We ate breakfast at the hotel, loaded our belongings into the bus, and deaded out for a morning in Milan. THe highlight was the cathedral, Il Duomo di Milano. The Duomo defies description. It is the single most amazing thing i have ever seen. The outside is all gray stone, but every wall is covered with statues and intricate ornamentations. THe inside is enormous and even more extravegantly decorated. There are paintings and sculptures everywhere you turn, even up by the ceiling where the light doesn't shine on them. The entire floor is a pattern of inlaid stone. Inside there are four rows of pillars, each about twele feet in diameter. Outside, each one is topped with an ornate spire. There are over a hundred spires. I felt I could have sat in the Duomo for a day and still not have been able to take it all in. After some eating and shopping time in Milan, we got in the bus and headed across the rolling hills of Tuscany to FLorence, or Firenze as the locals call it. We found our place of lodging, a youth hostel with cool things like a pool, pool tables, and a rooftop square. Three KU students happened to be there as well. After a bit of downtime, we ate supper at the hostel's resaurant and decked out in our pretty clothes, walked to the venue where we would see Puccini's "La Boheme". On the way there, we had a great view of the Ponte Vecchio, Florence's famous bridge. We knew the opera would not be in an actual opera house, but most of us were expecting and auditorium of some kind. We were suprised to walk into a church with a sanctuary about the size of Northlawn 109. There were also columns in the middle of the room. The only intrument was a piano. It was about the smallest space possible in which to put on an opera. The intimate space and the exclusion of some characters left me with low expectaitions, but these were all dispelled when they began to sing. The level of musicianship of the gour performers was jaw dropping, and was only helped by the acoustic. It was a treat to hear all for acts. I personally loved it. I read in the program afterward that St. Mark's Opera Company is a non profit enterprise that supports children's homes in South India. In the bio of the lead soprano, it said she has performed in Milan at La Scala, which Ken told us is one of the premier opera houses of the world. Yet here she was in a church with 100 seats. This company can truly be described as a group of extremely talented musicians doing what they love. We got back to the hostel late, and not much elso to do but sleep.
Sam Kauffman
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