I know, I know....this is a cycling journal. But, there may be times when I just have to take a slight detour into Italian life and culture.
If you are visiting Verona during the summer months you can take in an evening opera at the Arena di Verona. The Arena di Verona is a Roman amphitheatre which is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. Built in 30 AD (!) it is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind in the world. This year's playbill will include Turandot, Aida, Madama Butterfly, Carmen and Il Trovatore.
It's nice to do some riding during the day in the hills, return to Verona in the afternoon and watch classic opera in the evening in the stunning Arena. Recent visitors such as Peter (aka as "Pietro"), and Buzz and Maria have done just that.
From time to time there are good popular music concerts concerts as well. The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton (I didn't get a chance to ask him about his Cinelli) are among the concerts I've seen at the Arena.
All of which brings me to "Bella", in Italian, from a performance of "Notre Dame de Paris" at the Arena:
Arena di Verona program information can be found here.
Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondo, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,200 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. Cinelli fan? Visit CINELLI ONLY.
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We went once to the opera at Verona and had a great time seeing Aida. But boy, was it HOT! Since then we've suggested folks avoid Italy in August and spend July only in the high mountains where it's not as warm.
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