Here's the video I was shooting....
Once back in the hotel we had to change into our opera clothes and pack everything else. The hotel had given us a small room to store our luggage in while we were at the Opera. We were lucky this room wasn't booked that day. It had no view, a very small bathroom and a single bed but it was ideal for our needs and a very generous gesture on the part of the hotel.
We left for the Opera with two hours to spare before curtain as we needed to eat lunch. We passed back through the square I had discovered the day before and the two restaurants there were serving lunch and savory smells filled the air. We thought that it might be better to stop and eat here rather than by the Opera House which would surely be much busier.
We decided to eat at the one which was the least busy- called Aquapazza (umbrellas at left) and were quickly greeted by a waiter who gave us menus and took our drink orders. Just like dinner at Da Raffaele I was prepared for disinterested or even rude waiters (based on some TripAdvisor comments) but they were not to be found and we settled in for a nice alfresco lunch, parts of which will appear in the following video.
No wine for me at lunch as I dread falling asleep at the Opera but a cold Italian beer was certainly refreshing.
First dish was "on the house"- wonderful fresh bruschetta with some deep-fried cheese
My main course was steak and fried potatoes-very simple and very tasty indeed. Carol had a lemon risotto which got her seal of approval.
Suitably fortified we paid our bill and took the 5 minute walk to the Opera House. In that 5 minutes the sky darkened. We had 30 minutes before we had to be in our seats and I chose to have one last espresso before going in. I sat at an empty table at one of the cafes next to the Opera and ordered.
At the precise moment the coffee landed on the table it began to rain. Waiters scurried to clear tables and tilt the chairs as people standing in the square fled the rain to enter the Opera House. I quickly paid for my coffee and drank it in one gulp and followed the herd.
We had taken a big umbrella from the hotel so avoided getting wet and sitting in damp clothes for 3 hours. We joined the wedge of people heading up the marble stairs to the box level. We had bought the tickets on line some months before and had a box with a great view of the stage. The box had 4 chairs and ours were the two at the front (hooray!). An Italian couple in their late 50's sat behind us.
The Opera wasn't a favorite of mine by any means- Il Trovatore by Guiseppe Verdi but it was really well-sung and staged and the orchestra was excellent and kicked up a fine energetic sound.
The view from our seats before the Opera began.
The only thing that wasn't great about the Opera was the chit-chat between the couple behind us as the music was playing. This is not the right thing to do at the Opera. We paid to hear the singers and musicians and to be transported out of Venice for 3 hours by the drama taking place on the stage.
At one point I had had enough and my patience was worn to threads so I turned round in my seat to face the couple to tell them to be quiet, in Italian, so they would get the message. They shut up after saying something to me in Italian that was so fast I could only make out the word "wife".
Luckily the intermission between acts came along and I was able to go outside where it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. I joined the smokers and drinkers out there for 20 minutes and shot some video as I had had my cameras with me all the while. In the USA I would have had to hand them into the coat-check lest I try to record the performance.
Carol stayed behind in our seats and when I returned found she had been talking to the Italian lady while I was gone-talking in Spanish which was the only language they could share in common.
The good news was that the second half of the Opera was enjoyed in peace and at the end there was an exchange of handshakes and smiles with our box neighbors. All's well that ends well.
Carol really enjoyed her afternoon at the Opera.
Up until this time I had been able to put the upcoming cruise to the back of my mind as I was living in the moment of simply discovering Venice but the next thing on our list of must-do activities was to (a) walk back to the Hotel and once there (b) get a Water Taxi to the ship and leave our hotel behind.
Here's the video from our lunch and the Opera House.....
The only thing that wasn't great about the Opera was the chit-chat between the couple behind us as the music was playing. This is not the right thing to do at the Opera. We paid to hear the singers and musicians and to be transported out of Venice for 3 hours by the drama taking place on the stage.
At one point I had had enough and my patience was worn to threads so I turned round in my seat to face the couple to tell them to be quiet, in Italian, so they would get the message. They shut up after saying something to me in Italian that was so fast I could only make out the word "wife".
Luckily the intermission between acts came along and I was able to go outside where it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. I joined the smokers and drinkers out there for 20 minutes and shot some video as I had had my cameras with me all the while. In the USA I would have had to hand them into the coat-check lest I try to record the performance.
Carol stayed behind in our seats and when I returned found she had been talking to the Italian lady while I was gone-talking in Spanish which was the only language they could share in common.
The good news was that the second half of the Opera was enjoyed in peace and at the end there was an exchange of handshakes and smiles with our box neighbors. All's well that ends well.
Carol really enjoyed her afternoon at the Opera.
Up until this time I had been able to put the upcoming cruise to the back of my mind as I was living in the moment of simply discovering Venice but the next thing on our list of must-do activities was to (a) walk back to the Hotel and once there (b) get a Water Taxi to the ship and leave our hotel behind.
Here's the video from our lunch and the Opera House.....
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