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On New Years Eve I was treated to a night out by my grandaughter to Milans famous Opera House, La Scala. It was a ballet performance, Coppelia, and was very enjoyable. I had been there twice before, but it's always a pleasure to go back. We took the train from Como to Milan and then the subway to Piazza Duomo where the theatre is located after a short walk through the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele 11. It's been a long time since I've been to that part of Milan, especially at night, and to see the Duomo all illuminated was breathtaking. It must be the most beautiful building ever built, I couldn't stop admiring it. Of course very loud fireworks like bombs were being let off every two minutes so we decided to head towards the theatre. Easier said than done. The Galleria was jam packed with foreigners. Who wasn't Muslim was Asian. Milan is no longer the way I remember it, a very Italian city, but now fully multi cultural.

You paint a vivid picture Jean, hard to believe it's been almost 20 years since I was last in Milan. When I was there I was more interested in the San Siro and the old lambretta factory

Jean, I also visited Milan, not to sightsee, but like Bonzo to attend a football match at the San Siro stadium. I saw the Duomo from the outside, and it's easy to understand why you appreciate it so much.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to tune into a TV program
showing the great Luciano Pavarotti. I thought back to the 90's when we saw him performing live in Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida" at La Scala. My mother came over from Scotland and was with me and my husband, she was absolutely awe struck. Can't say the same for my husband who fell asleep half way through!
We were very lucky to obtain tickets which were impossibile to find. In this case it was through a friend of a friend of a friend who worked in a big hotel in Milan.

Jean, I've just finished watching a portrait of Pavarotti shown on German tv tonight. It reminded me of this photo:

https://threetowners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3051 Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

"Our" David Young and the great Pavarotti.

Someone I know was working at the Turnberry Hotel when Pavarotti was staying there in 1992, prior to a performance in Glasgow, and had the privilege of hearing the great man rehearsing. To hear him at close-quarters, he said, was an experience never to be forgotten.