER….. She thought she was going home to San Fran today and we are keeping her another week. All we do is laugh with this child and she keeps us all entertained. And Jane, I just showed her the give away castles and they have already seriously been looking into them with friends since the day it was announced. Wouldn’t that be just glorious? I’m resting from the trip and playing head nurse with her right next to me and Dad sleeping on the sofa. We are rather protective of our kids. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts. We appreciate them. This site is my daily entertainment and I thank all of you for your pictures and videos. I always want more.
Coincidentally, Neil Diamond is the first ever concert I attended as well, in the Detroit area! I hope she enjoyed the concert and hope she is ok. Sounds like she is living life to the fullest and not letting anything get in her way! I’m so glad you enjoy our site. 🙂 To somewhat quote the Richard Marx song….”everything we do, we do it for you….”
Oh Victoria and Jay! Thank you so much for sharing with us your sweet story. Am a bit late. Did not want to rush reading this. So bookmarked it for when I could really give it my full attention. It is worth it.
Yes, that’s one of the things that come to me re their voices. It’s “pure”…. And that they are like brothers – that came to me early on, one of the first things I noticed…. I also do cry and laugh with them (and I have not (yet) even seen them live!)…..
I so appreciate your sweet story. Thank you again.
And by the way, you look lovely, Victoria.
Warmest hug,
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Cynthia. We had such a wonderful time. It like a dream. I’m hoping for the next tour I’ll be better and can just follow them around. I’m so thrilled that everyone is sharing their stories. It makes me feel like I’m there. This is the loveliest group and I watch for all the daily comments to feel involved. Keep in touch so I don’t miss a thing. The Taormina concert on YouTube is my favorite so I’m sure it’ll be special.
Big hugs,
Victoria – yes, the Taormina concert is one of my favorites, however, this Verona concert, I have to say, IS my favorite! They did this in September 2015 from Verona and it is just about 2 hours long, with almost solid singing. It was actually televised on RAI 1 and someone also loaded it on this site here. It was supposed to be the model of their tour in 2016 and they sing just about everything! It’s awesome, enjoy! I’m sure you will love it!
Jana
Victoria, you mean the Taormina 2014? i like that a lot too…
Jana, yes this Arena di Verona Sept 2015 was/is my concert of all concerts…. then came NOTTE MAGICA…. BOTH are my favorites or all favorites….
I am also getting Marie withdrawals!! Where is our dear marie?
Regarding Marie, she is ok, there will be news on Tuesday in a post. She’s just taking a little break right now….
Jana, where do I find the Verona 2015 concert to watch. Is there a site you can point me to. I aim at seeing everything I can that they sing. I never get tired of hearing them and this site has many songs I’ve never heard before. I taped both concerts on my phone and the sound is magnificent. I’m looking through some of the videos from the big screen and trying to figure out how to send them to the Flight Crew. The close ups are grand. Thank you for all the work everyone puts in. I appreciate it so much.
It’s the video link I posted just above! 🙂 I’m sorry, I thought it would post under your other post! Just scroll up a little bit and you should see the picture of the video…. let me know if you can’t see it…
I found it. It’s fabulous. I’m going to watch it now and wanted to let you know I found it. You’re a Saint. Thank you so much. Blessings!
V – so glad you found it. If you have the capability, you can download it to your computer, also. One nice thing about watching it on your computer, you can see their faces close up! Just fyi… I was having a little trouble tonight, it kept stopping, like stalling, but maybe it was just my computer.. Enjoy!!