World Italy Veneto Verona

Sally & Hugh in Europe 2008

Verona 2 Feb 5, 2008

We walked on home in a light rain but were sopping wet by the time we got to our room. We hung our clothes up to dry, took hot showers and had a good nights rest. European hotels normally serve a free breakfast - some more elaborate than others. This time we had cereal, yogurt, rolls, good hot coffee and much more to chose from. After reserving our room for another night we headed back into the old city. Our first stop was at the Castle Vecchio, built on the River Adige in 1354. At that time it was at the end of the old wall that was built in the 11th century, protecting the city. It was so classic and elegant with tall walls, a big square watchtower, mote and best of all a fortified bridge. Again there is so much history and intrigue (800 years worth and a dozen wars) that we just stopped thinking and walked on. We crossed over the fortified bridge and on down the river, across a newer bridge and back into the old town. We stopped again at the Arena and this time went in. It can hold upwards of 30,000 people and every summer since 1913 except for war years there has been an Opera Festival attracting people from all over the world, with 10,000 to 15,000 at each event. It is hard to think that at the time of Christ 30,000 people would come to watch Gladiators fight to their deaths. St Francis of Assisi and St Anthony also preached here. It is awesome today but we wondered what it would have looked like when it was first finished and before much of it was demolished for use in other buildings.

We then walked up Via(avenue)Mazzini, a pedestrian corridor lined with upscale shops of all sorts like Gucci and full of people to the Piazza Delle Erbe, the original center of the city. It was full of statues and surrounded by magnificent old buildings.

We would see something highlighted on our visitor map and head in that direction. After leaving Piazza Erbe we were walking down one of the old, narrow lanes and came to a marker proclaiming the home and balcony of Romeo as in Romeo and Juliet. Part of the old building is occupied by a “ostera” pub where we stopped for lunch. There were many more places we wanted to see and a lot of places we did see. Two were the Roman Theatre constructed in 25 BC on the north side of the river at the foot of San Pietro hill. Little of it remains today but what does and the pictures of what it was like is unbelievable. The other was Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge) built in the first century BC and is still standing. We think about our bridges at home that are less than 100 years old and are falling apart. We were impressed with Verona and how much they respect the old and are able to embrace the new, such as Gucci’s very upscale store in both architecture and merchandise in a 13th century building on a road built before the birth of Christ. Tomorrow on to Lake Garda.