No Time to Write

It is Wednesday evening and I am supposed to be having a rest before going to Aida this evening. I am having a very good and full time. This will be brief.

Monday – test to find which of 4 classes we should be put into. Lunch in canteen - cheap but bit ordinary. Afternoon went into main part of town to get a card which gives me access to the Verona wide wireless network – assuming the local hotspot is up and running ( not always the case here I have found) . Helen and I have a new friend who we get on well with. I shall call her M. She laughs and helps us behave like 3 silly school girls sometimes. She is good at not letting me get too serious about things. We had afternoon tea at a nice café and in the evening went to a nice restaurant nearby.

Tuesday. I am pleased with the class I am in. I have to work, but I do not feel out of my depth. We go to class from 9.30 to 11 and 11.30 to 1. Yesterday afternoon we went to a talk on Aida. It was very interesting. A gentleman described as a maestro went through the story talking about and playing the music on the piano associated with the different characters. In the evening we 3 and another from our class went looking for a nice bar. We found one right next to an old Roman gate in a nice part of town and sat sipping , in my case, an aperativ della casa for about an hour watching the beautiful people walk past. The restaurant we were heading for was full so we found another in a beautiful piazza that did not cost an arm and a leg. We had a nice meal. Sitting next to me was a lady on her own who we all spoke to , but I talked to her most. She was there to go tango dancing in the next piazza, so we had to stay and watch them for a while, which meant yet another late night.

This morning, like yesterday, I went for a walk before breakfast. It was lovely to see the sunrise over the city. After lunch we 3 plus another different class member found a little suburban restaurant that does not cater for tourists. It was very nice. Noone was game to have the dish that contained horse meat – a local delicacy. Helen had a dish very similar to 1 I had several years ago in Mantua – not far down the road – of ravioli like pasta filled with pumpkin and crushed amaretti biscuits in a sage and butter ( I think) sauce.

I have now to get into my glad rags for the opera. I have arranged it so the best of my 2 pairs of pants ( black) and the nicest of my shirts are clean, but a joke was made of my attire earlier today, so I now have to clean my shoes to show I have made some effort.

It is now Thursday morning and I am sitting in the classroom 1/2 before the lesson starts. Did I mention homework? Funny about that - it seems to fall off the bottom of ech day's list. Too much eating and drinking and living to do.