A Night at the Opera

Once upon a time, I took a class in college where I was really exposed to opera music. I remember we had a guest come and sing Nessum Dorma from Turandot--probably the prettiest thing ever written--and i was enraptured. My parents both love opera music as well and took us to a neighboring opera town where we saw Tales of Hoffman and something else. I love opera music. On the pyramid of music, it rests on the pinnacle as the best of all kinds. Sean didn't know much about it before ye olde marriage but I showed him some pieces and he now loves it just as much as I do. Probably the one useful thing i've brought to the marriage, thus far. That and my mad Mario Kart skills which will bring us fame and fortune one day.

So for a Vday/Bday celebration, I surprised Sean with tickets to Otello at the Metropolitan Opera. It was wonderful and I just felt so good to be in such a culturally enriching atmosphere. This would make me sound like a snob were it not for the last sentence of the previous paragraph.

We also stayed in a hotel so we wouldn't have to hoof it home after the show and that was almost the best part. Here we are trying to look hot, for our night on the town.



Sean really nailed the pout here... he said he felt like Zoolander. This picture is a little weird/cool. It looks like we're mirror images of each other. No really. Our mouths, noses, eyes, etc, perfectly align. How interesting. We are geometrically proportionately made for each other.



We ate dinner at a very nice restaurant nearby and our food was delicioso. The dessert was probably the highlight. I am such a fan of fancy desserts. I love them so very much. I really appreciate presentation too. There is a real part of me that yearns to be a pastry chef. Then i remember i can't really cook. Oh well. I can, however, partake. And that we did. I found this picture on google and it's not exactly how it was, but pretty darn close.



Dark Chocolate Bag, is what it was called. This "bag" was filled with whipped cream with berries on top and further inside the whipped cream was this dense raspberry whipped cream insanity that would bring tears to your eyes.

Here is a picture of the opera house which sits between where the ballet performs and where the philharmonic orchestra performs.



Here's a picture of me walking in front of the Philharmonic building. I am sure that's its official name.



Here is a picture of us in front of the opera house.



It's so beautiful inside. All gold and velvet. You feel fancy pants just being in there. It's fun to be surrounded, too, by people who love opera as well. Here is the view from our seats. You can see Sean down to the left where he was scoping out the place during intermission.



Here is a picture of me when i was totally expecting Sean to take my picture one centimeter away from my face.



the ceiling was crazy cool and Sean was especially a fan.



Otello was great. Renee Fleming was great and I felt cool to know who that is. We had such a great time, we rushed home and bought tickets for La Boheme in April. I heart La Boheme and i am totally psyched. Woooot!

Ok, sorry for the videos. I normally never really take the time to watch them myself, on people's blogs, for some reason. But if you're interested (I just typed "interesting." ha! that too), listen to about the first minute and a half of this. At about 39 seconds is where my heart breaks and crumbles to the floor. Oh Pavarotti... oh Puccini...



And that was our fun weekend!

oh wait. We went to an IMAX movie the next day and here is the longest escalator ever. No no... that one would be in the High Street subway station, where you realize just how deep in the underbelly of the city you are and all sorts of pleasant claustrophobic sensations fill your gut.