From the Autogrill to the Barber of Seville

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Apologies for the lack of blogging, but work has been plenty and sleeping is consuming the majority of my free time. Anyway, this past weekend involved a journey north to see my first real opera, a performance of the Barber of Seville in Verona's Roman Theater. Best possible way to be introduced to opera. The adventure started off right with a stop at the Autogrill near Bologna for lunch. There are many Autogrills in Italy, but the one near Bologna is actually a huge bridge over the entire A1 that runs Rome-Milan. Inside said bridge are three floors of glory: a marketplace, a quick cafe, and a self-serve cafe. I went all-out to the self-serve cafe and ordered what I thought would be a half roasted chicken. What I got was an entire roasted chicken cut in half. And fries. And tiramisu. Whatever. In the marketplace I purchased a book called "Biblioteca dei Morti" (Library of the Dead), and a box of Pocket Espressos (think tiny capri suns, but full of a coffee/chocolate blend).

Most of the day in Verona was spent wandering, looking for cute shoes and t-shirts with bad English translations (photos soon to come), then a dinner on the Viccolo del Guasto. Literally, it means "Little Street of the Broken-Beyond-Repair." Restaurant was chosen based on the name of the street. Not bad, either.

We had the cheap seats, read: sitting on the stone steps near the top of the theater, just like the Romans did. In front of me was a German man who took it upon himself to use my shins as a back rest, and to the side of me was a woman taking photos with her Blackberry Storm, which made a loud picture-taking noise each time she used it.

The opera was great, but we hadn't read up on it before hand, so we truly had no clue what was going on. Four of the six of us left at intermission (after a two-hour first half), but we felt justified due to severe joint pain.

Sunday involved a stop in Mantova for the "Fashion Outlet," where cute shoes were purchased. All in all, a great, but exhausting, weekend.

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Photos

Autogrill!
Jason, John and Kate couldn't contain themselves!

Lunch
The chicken cut in half, not the half chicken.

The aftermath
Uggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

The Theater
Go go Roman engineering!

The Theater
Opera the way the Romans would have watched it

Outlets!
What Mantova lacked in charm on a hot Sunday, it more than made up for it with the Fashion Outlet.

Comments

[Candice]

Outlet(s)??? In Mantova? Crazy! Sounds like you had an awesome weekend. :-)

[NP]

Pocket Espressos!
Those sound fabulous! I also love those little chocolates (I forget the name) that are filled with real espresso. Perfection!