Opera.

We went into Lucca to do some errands in preparation for our stay there, which begins towards the end of this week. We'll be moving to a private apartment inside the city walls, which promises to be a new experience. Staying in Lido has been great. It does allow us to retreat from Italian life a bit, though: here we have a broadband connection, cable television with British and American news networks, and a library of books written in English. We will expect none of these cultural buffers in Lucca.

During the pausa we met an American couple day-tripping to Lucca (their son is the U.S. military, based in Livorno). We were able to spend a little time with them, and it was a bit of an ego boost to realize how we now take for granted knowing our way (generally) within Lucca and dealing easily with many everyday matters.

Not that we can't sometimes use some help... we went to Tourist information to get leads on car rental agencies within walking distance of our apartment (we'll need to return Vivienne's car to her, and at the very least need to drive ourselves to Rome from our out-going flight). While speaking with the (German) lady at Tourist Info we learned that there would be a full performance of La Boheme at the opera house that very evening.

We waited around town for the ticket office to open, got one of the few remaining seats and went back to the house for a nap and a early meal. The performance was very good, although the sets were a bit odd: the "garret" scenes were set on a slanted rooftop with opening skylights from which actors could pop in and out. I found that fearing for their safety was a bit distracting.

The theater itself was fairly small and designed on the traditional rounds of tiered boxes with a gallery in back (our seats). An old building with a more recent (1817) updating, the Teatro del Giglio is looking a just a little threadbare inside but the old wood and plastic contribute to its good acoustics. The main price for the intimate setting seemed to be the accumulated heat, towards evening's end, of a full house of 950 patrons. But see the what is arguably the world's most popular opera, in the hometown of it's composer...