So last weekend Pam and I finally made our first trip to New York City. (That’s Pam in the lower right corner sitting by the fountain. There will be more pictures in a later post.) We had a wonderful time. One of the things we decided to do, since it would be much more difficult to do after the baby arrives, was to take in an opera at The Met. (Those of you familiar with Saturday afternoon programming on CBC Radio 2 will know that the operas they air are usually operas that have been performed at the The Met in New York.) We saw the matinee performance of La Boheme by Puccini. Tickets can be anywhere from $50-$300+ at The Met. We arrived early Saturday so we could buy the cheap $20 standing room tickets. These tickets let you stand and watch the opera from the very back of the orchestra level. Standing for 3 hours was a little tiring–more so for Pam–but we managed.
It was an amazing experience. The music was superb and the sets were astounding. The second act takes place in downtown Paris at the turn of the century. There were about a hundred people on stage. There were jugglers, military marching bands, and clowns. At one point, a real, live horse pulled a cart across the stage! The next scene, set at the outskirts of the city, was replete with fog and falling snow. We were impressed. I even got to see Placido Domingo, one of the famous Three Tenors, through my binoculars; he was making his conducting debut at The Met.