To the left of the house you will see this brick structure with steps going down
There is a waterfall
and then the river
Along the embankment are these gigantic art pieces which depict the things (like OIL!) Houston is known for
On a hill a statue of James A Baker, local boy made good and famous Republican Politician
Our names had been put on the Backstage List for the Opera today, meaning we were free to go backstage after the performance and meet our friends who were singing in it. As the Wortham Center is so big we did a trial run to find where the stage door is. I'm glad we did as it is not marked.
When we had gone to buy tickets online a couple of weeks before we made the trip we found that it was over 95% sold-out and the best we could get were tickets high up at the back-seperate tickets so we couldn't even sit together. It was now Noon on the day of the show and we checked at the box office to see if any seats had been canceled. A man in front of us was returning his as he couldn't use it today. Carol asked the ticket man to check for two seats together. He checked his computer and found two AMAZING seats much lower down (called the Loge) and closer to the stage. They cost a lot more but we were only going to do this once and today was the day!
We walked away with fantastic seats and returned to the hotel for the nap that is necessary before you go to hear four hours of the most sublime music ever written.
The great tickets we were lucky to get at the box office before the show. We paid the difference between these and the balcony seats we had booked online. I am sure someone else bought and enjoyed those.
Because the interior of the Opera House (called Brown Theater) is so poorly designed we had to walk through this dining area then up a flight of stairs then all the way from one side of the theater to the other to get to our seats. A long trek defying logic.
After 4 hours of sublime Opera we were heading back down the escalator to the plaza. We were headed to the rear of the massive theater, to the stage door.
Along the way we spotted this art piece on a street corner
At the stage door we were directed to an elevator to the 6th floor and once there found a huge room laid out with free wine and beer (hooray!) and snack foods. People were mingling with the singers (now out of costume and make-up) and we got to briefly meet our friends Christine Goerke and Meredith Arwady. We spent some time talking with this gentleman-the Estonian bass Ain Anger, one of the best we have ever heard. We had met many fine Estonians on a recent cruise and got talking about Estonia before moving on to Opera. Nice guy!
After half an hour or so we decided to leave as there were now so many people in the room and we wanted to be out in the fresh air again.
It was after 7 pm by this time and we stopped in at the hotel to print out our boarding passes for our next-day flight back to Chicago. The hotel has a little business center on the 2nd floor.
There are also snacks and drinks here for you to take to your room. You just write down what you are taking and it gets added to your bill. Of course you could just take the snacks and not write anything down but that is stealing...
With that chore taken care of we could now go out to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Sambuca, just two blocks away.
Sambuca is in the same building as our morning coffee bar Minuti
It was dark by the time our 9 p.m reservation came. The restaurant has outdoor dining and as it was another warm evening in Houston we sat outside. Inside there was a good singer/guitarist playing and small speakers outside carried the music through to add to the atmosphere. They have about 20 tables outside but only four were occupied once we sat down.
We had a good waitress so didn't have to wait long for our food and drinks.
For me, steak and chicken satays with teriyaki sauce to dip into.
Followed by a "flat iron" steak with green beans, fried tomatoes and potatoes au gratin
Carol had a roasted beet salad with a side order of prosciutto macaroni and cheese
Tomorrow we would return to Chicago but as our flight didn't leave until 5.30 p.m we would have time to enjoy more of Houston in the morning.....
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