First Opera Performance

On Friday, we went to a nearby town called San Marino for the first opera performance. San Marino is actually a different country! They are a separate province, surrounded by Italy, that hasn't become a part of Italy. This province is about 30,000 people, all living on one mountain. It is mostly an old castle/fortress that has been very well preserved, lending itself to a lot of cool pictures!


The performance itself was located in an outdoor theater space.


There are two casts for every opera. This performance was the other cast, so although Leah (and I) were there in case something happened to the other cast members, she didn't have to perform, and we were free to scout out the town for several hours. We did some shopping, grabbed some pizza for lunch, and then climbed the hundreds of steps to get up the mountain to the lookout above.

The view was incredible! We found that we could see the Adriatic sea, probably at least 20-25 miles to our East, and then dozens of smaller mountains all around, and mostly to the West. There was a light mist hanging in the air with the afternoon sun, creating a really mystical look to all the far mountains.


The peak we were on seemed to be the highest in the area, and at one point was a sheer cliff down to the base of the mountain, and a consistent breeze was blowing off the top. We sat on a ledge with a bench for a while, cooling off and enjoying the sights. Eventually we left and continued exploring.



The sun was in our eyes and a little bright, so we just decided to close our eyes and take the picture anyway.


The performance was very good, and the Italians seemed to take a liking to it. They filled all the chairs set up, and stood around the sides, stairways, and upper levels up the mountain side. Sorry the pictures are kinda dark, but the people are there, trust me.


It was amazing that they stayed for the whole thing. In Italy, if the program says it is to start at 9 pm, it means everyone will finally arrive and the show start by 9:20 or so. If there are 15 minute breaks, they will be 30 minutes. The opera finally wrapped up at midnight, and we were on the bus about 1 am, and walked in the door to our apartment at 2 am. Ugh! We were glad we didn't have anything the next morning, and could sleep in!

The next picture needs some explanation...

It hit me the other day there was something fairly normal in the US that we hadn't see at ALL since we got to Italy.

Pickup trucks.

This is the ONLY truck that we have seen since we left the US:


Well, I'm on a train to Perugia to go help the Whitmans, so I had better wrap this up before my computer battery dies.

God bless!
Dave and Leah