I had had such a fantastic day to that point that i thought it would be hard to top it from there. In short, i was wrong.
The two friends who my parents had met were meeting us in the hotel as they too were staying there (yes that was the reason we were in Verona, but after having such an enjoyable time there i almost forget that i was there to see the opera!). My mum and dad said look for two guys who look like garden gnomes. We had been staking out the breakfast room, trying to guess who they were. When i was in the room getting ready, they called and said that we would meet them in 5 minutes in the lobby, and to look for two men, one who looks like he goes to the gym, and one who looks like he never has. Now that narrowed down the field!
We went down and we so nicely greeted by the two guys, Maurizio and Ferrucio, and sat down promptly for a cocktail. It didnt bother them that we were running seriously late, a drink is a drink, and when man needs one, man has one! I found it so easy to talk to these guys, they were simply so kind. Remember, these are two guys who i had never met! Ever! and they invited me to the best opera in the world! Thats not bad, they had only met mum and dad once! It doesnt get much more hospitable than that. They were very interested in my year and what i was doing in Europe, and why Austria, all the questions, but they were actually interested, not just to be polite. We set off together for the Opera in the Arena.
On the way i spoke a lot to Ferruccio and we exchanged various stories and thoughts, it was really nice, he was a very easy and interesting person to talk to. But i couldnt contain my excitement about going to the opera.
We rounded the corner into the main square with the wing of the Arena always towering above us. We made our way inward and took our seats right at the front, i mean, you dont get better seats. It wasnt until i looked around that i realised the immense size of the Arena and the amount of people in there. It was simply incredible. Then i looked forward and saw this set, it was bigger than anything i have ever seen. There were three gongs before the start of the opera. The first i was excited, the second even more so, and on the third i couldnt sit in my seat any longer!
But it finally got underway. The opening was quite impressive. The music was superb from the outset and the singing was simply divine. I was most impressed however, when it came to the anvil chorus, or the gyspy dance, as it is also known. I counted and numbered 300 people or more on stage, 10 horses, two anvils, and a bunch of dancers with castanets. It rocked! Then when it came to Di Quella Pira, the crowd went nuts after he sung it. They were going so crazy that they started the music again, and just sung the aria once more. Ummm, ok i have never seen that. But it was so cool.