La Scala, the world’s most famous opera house, lies in the center of Milan  on a busy city street. On the Saturday afternoon before the seasons last run of La Traviata, I sat in a nearby restaurant looking out at the Piazza in front of Milan’s Duomo, dressed in my black gown, waiting for the doors to La Scala to open.

Getting to La Scala from the Duomo is quite easy. Walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and go slightly to the left. It isn’t an impressive building from the outside, but as people start to congregate in their ball gowns and cocktail dresses, the atmosphere gets a bit exciting. There are mostly Italians here, but plenty of foreigners too. We wait impatiently in the street and on the sidewalks, and the heat on this June day is punishing.

When the doors finally open we are shuffled in. I ask an older woman, sitting alone, to take my photo with the small poster announcing the performance.

The inside of the building is nothing special either, until you reach the theater itself. The doors open up and you lose your breath for a second. A beautiful, dramatic red and gold room leaps out at you and its elegance and grandeur makes it hard to believe you’re even allowed sit down.

There are floor seats and box seats at La Scala. The box seats are in two rows, two people in each row. There is nothing to be recommended in getting the second row- if you make a trip to Milan, plan to get tickets early and don’t cheap out on the seats! I spent the entire performance standing, craning my neck to see anything other than the right half of the stage. In general, box seats need to be further away from the stage as well. The closer you are, the more parts of your vision are obscured. In retrospect, this seems obvious, but it’s difficult to make that call when looking at a seating arrangement online and considering whether to pay 150euro or 65euro. Especially when the exchange rate is $1.70/euro! But going to an opera at La Scala is a once in a lifetime must-do: get the expensive seats.