Tag: Giuseppe Verdi

Europe 2022 Day 22 “More Opera?” Berlin, Germany 10/28/2022

by reissmd, posted in Berlin, Germany

When I left you yesterday we were on our way to the opera. Patrice bought tickets to see Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi. For those of you who are not opera buffs, I’ll tell you a little about the story. It takes place in Zaragosa, Spain in the 1500s. Question: If it takes place in Spain why are they singing in Italian and supplying libretto interpretations in German and English? The story starts with a Count sentencing a gypsy woman (already not politically correct) to be burned at the stake for being a witch. While she is being burned she yells out to her daughter to avenge her death. The daughter then proceeds to kidnap one of the Count’s sons. She plans to throw the son into the flames but in her excited state throws her own son into the fire. Yes, you are reading this correctly, it is not a typo. And this is just Act I. The story gets worse but I’ll spare you those details. There was one reassuring thing that happened to me. While exiting the theater Patrice said to me, “I don’t think I am an opera person”. THANK GOD!

This morning we again started the day with wonderful service and a delicious breakfast at the Hotel de Rome (Behrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin). Patrice had read about KaDeWe. This is a megastore with every imaginable commodity. It is more like a mall than a store. They have lots of very high-end merchandise.

From the Ubahn (subway station) it just looked like a big office building, nothing all that special. See below.

As you enter you can tell this will not just be an ordinary store. Look below to see who greeted us.

The first booth we saw upon entering was Louis Vitton and they had a line of people wanting to get in. See below.

Next door was the Rolex watch store where a security guard would only allow one customer in at a time. See the prices of these watches to know why. Here is one for €37,350.

Maybe this is more your style for only €17,600

Possibly you would prefer a bargain. Try this one for only €13,750.

Personally, I would be embarrassed to wear one of these watches. I couldn’t even imagine sitting with a salesperson looking at these things. It just reaffirms my notion that some people just have too much money. If you’re one of those people, please just ignore the previous sentence.

KaDeWe also has some fun stuff. Check out these donuts.

Seeing all this food made us hungry so we went to Käfer Dachgarten (Platz der Republik 1 Reichstagsgebäude, 11011 Berlin) for “High Tea”. The surroundings were great and we really enjoyed this relaxing time and snack. The restaurant offers a prix fixe meal with your only choice being the dessert. If you look at the pictures below you will see the “food” is tiny but the dessert (on the top tier of the tray) is rather sizeable.

I ordered the “White Coffee Edition” See below.

Patrice ordered the “Honey Mousse Edition”. See below

In order to enter this restaurant we had to show identification and go through security because the restaurant is part of the Reichstag (parliament) which is the home of the German Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament). Just outside the restaurant, there is a dome that was not open when we toured this area earlier in the week with Daniel. We were a little early for our restaurant reservation so we tried to tour the dome prior to tea. I wanted to find out the duration of the audio guide so I asked the young man who was collecting them. To my surprise, he didn’t speak English (all the other young people we have met here speak excellent English). I was undaunted, I pulled out Google translate and showed him my question in German. I then turned on the microphone and he spoke his answer. I looked at Google translate which told me he said “F-¢k I need Sunday”. I think and hope there was an error involved. We decided to come back after High Tea. On our return I was very pleased that we got to visit this structure. The city views were fantastic and the audio guide reinforced the information we have previously been told. Check out this view of the Brandenburg gate.

Well, it is time for us to pack and check in for our flight tomorrow. My last post for the trip will be tomorrow and I am planning to send a bunch of photos that have caught my interest. Thank you so much for your comments. It has made this very special trip even more wonderful.

sichere Reisen (safe travels)

Europe 2022 day #10. “Where Is My Baby?” Madrid, Spain 10/16/2022

by reissmd, posted in Madrid, Venice, Italy

Last night we went to the opera and watched a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata”.  The theater was formerly a palace and the work was performed by a very small ensemble.  There were three musicians and three singers.  The opera has three acts and each was performed in a different room with a 10-minute intermission allowing the audience to move to the next venue.  It was very enjoyable and I would consider going to another opera in the future.  Does anyone know when “Porgy and Bess” will be performed locally?

Upon entering we were greeted with this warning advice.
“Violetta” taking her bows. The room was very hot and unfortunately, we were in the back during every act.

We then had another great dinner, this time at Ristorante Acqua Pazza (S. Marco, 3808, 30124 Venezia VE).  We had an appetizer of Parma Prosciutto and Melon, followed by Pasta with Lobster for Patrice and Amberjack for me.  For those of you who never heard of Amberjack, join the club.  It is a very tasty fish and I was very pleased. 

Prosciutto and melon. Sorry, we were almost done eating it before I remembered to take a picture.

Today we left Venice and flew to Madrid. We went to the Venice airport (VCE) via water taxi followed by a standard taxi (if you consider a Mercedes standard). We were accompanied by our guide Anna Lisa who told us some facts about Venice that our previous guides either didn’t tell us or the information went in one ear and out the other.  It must have been the former since Patrice didn’t recall these tidbits.  If it had just been me I would assume it passed untouched threw my empty head.  

Traversing through the Venice airport went smoothly.  After making it through security we relaxed in the lounge waiting for our flight.  I got a bit of a fright because I dozed off prior to our 11:55 flight only to see this sign when I awoke

I initially thought it was 10 minutes after four but I soon realized it was the 16th of October. Phew!

Leaving the lounge I had a chance to see how far my Italian had progressed.   When we left I said “Grazie” (thank you) to the front desk clerk and she immediately replied in English.  I guess my Italian needs a little more work. 

The flight to Madrid went well, but the highlight of our trip was being greeted at the MAD airport by our favorite driver, our wonderful daughter Erica.  She brought us to our hotel and then lead us through a traditional Madrid activity.  We did laundry.  We still have 2 weeks left on our vacation so it was either do laundry or pay the tour company an additional fee for “hazard pay”. 

Patrice, Robert, and Erica at the laundromat.

After finishing the laundry, we got ready for dinner.  Erica and Patrice went to the hotel gym to work out and I took a nap.

I am looking forward to tomorrow when we do…….  Actually, I don’t know what we will be doing. 

Ciao.  

Oops, we are no longer in Italy. 

Hasta luego.