"Let us drink from the goblets of joy Adorned with beauty…" ~ La Traviata

Not exactly known for its night life,

Venice does offer a unique blend of Baroque and Opera performed in churches or ancient "Grand Schools".

Not being extremely fond of opera,

I went along with low expectations in tow...

weaving through the twinkling streets 

to the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro, built in 1580.

The setting is small and intimate as the soloists and ensemble musicians approach the stage 

down the center aisle of the audience to perform I Musici Veneziani.

The next thing I know,

sadly the show was over and this new opera convert 

was walking hand in hand back to the hotel singing 

Ah bravo Figaro. 

Bravo, bravissimo... 

under a full moon.

Like I said before,

Venice is magical.

Happy Thursday.

"Opera is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings." ~ Robert Burns

A day that begins with a garden party and ends with...

opera in the park...

under these skies...

sharing a picnic and boxed wine with good company...

is an excellent day.

Seated on blankets amongst the crowd of two thousand...

the subtitles actually helped the story along...

but definitely sounded better in Italian.

As the sun lowered behind the trees along the west border of Duthie Park,

it wasn't until the end of the second interval,

 that dark thirty descended on the crowd.

A beautiful night in the park...

 and a casual, relaxed way to enjoy opera.