A Night at the Opera

On the night of Saturday, August 20th my lady got fancied up and had a night out at the opera.  It was held at Teatro Solis aka Solis Theater (pictured below and in a previous post)

Teatro Solis is Uruguay's oldest theater, having been built in 1856, and is currently government owned.  The theater is located in the Plaza Independencia (Cuidad Vieja district)


In 1998, the government of Montevideo started a major reconstruction of the theatre. The reconstruction was completed in 2004 with the re-opening taking place in August of that year. Acoustic studies of the rehabilitation project was entrusted to the French studio AVEL ACOUSTIQUE (Jerome Falala)
The show consisted of two operas

First was "Cavalleria Rusticiana"

The orginial composer:

Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni (December 7, 1863 – August 2, 1945) was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music.

The musical direction was conducted by Carlos Vieu.... Excellent!

Second came "Pagliacci"(Players, or Clowns)

Original composer:

Ruggiero Leoncavallo: 23 April 1857 – 9 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer.

The opera consisted of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe. (Its name is sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci.)


Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on May 21, 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio,Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Nellie Melba created the role of Nedda in London in 1892, soon after its Italian premiere, and in New York in 1893.


It is the only opera of Leoncavallo that is still widely staged.

Sorry, couldn't take any photos during the show.. would have been tacky, plus I was caught up in being part of high society for a few hours before returning to our humble but cute apartment

A few more pictures

A few days ago I took about a 10 mile walk (i have no idea if that is accurate but it took a long time)  the walk was mostly along the Rambla which is a walking/biking path along the rio de la plata that wraps around the edge of the city bordering the water.  I walked it from my apartment until arriving at the central port, from their I walked back up through the city hitting up the parrilla that I went to on my birthday, sitting in the plaza de Indepencia, sitting down for some coffee and a chivito (steak sandwhich with lots of heartattack causing ingredients) at a cafe called Facal, and then finished off the walk by finding my way back home.  here are just a few pictures from the walk

 Fex Ex... just wanted a touch of home

My Birthday July 6th (3 days after arriving in Uruguay)

 This restaurant was featured on Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations" and is a typical Uruguayan parrilla (grill) The food was absolutely amazing.  I've had some really nice meals down here so far but this one takes the cake.  Below is a grilled piece of mozzarella with oregano.  I took my lactose enzyme pill and it was Delicious!

 Chorizo, Blood Sausage, and Grilled Red Pepper

 Grill men hard at work. the heat comes from wood not charcoal or gas

 I got really excited when they let me near the grill

 Theatro Solis

 Don't know why I took or posted that picture

 Cafe Facal

 Churros.. mmmmmmmm

 People in love put locks all over the railings behind us to symbolically lock in their love forever... we have three such locks

Can't find the pics right now but later that night we went to a really cool tango show and drank vino to top off a wonderful birthday... Uruguayan Style!

Aaron's First Solo Walk Around Montevideo

So i'll start by saying I got lost real quick, but I did that on purpose. That's my story and i'm sticking to it!

 In our local neighborhood Punta Carretas Defensor Sporting Club is a top Uruguayan Futbol division club which we have adopted as our team! Go Violets! Go Tuertos!

This isn't actually their stadium but rather an athletic club for the organization.  The stadium is on the other side of  Parque Rodo... very near by

Estadio Luis Fanzini

This obviously is a secondary relationship to my primary one with ARSENAL F.C. GO GUNNERS!

A few pictures from Parque Rodo (a large park near our apartment)

Looking from the park onto the Rio de la Plata (big ass river between Uruguay and Argentina)

The park host artist exhibits year round. here I caught a picture of a piece of art depicting a woman, with a live human man standing behind in the perfect position to be her legs... art meets real life!

A historian kicking around the futbol... made think of my dad

 The beach along the Rio de la Plata

 A University

 La Rambla (aka a boardwalk that goes all around the portion of the city that boarders the Rio de la Plata, which is extensive

And now a collection of street graffiti