I really hoped to be able write the follow-up of this
sooner. However I just figured out that the meeting with Stephane happenend already a month ago. So perhaps just a good time to go back and live in lovely mememories one more time
and continue with my promise
here.... After Stephane left
we stayed a little bit longer in the arena and then went to the ticket office to have a look what seats might be still available. Due to our decision to visit Verona just short before the event, it was no longer possible to book tickets online.
The rehearsal was such a good "appetizer" for hubby that he definitely liked to attend with me the show. So we decided to go immediately to the ticketcorner to check if there are still seats available and which one after the show.
Before I could say any word he had already choosen a category. He hoped to shock me when he said he has choosen this particular category
.But said, this will be for him a once-in-the-life experience and he really want to enjoy it the most possible. And then it got even better when I found out which places the clerk offered. It lookd like in this part where we had our meeting with Stéphane before or at least nearby... but I was not sure yet. So I was really looking forward to the show itself but also to find out if it's really in this area of the aerea we just sat... - I couldn't believe
. Seats exactly in this aera the meeting with Stéphane had took place before
. And the best of it, it was even on the aisle. Just perfect for us!! I was really not expecting having this much fortune at the last minutes. It was amazing! I was really happy and now even looking more forward to the show then ever before!!!
After this, discovering Verona was on our program. We loved very much what we have seen. Verona is really a beautiful town! Hope to return latest next year if there might be a new issue of Opera on Ice
.
And then we felt like it's definitely time for searching for a place to stay the next two nights as we booked our rooms before just on the spot.
Girls already warned me that it might be difficult to find an accomodation in Verona as hotels are nearly booked out due to different other big events at this time. But our hazel to find something affordable was even bigger then expected. It started that we had to find out that the WiFi access is not possible in Italian Mc Donalds for us due to not pre-installed aerial code of my country by McDonalds
. I hardly could believe this as it was the first time we encounted such a problem. Usually it was never a problem to get internet access in a Mc Donalds in any foreign country we visited lately. I was told by the staff member that registering without a fix address in Italy was not possible with my country code. And it will take time till this registration is accepted. Really complicated this proceder! On top of this I startet to feel sick with intestine problems suddendly
.
So we decided to continue our journey drove out of town and hoped to find find in another city a place with Wifi to check booking.com and other sites. We ended up in Dezenao in a vacation village which had free WiFi in the lobby. There we asked people, if we are allowed to use it. We searched for more then an hour but couldn't find anything available for two ore more nights which was not horribly expensive
! Then my accu run out of power
. So I asked where I could plug-in. And only by then we found out that this person who allowed us to use the WiFi was not a clerk but a host *oops*.
I don't know if the clerk or we have been more surprised about the situation
.
But what looked first to be very embarassing turned to be our luck. As we explained how desperate we are searching for accommodation for at least two nights, she said she can offer a studio with kitchenette. That was really a gift! It was a great place with direct view of the lake of Garda for a very reasonable price comparing to everything we have checked before! Usually you can rent those appartements only for at least a week. But it was our chance that the village was not sold out. And given our situation we didn't have to hesitate a second if we want to accept this offer or not
.
My stomach problems got worse and I started to feel really sick. So I went to bed imediately and was not in the mood to stay up one minute longer then necessary. Hubby had to go alone to the reastaurant for dinner and enjoy himself
.
Next morning I felt luckily nearly fine again. However had no envy to eat anything. So I put myself on some diet
but was very confident to be able to enjoy the upcoming show in the evening.
However during driving to the arena for attending the show and hubby having a small diner before the show, I started to feel worse again. Hubby choosen restaurant nearby the arena was really worth to go it. Everything was looking great he ordered and tasted delicious and I sat in front of a cup a tea... At least the tea was also one of the better once I had in my live ...
Thanks to this tea and medication I was really able to feel like being able to attend the show.
Finding our seats was not so easy. The waiter pointed to a section where we had a reling besides us which obstructed the view. That was a bit disappointing.
But then we found out that this seats aren't ours.... - A biiig smile occured on my face when I found the seats we paid for:
I couldn't believe
. Seats exactly in this aera the meeting with Stéphane had took place the day before
. And the best of it, it was even on the aisle. Couldn't have been perfecter for us!! I was really not expecting having this much fortune buying tickets at the last minutes. It was amazing! I was really happy and now even looking more forward to the show itself then ever before!!
Our expectations have been satisfied fully during the show.
It was so great to sit so nearby the athletes and on the same level as the stage and that being able to see there face near enough to sense their mood.
I can say that I really enjoyed every performance. Listening to classical live music is already itself is something that is stroking my soul so much. However in this enviorement of this gorgeous arena inVerona it adds other dimensions. And if this even combined with figure skating is definitely an outstanding experience!
When it was time for Stéphane's Ave Maria I felt even a bit like during his competitions in former times: I wanted so badly seeing him perform his best. It was somehow weird as I hadn't had this feeling for a long time. And even can't remember having had felt this for an exhibitions so intensly at any time before.
I got the impression that Stéphane was very much concentrated during the performance of Ave Maria. And I assume that he wanted to express holiness. But to be totally honest, I enjoyed to watch Stéphane's skating so nearby but the interpretation of this song didn't strike me as much as I expected from what Stéphane told us about during the meeting.
This changed totally after I watched the same performance here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHRsOTUFoWY&list=PLfYrHBBTBugrfMoQ5pUvXZBW1d6q7XA2I&index=20The choreographie of Ave Maria was "clearer" to recognize from this angle then from our seats! The spotlight showed patterns I couldn0t recognize in the same good way from my seat. And so I loved it to put together my own live impression with this upper vid. - And it was once again proofed that it is not always the best to sit closer to the stage
.
Thanks
to everyone who took the efford taking vids and photos and sharing them and there experience here . I appreciated all your effort so much. And enjoyed very much to have the chance to live once again thru all the performances not only in my imagation but also to "real" pictures!
And then there was a pause and time to walk a little bit around...
And for me it's now time to go to bed... (hope it doesn't take me again I month till I might continue for the last part)