The Verona Opera - Carmen

Going to the opera was such a great experience. I feel privileged to have had this opportunity. It was a long day and we were there and gone so fast, if I didn't have pictures I would think it was a dream. I left around 8am on Wednesday morning to meet Kim, Adriene, and Allison Aguirre. I trained to a station close to their house and then we all headed to Mestre by car, which is about a 4-5 hour drive. My other TEAM-mate, Carmen Chugg, lives in Mestre, which is about 1 hour from Verona. So the plan was to eat lunch at her house, get ready and then head to Verona. The opera started at 9pm, but you have to get their early if you want a good seat in the "nose-bleed" section. We actually had amazing seats, just high up. Carmen is one of the longer operas. It ended around 1:30am, so we stayed the night with Carmen (yes her name is the same as the women in the opera).
It was a perfect evening. Here is a picture of me outside the amphitheater. I decided to wear a pair of my cute shoes, thinking that being outside of Perugia (where there are many hills and cobblestone streets) I would not have problems walking. Well, I guess all cute little towns in Italy have cobblestone streets. I realized my cute sandals with a bit of a heel were not the right choice. First my heel kept getting stuck in the holes in the cobblestone and then climbing up the stairs in the amphitheater was quite the challenge. The stone is very slick from all the years of people walking on it. I actually took off my shoes on the way down. It is one thing to sacrifice comfort for fashion, but potential bodily injury is not worth it.


This is the walk through the center of town. Verona is a great city and I hope to revisit it and get to see more than the walk to the amphitheater.


The Opera was fantastic. I did find out that it is in French, so there was no option of trying to understand it. Below are some pictures from inside and during the opera. It was an amazing night and even though I could not understand the language, I could understand what was going on. I had read up on it a bit before I went and during the intermissions I would double check the program to see what was happening next. The scenery was fantastic and the music was captivating. They even had live donkeys and horses with people riding them. Each act seemed to get better. This was the last night of the performance and I think the actors/actresses were giving it all they had. It was amazing to hear the strong voices carry to the top of this theater.


And during the intermissions it was fun to see them make the scene changes. The weather was perfect throughout the whole night! It was an experience to be cherished. Maybe one day you can visit me during the summer and we will make the trip. It is well worth it.