We had to be out of the bnb by 10:00, so we dragged our bags a few streets until we found some pannini for lunch, then we went to the station. It was heaving with people trying to buy CT tickets, and waiting for trains. So we sat for a bit over 2hrs, and by 12:50 were on our way.
We went by the coast until Genova, then headed inland, through tunnels, and then past rice paddies.
We got to Milan after 16:00, and were settled in by 16:40. We didn't have long to sit around, because tonight was our BIG NIGHT OUT, for Kulture. Before we called in to Milan in 2000, I had tried to look up La Scala on the internet, but they weren't very tech savvy at that time. Now they are, and at horrendously great expense I had bought quite good tickets to the opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" by Richard Strauss. Its synopsis lead me to believe it would be fun, so off we went to our box, only 2 removed from the poshest seats in the house.
I had assumed that the floor would be tiered, so that the back 2 (us) could see over the heads of the middle 2 and front 2, but I was wrong. The front 2 got regular chairs, the middle 2 had higher stools, and we had high bar stools, but at least the added bonus of being able to lean against the back wall, which the middle 2 didn't have. Our companions didn't arrive until the last minute - 3 Japanese ladies, who spoke varying degrees of not-much-English. We were able to turn on the mini screen with libretto (3 languages) which helped us a lot, but I'm sure that they didn't know what the story was about.
So, the 'prologue' was good, and hinted that part 2 would be good too, but it wasn't. It was boring, and we kept going to sleep and nearly falling off our perches. I don't know what R Strauss' aim was, but it certainly wasn't entertainment. But we were there, taking photos at the interval like many others, and sweltering and being bored during the performance. We didn't blame the singers, they were good, but the story wasn't.
So we got to see the Duomo all lit up
So by the time we got home it was late. Jude was online, so I video-called her, and we chatted for a while. She and Doug are heading to UK, France and a Med cruise, and won't be home till November. Bon Voyage, and stay clear of those cruise people with sticky numbers.
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