Italy – Broady964

Italy, TravelOctober 23, 2016October 27, 2016

Amalfi in Monochrome

Amalfi in Monochrome. I keep adding images as the week progresses – tempted as I am to use colour, I want this post to be all about Monochrome. It goesContinue readingAmalfi in Monochrome

Italy, PhotographyApril 12, 2016April 16, 2016

Some images from the Italian lakes this week; wake up and smell the coffee. A tour day trip to attend a conference with colleagues from around the globe is a greatContinue readingBaveno, Lake Maggiore

Italy, Photography, TravelDecember 7, 2014December 8, 2014

Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como is somewhere in Italy that everyone should visit. I am going to show this beautiful place to you with some images from a trip I took in the summer ofContinue readingLake Como, Italy

Italy, Photography, Rome, TravelDecember 3, 2014December 3, 2014

Rome is for Lovers

I love Rome, so much so that I went again this year; but when I look back, nothing beats the summer trip last year – so lets go back… Continue readingRome is for Lovers

ItalySeptember 28, 2014September 28, 2014

Vatican City, Rome

Some early morning photos from a 7.00am walking visit to the Vatican, August 2014

ItalySeptember 3, 2014November 5, 2014

The Leica store, Florence

I think I have found my shopping heaven; tucked away around the corner from the tourists and the Ponte Vecchio. Subtle, discreet, tucked away and amazingly stylish, packedContinue readingThe Leica store, Florence

ItalySeptember 3, 2014November 5, 2014

A great lunch in Fiesole, Tuscany

My thanks go out to Kevin Bell, a happy traveller and old mate who I bumped into at Gary’s 50th birthday party in Ilkley. It was Kev, who knowing aContinue readingA great lunch in Fiesole, Tuscany

ItalyAugust 22, 2014November 5, 2014

Florence is a place of great beauty

Florence is best served early in the morning, with a cigarette and a double espresso, around 6.50 am this morning to be precise, I wish I could communicate the soundContinue readingFlorence is a place of great beauty

Italy, OperaAugust 17, 2014November 5, 2014

Aida at the Verona Arena

This was what we came for, and even at 100 euros a ticket, I would say it was a great value night, all four hours of it! Crazy night, fun,Continue readingAida at the Verona Arena

Italy, TravelAugust 15, 2014November 5, 2014

Churches, pizza, wine and shoe leather

OK, so time for a full on day being a tourist in Verona – that means wearing the skin of your feet, eating pizza and stopping off for the oddContinue readingChurches, pizza, wine and shoe leather

Italy, TravelAugust 15, 2014November 5, 2014

Italian trains, wine but no wi-fi

just saying… We spent most of the day yesterday on an a train of some sort, some good, some better than good, none as pleasant as a Swiss train though sadly!Continue readingItalian trains, wine but no wi-fi

Italy, Opera, TravelAugust 14, 2014November 5, 2014

Verona, Italy

A long day on the train was rewarded with an evening stroll into the beautiful city of Verona – our home for the next few days Shakespeare placed star-crossed loversContinue readingVerona, Italy

A long day on the train was rewarded with an evening stroll into the beautiful city of Verona - our home for the next few days

Verona Arena - the thid largest in the world

Shakespeare placed star-crossed lovers Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in Verona for good reason: romance, drama and fatal family feuding have been the city's hallmark for centuries. From the 3rd century BC Verona was a Roman trade centre with ancient gates, a forum (now Piazza delle Erbe) and a grand Roman arena, which still serves as one of the world's great opera venues. In the Middle Ages the city flourished under the wrathful Scaligeri clan, who were as much energetic patrons of the arts as they were murderous tyrants. Their elaborate Gothic tombs, the Arche Scaligere, are just off Piazza dei Signori.

Under Cangrande I (1308–28) Verona conquered Padua and Vicenza, with Dante, Petrarch and Giotto benefitting from the city's patronage. But the fratricidal rage of Cangrande II (1351–59) complicated matters, and the Scaligeri were run out of town in 1387. Venice took definitive control in 1404, ruling until Napoleon's arrival in 1797.

The city became a Fascist control centre from 1938 to 1945, a key location for Resistance interrogation and transit point for Italian Jews sent to Nazi concentration camps. Today, as the city grapples with its changing identity as an international commercial centre, it has become a Lega Nord (Northern League) stronghold. Yet the city is a Unesco World Heritage Site and a cosmopolitan crossroads, especially in summer when the 2000-year-old arena hosts opera's biggest names (including us).

some shopping to be done too - looks quite smart

The Arena - we will be watching Aida here on Saturday

Piazza Bra - where its all happening — Piazza Bra - where its all happens

Satup in bed now, listening to Aida - frantically trying to memorise two and a half hours of music, to get ready for tomorrow night down at the Arena, Verona. It would seem that Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born on the 9th October 1813 and left this earth on 27 January 1901 - over 113 years ago; so how come he's such a big deal? Clearly he was an Italian Romantic composer primarily known for his operas. I am advised by Wikipedia that he is considered, together with Richard Wagner, the preeminent opera composer of the nineteenth century. Well, I will be the judge of that after I have sat with a numb bum for four hours tomorrow night in the open air! It would also seem that Aida was a runaway success - following the very first performance in Cario on Christmas Eve 1871, the opera went on to great critical acclaim and was performed around the world - and still is to this day, making it the second most performed opera in the world, after La Beheme.

Email
broadbent.c@googlemail.com

Category: Italy