Fourth day in Verona

It was another full-on day- some achievement as here too we had temperatures in the high 30s. We walked to Castelvecchio.

Grandcarne, the greatest of the ruling Scala family, built this castle but it’s now a museum.

This contained many art works by Mantegna, Veronese and Tintoretto but sadly no air conditioning. So we sweated and sweltered.

After this we took a minibus to Grezzana just outside Verona for lunch in a magnificent villa now owned by the Arvedi family. The frescoes in the main salon were something to behold.

After a rest we went for dinner at Antica Bottega di Vino reckoned to hold Verona’s finest wine cellar.

The lecturer, when he has downed a few, tends to open up on personal matters. He spoke of his divorce which prompted the lady opposite to hold forth on her husband leaving her after 43 years for a woman half his age.

Rather hypocritically I cooed my sympathy

The evening ended with La Traviata at the Arena.

By general consent this was the best opera so far.

The sets were magnificent and the singing – especially Simone Pizzala as Germant – attracted generous acclaim and applause.

I could not disagree but another finish after midnight, the extreme heat, a noisy audience and poor facilities made me yearn now for a more traditional opera house.