Aida - 7/26

Today was all about the Aida opera in the Roman coliseum in Verona. To get to that part of the story, skip down the page.

Some days on vacation are busy and hectic, some are not. Today was not.

We took the train from Venice to Verona. The only event on the train was the annoying British couple who sat across from Cathie and me.

She had the look of the second wife who was once his receptionist at his three person business. She was stuffed like a sausage into a sundress and talked in this annoying nasal accent that you hear in minor characters on BBC comedies on PBS.

He was easily 20 years older than her, wearing an orange pair of shorts and a white t-shirt that said drunknmunky. He spent the entire time wearing blue framed reading glasses (to make him younger and hip?) looking at some sort of industrial machinery trade magazine, saying the word brilliant over and over.

We arrived in Verona and survived our first Italian taxi ride. I don't know how we avoided the head-on in the construction zone, but we did.

Verona is a walled city and we ate lunch just inside the walls in front of the Roman Colliseum.





The coliseum was built in 30 AD. Madeleine can explain the construction methods to you.



After lunch we wanderer around. One of the tourist attractions is Romeo and Juliet's balcony.


The girlies with the statue. Why the side of the statue where Madeleine is standing shinier than the other side? That is where 12 year old boys put their hands when they have their picture taken with the statue. I only had to see that twice. They all thought they were the first ones to think of that.


Cathie tells a story, where she was traveling 25 years ago. She was in Verona with Belinda and Aida was playing at the Roman Colliseum. They were scalping tickets for $50, which was her daily budget back then, so they didn't go. She has regretted that ever since. We are correcting that today.


Here is the stage before the show starts. Where we are sitting, in the neural admission section, is full an hour before the show. The reserve seats will be empty for another 45 minutes.


They pass candles out before the show and if you smoke, you can use your lighter and light the candle. Cathie sat next to a nice couple from Calgary. She had them take this.


The opera was epic with possibly a cast of a thousand people.






And this is what Alexandra thought of everything.


We only stayed for the first three acts. It was too late. It started at 9:15 and we left at midnight. Cathie really enjoyed it.

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Location:Verona, Italy