L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love)

When we walked out into Piazza San Marco at midday you could understand the fear that tourists are loving Venice to death. Angry locals are talking about limiting numbers, and in the area around St Mark’s you can see why. 

We don’t stay in this area at this time of day. We were walking toward Arsenale, the old shipbuilding district of the Venetian Republic and still a naval base. We were looking for the Naval History Museum. It appeared to be all shut up but a sign redirected us to the Shipping Hall. It was closed temporarily, for lunch we guessed correctly. So we sat and had antipasto and a spritz nearby and waited. 

The entrance to the Arsenal is quite magnificent. This was where Venice built the galleys that ruled the Mediterranean Sea.

The guardians of Venice’s naval heritage came back from lunch and we went into the cool old building and poked around the boats. There was everything from a WWII torpedo boat to traditional fishing boats and a state barge.

On the way home Lyn popped into the little local supermarket for some supplies. The guy ahead of her in the queue was interesting. (Lyn is telling me she needs 4 Euros.)

We had a quiet couple of hours and then headed to the opera house, La Fenice, to see Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. 

The opera was fun, comic and, especially when Irina Dubrovskaya let rip, magnificent. Lyn was sleepy so wandered around the galleries and found herself in an area where she could see into the wings. She was fascinated by the military discipline of the performers as they waited their cue. 

After the opera we walked back home via Piazza San Marco. The hordes were mostly gone and a couple of hundred people listened to the cafe orchestras and applauded happily. Everywhere, lovers wandered arm in arm.