Day 7 - a night at the opera (part 2)

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With the operas finishing late I am now a day behind in the blogs - so hope to catch up today.

After another great breakfast, we headed to retrace our steps to find the Duomo - we at least knew the direction of travel from our wet trip the day before. Having made it to the castle once more, the sign was spotted pointing us in the direction of the Duomo (think I missed it whilst looking down to avoid puddles) - with no such excuses this time we made it to the cathedral fairly unscathed apart from going the whole way around it to find the entrance. As you will see from the photos, the interior was absolutely stunning and the many stages of the build over the centuries just added to the splendour. It is the Basilica di San Zeno as it houses the bones of the bishop, that is also mentioned in Dante‘s writing. Definitely worth a visit and I am glad we made it back to find it.

Heading back into the centre, we went around the outside of the arena, an opportunity to see all the different sets stored outside as well as photos of previous operas from 1913 onwards - it is amazing how this tradition has carried on for so many years.

After an early supper, we headed back to the hotel to put on our glad rags for a night of the opera. The arena this evening was full and much warmer due to a better day. Verdi’s Aida is a spectacle for the Verona festival and plays every year. The sets are absolutely stunning and as yesterday the immense stage is covered in either staging or people. The scene with the Grand March was so amazing with an additional brass section on stage and a fantastic ballet scene - even our two non-opera companions were blown away with the staging etc maybe not all the singing. I am certainly keen to return.

We headed back to the hotel around 12:30 and then proceeded to have two bottles of Prosecco before heading to bed at 2:30. Our friends looking forward to be awake, breakfasted and checked out before their taxi arrived at 8am. (Writing this now I know they made it!)

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Comments

[Christine Morrison]

Late night
I am fairly that K stayed up till 02.30. I think that you, R, must be leading her astray - staying g up late, drinking Prosecco!!!