"Verdi Day"

Yesterday was Verdi Day, both the birthplace and also estate of Giuseppe Verdi, opera composer nonpareil, and my personal hero. I'd been here before, but 20 years ago his large estate was closed the day I came. I made a solemn vow to return someday, and yesterday was the day!  Here's the birthplace (the pic with me with the statue of the great man), and an exterior view of his sprawling estate.  He became an extremely rich man, but donated a sizable percentage of his wealth to hospitals and schools for the poorer folks in his home town of Bussetto.  "Giuseppe Verdi" flows beautifully off the tongue of an Italian speaker, but the literal translation of his name is ......Joe Green.