My friends wanted to go to Basilica San Antonio in Padova. So we hopped on the Trenitalia Eurostar from Bologna. The church was a bit of a blur. The weather was miserable as it rained non stop - and thanks to the portici we weren't too drenched. We found a table at Trattoria dei Paccagnella. It's a quiet establishment with a narrow entrance - if you didn't look you would have missed it.
OK, we were no longer in Bologna, but the food was still fabulous. I pinched my friend's deep fried baby cuttle fish - every mouthful was "melt in the mouth" delicious (OK I only had one as I wasn't allowed more). My gnocchi was made of chestnut flour sitting on a bed of cream of baccala. Somehow, all the tastes really worked well together.
Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.
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