Symphony!

I didn't take either of the above photos, but the complex is so amazing and so cool that I needed to somehow illustrate. Last week, Fulvia asked if I wanted to go to a concert with her, I said sure, because why not? Her parents have season tickets for the symphony, and they take turns between Fulvia, her sister, and her parents, so they all go to the symphony once a month. We were using her parents tickets, but then they were there too because they were using tickets belonging to her father's cousin.
We heard a violin concerto by Sibelius, and the soloist was an American, Sarah Chang -- backing her up was the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra. The second part was a symphony by Brahms, which was really fantastic. The whole evening was such a huge treat.
The complex was under construction when we were living here, and so it's brand new and amazing. The architect was Renzo Piano, and the complex is called Parco della Musica. Basically it looks like three beetles facing each other, and in the middle there is an ancient-style ampitheatre. There was also a labyrinth made out of hedges in pots in the middle, very cool. Unfortunately for such an amazing new building, there are problems of accessibility, because there are a lot of steps, very few and tiny elevators, and few bathrooms, which is difficult for the elderly like Fulvia's parents.
There's always something going on at the complex, however, even in the afternoons. Most evenings there is a concert also. It's great that there is such support for the arts and that they can do this sort of thing so often. Very cool.