As Maurizio said, it wasnt the highest quality crowd, but the people were there to see good opera, and really really enjoyed it. It wasnt some Andrea Bocelli hack (sorry mum!) it was real music, and it was accesible to so many people. That is good music.
One other thing i will never forget was the moon. The way we sat the moon rose over the back of the Arena and for the whole duration rose and rose over the Arena. It was the biggest fullest moon i have ever seen. Strong yellow and amazingly bright. It was fantastic.
It unfortunately had to finish though, and from there we went to a local restaurant where they were friends with the owners, which i got the feeling by now that these two guys were friends with the owners wherever they went. It was an incredible meal, proper italian cooking and in a great local restaurant. Maurizio (who i might mention has the last name of Ferrari, however, no relation), Ferruccio, Michaela and I spoke throughout the entire meal, and we had such a good time. We had no idea that the time was slowly ticking away, and we were having such a good time that when the Grappa came after the meal it was already 2:30. I nicked off the speak with the waitor and i said to him that it was incredibly important that we pay. But he would have none of it. He looked at me and simply smiled and said: 'im sorry, thats not possible.' 'But why?' i asked. 'Well sir, it's Ferrari'. And as simply as that i was rejected. When i returned to the table, i was met with a smile from Maurizio, 'sorry, you are our guest here and that is simply not possible'. No question. These were two guys who did things seriously right and proper. Ive never met nicer people, but i doubt ive met people who are more hospitable than these two. They made my time in Verona.
I simply find it so difficult to write down the kind of day i had, it was awesome.
Paz