Verona is the largest mainland city in the Veneto region and is about an hour and a half out of Milan on the fast train. However, if at the train station the conductor discovers that your fast train isn't working and he makes a single announcement that everyone going to Verona needs to get off the train and run to Track 10 to catch the slow train, you'd better get off and head toward Track 10. And go quickly because everyone else is running there - juggling bags and children and bottles of water - and there are not going to be enough seats on the slow moving, certainly not air conditioned slow train.
So we rode the slow train, stopping at more than a few towns between Milan and Verona. It wasn't air conditioned. And it was packed with people standing in the aisles and jammed into every seat. There might have been a hot humid breeze but I didn't feel it. I was too busy hovering in that confused state somewhere between overheated and passed out. I got through half a Vanity Fair magazine but have only faint recollections of the content.
Upon arriving in Verona, there was a memorable game of Human Frogger as we traversed a multi-lane highway with our suitcase and a German we found in the middle of the road. Our initial hotel room lacked a working shower and functioning AC so we had to revisit the front desk to switch rooms. At this point we were slightly behind schedule so there was no showering and no dining - just a rush to the grand event of the evening.
We came to Verona for opera. To see Carmen, in fact. And not in any old opera house. Oh no. We were there to see Carmen performed in a Roman arena from the first century AD. It is an immense and grand venue, with pink marble rows climbing up, up and away. Two thousand years ago crowds of 20,000 would come to watch gladiator battles at the same site.
We arrived about fifteen minutes before the performance was set to begin (9:15pm) and it was very clear that people had staked out the general admission seats several hours ago. We were being directed into any and every crevice of space along the rows. Lucky for us, our late arrival secured us the best seats in the house. We were squeezed into the absolute last row of the arena. The row at the far top, backed only by the night sky and views of the Piazza below. It was a perfect place to sit and gave us access to whatever gentle summer breezes were blowing that night.
As the opera was set to begin, singular flames started to glow all across the arena. Tiny pin points that blossomed into constellations and then a blanket glow across the space. These were not giant candles or flashlights or cell phone screens. These were small, slight candles akin to birthday candles and we'll know to bring them next time.
The opera itself was wonderful and entertaining if not mysterious - we hadn't purchased a libretto and so had no clue what was going on in the French story line. We've since used our Opera Encyclopedia to discover that it's a sad and passionate story. Even with no clue as to what the words meant we were happy to hear them carried to the highest seats.
The opera didn't finish until well after 1 am and I'm sorry but parading 300 real horses onstage - an upgrade from the five or so that they had onstage for Carmen - still wouldn't keep the audience from getting tired. In fact there was an audible groan from the 7,000+ plus in attendance when the third and final intermission was announced as twenty minutes long. It was already after midnight.
I have to be honest and say that we stuck with it for three of the four acts. We are not cowards and we are not weak in the face of colossal opera - we sat through a five hour Wagner performance at the Lyric in Chicago. But we were hungry, it was hot, and certain members of our party do not have as much personal padding as others and so 3+ hours on marble is going to take its toll. We simply pretended the opera was three acts long and headed out into Verona to find some midnight dinner.
But I do have to say, under the hot Italian night encircled by Roman ruins and thousands of people - that's the way to see opera. Even if you do have to leave a little early.
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