The BEST of Italy... so far

I've mentioned that we've been to St. Peters Basilica, through the Vatican Museum, seen the Colisseum and ancient Rome; yesterday we were guided through the Ufizzi and the Academia museums by a kind friend of Darcy's; but this evening we had the experience that beats them all. Here's what happened:
We were walking back to our room to relax a little before going out to dinner, when we passed this small church with a poster out front promoting a concert tonight. Yes, for me, if it was a great experience, there was probably music involved. (That's part of the reason I sing when I play soccer. You should hear me on the trail...) Anyway, the performance was by a soprano accompanied by the piano. The venue was a small church where they had moved all the pews to the sides and filled the space with about 60 cushioned chairs (like you find in the RS room). In the front was nothing but a black grand piano. We bought tickets, went to our room, relaxed a while (I finished my book), we went out to dinner at a nice open air restaurant in the corner of the piazza where we're staying and then walked a block or so back to the church for the concert. It has been hot and muggy, and the church had a very high, arching ceiling, but no air movement. There were about 32 others in the Church. At about 9:30 out onto the performance area walks a lady who carries herself much like Pam Gates, and her accompanist who looked to be about 23. The program has 9 pieces. The soprano starts out with Schubert's "Ave Maria". It was supreme. The acoustics, the perfect voice, the matching piano... it was tremendous experience. She could sing very softly and take that same note to a huge volume without changing the intensity of the note. I was amazed. It was like hearing the King Singers. The three last pieces were from Puccini operas. Thanks to Gunnar Andersen, I had learn to appreciate his favorite number from Gianni Schicchi, "O mio babbino caro". She sang that. Have you ever cried during an opera? She finished by singing a piece from Madame Butterfly. We all cheered madly. She came back and sang another "Ave Maria" that ended so reverently that there we were all silent for a few moments before bursting into applause again.

That was my best experience in Italy so far. Next to that was the trip to the island right outside the bay at Naples, called Procida. There we finally got to see the Italy of the postcards. The village was set on a hill, with tiny cobblestone streets, multi-colores stucco walls, etc. It takes too long to download a picture. I'll have to add one later.