Aida or the weird French version of it

On Saturday, Dawn and I got to see Aida the Opera. It was good. It was really like an orchestra with opera singers in front of them. There was no stage, no set, no real lights, no real costumes...nothing. It was well sung but not at all acted. The lights were just white lights above the "stage" which was really like a lecture hall kind of stage. Don't get me wrong, for only paying like $7 for an opera, I got a good deal but it wasn't like real opera. The supertitles were in French (obviously) and way too small to read. My eyes were super strained by the intermission and I had a hard time staying focused because I could barely read the supertitles. We had great seats though. We were on the 2nd balcony on house right. Right below some great box seats. I can't really complain since I didn't pay much but I was for sure disappointed that it wasn't a spectacle like you come to expect of real opera. It was about 2 hours, 45 minutes long with another 20 minutes tacked on for bows.

This is the Opera Berlioz where we saw the show (view from the stage to the audience):

After the opera, we had a glass of wine at a cafe (very French I know and have I mentioned that wine is cheaper than getting a coke at a cafe?) and then went to Dawn's for pasta dinner (this is the 4th day in a row I have had pasta for at least one meal) and just some chatting. I got to talk to Dawn's boyfriend David on the phone today. Only because I heard his accent and I was like "ooh, boy Scottish accent, that's different from Dawn's girl Scottish accent." So she put me on the phone with him and it was so awkward. He thanked me for taking care of Dawn while she was here which was really touching.


British word lesson of the day: Scooty cream = whipped cream in a can. In a sentence: I love Scooty cream on my ice cream and even on my hot chocolate. (It should be noted that I don't think this is an actual British word but rather Scottish slang among Dawn and her friends. When asked if I could ask for "Scooty cream" in a grocery store and they would understand me, Dawn hesitated. I took that as her trying to teach me slang and trick me into embarrassing myself in a grocery store.)