Opera - In the City of its Birth!

Since performing in three, Rachel has become an opera afficionado. (We think she is a mini Grandma Vi.) I have to admit, at first I thought she was faking it. I mean, it really can be a little boring watching people sing in a foreign language for a really long time. But after seeing her getting the DVD's from the library, and watching 2 or 3 hours of subtitled singing, as well as looking up the story lines on the computer, I decided it must be a real love. So, for her, I booked us tickets for an Opera in Firenze. The only one I could find during the time we were there was "The Barber in Seville". (We really would have preferred Tosca.) I told her at home ahead of time, and she did what she does - watched it and read about it. I read about it too, in my Opera for Dummies book. I promptly forgot the story line. Rachel gave us all a rundown at dinner right before the opera, and again I forgot the story line. After watching the whole first act, I decided I better read the program, and once I did, I really enjoyed the second act. Well, I enjoyed the whole thing, but it's so much better when you know who the characters are.

We saw our opera at St. Mark's English Church. The opera was in Italian, but the narrative before the acts was in English It was really wonderful.

OH!!! And I almost forgot. After the opera the manager called us a taxi and Milano 25 picked us up. This was the craziest taxi we've ever seen. The driver was fun. She has a poster saying she was driving a taxi to raise money for children with cancer.