Get in the Building

In Milan there is an opera house that must be experienced. I was told while we were planning for our trip that we should try to see an opera there, even planning our trip dates around it, if possible. I looked up their calendar weeks before and found that there would be a ballet performance one night during the week we were there. Convinced that we should go, I bookmarked it and later showed it to my guy. Tickets were up to 200 euro each, about $250 US. It was a lot of money, but I really wanted to go. My guy didn’t commit, saying we could go if I really wanted to, but it would mean sacrificing something else.
We made our way to the fantastic city of Milan, and I was blown away by so many aspects of it that I didn’t push the issue with attending the ballet. As we were walking through the city, we suddenly encountered Teatro Alla Scala, a massive building from the late 1700’s.
As we walked around the side of the building we heard a man calling out numbers to a group of about 100 people. I remembered reading that on the day of the performance, a small number of tickets would be sold for a fraction of the cost. I told my guy and before I could finish my sentence, he was pushing through the crowd, determined to get us some tickets. I kept trying to tell him all the reasons why he shouldn’t bother; there was no way they would still be available, we were dressed as tourists, not opera goers, and I’m not sure what else I said.
Four hours later we were sitting on the last row of the top tier of Teatro Alla Scala, taking in the ballet in one of the world’s renowned opera houses. Our tickets? 11 euro each. We had to enter through a side door and climb a plain set of stairs instead of mixing with those who paid full price. We were dressed in shorts, t-shirts and sandals, while others were wearing cocktail dresses and tuxedoes. We were sitting on the sixth balcony in the last row of the place, needing to stand in order to see the stage. This picture was from the area where we were seated.
I realized a couple of things from this experience; I need to trust my guy more because he is notorious for asking for things and getting them while I assume the answer would be no. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t arrive like the masses, as long as you get into the building, you’re seeing the same ballet as everyone else.