More Time in Verona and Aida

 There was another excursion with the group today to Vicenza, but we chose to not do it and just stay behind and relax.  We had breakfast, then I decided to head out to check out a couple of spots I hadn’t seen, or photographed, so I did that.

This is what Verona claims:

Another piece of the still-standing Roman architecture at the arena.  We are going to be in there watching Aida tonight!

I decided to head up to the top of the hill where Castel San Pietro is.  Fortunately, there is a funicular up.

These are some shots from the top, looking over Verona.  I’ve marked where the Roman amphitheatre is.  At one time, it was on the outskirts of the town (when built by the Romans).  So everything between the river and that arena was originally developed at that time.  Things have been updated and changed since, obviously, but the plan of the town is similar.  The river is called the Adige.

 

 And the funicular down

I returned to our hotel after stopping at the wine store - again, and for some lunch.  After cooling off for a while, (did I say how hot it is here - about 33 deg and humid), we got ready for tonight.  A tad early for a 9:30 pm show, but we just headed down to the lobby of our hotel where we sat and chatted with several people.  When we discovered there were no taxis to be had, we started our trek to the arena as we wanted to stop for a bite to eat as well.

Here’s Gerardo at the arena

We went inside and a person behind us took our pictures for us.  What a stage and what a setup.  Wow! The orchestra is just behind my head, in front of the stage.  You can see the stage, which was slanted toward the audience and looked like it was clear plastic, or something.

This young lady came out every 5 minutes from 15 minutes before the show started, rubbed the mallet around the gong, then whacked it, then took a bow.  Quite humorous.  And there were 5 harps in the orchestra you can see below her.  The conductor was incredible.  Not only did he conduct the orchestra, but also the singing on stage where necessary, and all without a score!  He was pretty lively too.

There were around 12,000-15,000 people here to see Aida!  I could only get less than half in this picture.  Our side was the same (full) and I only have half or less of the floor seating.  Crazy numbers.  We were chatting with Dan (our orchestra director) on the way back to the hotel, and he counted 300-400 people in the production!  Crazy numbers.

It was an interesting opera.  They did have the words in English so you could follow along as to what was happening.  And it was quite the display overall - how it was done.  There was an electronic giant hand, not to mention the lighting that was all very interesting.  I couldn’t take pictures :(  No elephants though.  Anyway, our latest night yet - we didn’t get back until about 1:30 am as it was 3 hours long, including an intermission.  Hence I’m publishing this after I got up in the morning.