Aida, Verona Opera Festival, 2011

Our main reason for going to Verona was to see the opera at the Arena. We went last year and booked seats at 76 euros (that's about $50 US, I think) and realised that the people seated on the stone steps for only 25 euros, were having just as much fun as us. But you have to get there early to grab a decent spot, especially at the weekend.

Once you're settled (and don't forget to bring a cushion, it doesn't matter how well-upholstered you are, you'll need one), you can enjoy watching the theatre fill up and the orchestra arrive. Sometimes the crowd are as much fun as the performance. During the interval, people come round selling all sorts of drinks and ice creams. Buy the red wine at your peril. I did. It was one of the worst things I ever drank.

This young man (below) is one of the vendors. He took a shine to a young woman seated near us. "Ah, there you are!" he shouted in perfect English, as a happy smile spread across his face. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you! What would you like?".

Blushing, she protested that she didn't want anything. "But for you, it is free!" he laughingly replied.

After that, he would appear in our section at every interval, and as soon as he saw her, he would beam with delight and offer her anything she wanted. Sadly, his approaches were charmingly rebuffed.

I thought maybe he was just a Romeo (after all, this is Verona) who tried his luck with any nice looking woman in the audience. But although we saw him on every one of our 5 visits, we never saw him behave that way again.

(Below) And here's the opera- Aida, by Verdi. It was a stunning production. They use all the space, right up to the top of the Arena.

And these are my stone-step climbing shoes. I knew you'd want to see them.