Checking must-sees off my list

Poor Pisa almost got forgotten. Before Colin and I even made it to Corsica, we stopped through Pisa for a picture and a pizza. Due pizze.

And then last weekend a small group of us went to Verona for the final show of their 2010 Opera Festival. Originally we expected to just be three, but we ran into a handful of SAISers at the Bologna train station and ended up being nine.

Some of the group was new, so there was a lot of the getting-acquainted conversation at lunchtime. Distracted by the best gnocchi I’ve ever had, I didn’t take part in much of it.

We split up again to walk around the town a bit before meeting up for a quick bite before the show. The staff at the restaurant we ate at had some fun with us.

Juliet's balcony

The only other people at the restaurant who got crowns (and later, balloons) were around 7.

The opera was Aida, and the plot was mostly propelled by arias sung by individuals on a near-empty stage for three and a half hours. I knew what was going on because of a synopsis the couple next to us had given me, but would have otherwise been pretty lost. The stage and set were really fantastic, though, and it was certainly an enjoyable night.

Our original three, Colin, me, and Simone, from Germany, had made reservations at a guesthouse, but the other six caught a 3:30 a.m. train back to Bologna to get to class at 9. Unpleasant.