It’s been a very happy birthday week!❤️
Friday, September 8.
The day of the opera, any opera, is always an exciting day for me.
We had dinner at Il Foyer beside the theatre.
I couldn’t believe how dressed up the people there were. A number of ladies wore ball gowns. I’d never seen that before. At least not for an ordinary evening at the opera, even in Milan where they do dress up but not in ball gowns.
Inside the theatre, the foyer was totally jammed. We could hardly squeeze through the crowds as we made our way to the entry doors. We headed straight to our seats.
It must’ve been because there wasn’t a chance to walk around the foyer, take in the ambience, smile at people we didn’t know, or take a selfie or two, that the evening lacked the special celebratory atmosphere I’ve always looked forward to on opera nights.
The air inside the theatre was stuffy. I was restless. I kept crossing and uncrossing my legs, shifting them from side to side. My feet were hot and achy. And to top it all off, the opera was boring.
There was no chance of champagne at intermission. The queue in the bar was too long. We went out to get some air. We walked to the park across the street and sat on a cool park bench. I looked at my feet. They were swollen.
We decided to leave.
We went back to the hotel where we kicked off our shoes (at least I did) and stayed in the Derby Bar until midnight.
Thursday, September 7.
We were in Italy for my birthday and as soon as they were available online, we got tickets to La Scala for The Barber of Seville.
But we didn’t care to stay in Milan just for the opera. The recently reopened Park Hyatt Milano had just undergone a two-year €20 million renovation and now lists a standard room at €2,000 a night.
Instead, we stayed in Monza, less than an hour’s drive from Milan.
Monza, a city with a rich history going back to the 5th century Kingdom of Lombardy, is these days best known as the home of the Formula One Italian Grand Prix and the rabid tifosi, the passionate fans of Scuderia Ferrari.
On the week after the Grand Prix however, Monza had settled back to being a lovely, serene, and very chic
city.
Monza’s beautiful Italian Gothic Duomo with its striking green and white marble striped facade, the Basilica of San Giovanni Battista, was built in the 13th century on the remains of a chapel built in the 6th century by the Lombard Queen of Italy, Theodelinda.
We’re staying at the exquisite Hotel de la Ville, across the street from the Palazzo Reale and the vast Reggia Savoia Park. The neoclassical palace built by the Habsburgs in the 18th century was subsequently used as the summer residence of the Savoy King Umberto I.
The hotel used to be the palace stables. It’s chock full of artwork and knick-knacks presumably inherited from the palace.
The guest room is lavishly furnished in a clubby English style with all the trappings and comforts of a lifestyle one would gladly get accustomed to.
