We were kindly invited to visit our friends Alberto and Angelica, who's children Pablo and Vali go to school with the boys. We all decided to go and see an opera at Verona on the friday night at the Arena an ancient colosseum that has been turned into a opera stage over the summer. After driving at 130- 140 km an hour, as Angelica wanted to make up for lost time, l was rather nervous trying to keep up l must say. We went first to a great restaurant on the lake called La Darsena, we had a view over the lake, and there were boats moored here, they had come for lunch, it was perfect. After lunch we went back to their holiday house, which is also on the water, had a swim and bake, an aperitivo, the kids loved it , swimming and diving into the lake, it is so picturesque, a great retreat from the heat and hustle and bustle. We left for Verona, a short distance away , they were staying at a lovely hotel and all the kids were staying there with them in a second room, as it worked out better with the baby sitter, we stayed only 15 minutes by foot away, at a simpler hotel, but without the kids. We met at the arena, they had been given 3rd row seats, and we ended up getting the cheap seats, sitting on blocks of stone, which after being in the sun all day, were bloody hot, luckily we were warned and had bought some padded rubber cushions to sit on , others around us had not, they wiggled around trying to find a cool point. It was a terribly hot day and night, and l am thankful we had cheap seats. Down in the arena were the expensive ones, they were fanning themselves at a rapid rate, as there was no wind, for us in the bleeders, we had a small breeze that was like an air conditioner.
The next day we met after breakie and went for a quick walk around the town, we saw Juliet's balcony, from Shakespeare play, which was weird as she did not really exist, but that did not seem to matter the millions who have visited, and for some strange reason leave chewing gum stuck on the walls and gate there, odd, very odd. Verona is very lovely, its main piazza is incredible with the arena there, and a long row of cafes, but it is full of tourists, and you just get the feeling you are being ripped off. What was interesting was seeing the stage sets of all the other operas out the back of the arena, every few days they change over, quite remarkable, you admire the designers and crew who put them together. We then went to have lunch at some friends of theirs who have a holiday house just in the hills around Verona, it was a enclosed estate with about 10 villas or apartments, a shared garden, large pool and tennis court. We had a terrific time under the trees having lunch or in the pool. They were very lovely people, both lawyers.
Later that day we drove slowly back to Bologna.
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