2015 Italy Trip, Day Six and Seven – Verona, Italy

Leaving Venice mid morning we arrived little more than an hour later in Verona, the second city on our list as a potential base and home.

With the train station about a 10 minute walk to Piazza Bra, we decided to walk even though the skies threatened rain showers. Unfortunately, we took the wrong exit from the station, extending the distance and time to get to our apartment. Just past the halfway point we were getting wet in the rain. Our travel jackets and hair getting more soaked by the minute. Coming across a restaurant we stopped for lunch and hope the rain would pass…not only were the staff most helpful and understanding but the meal was absolutely delightful. By the time we finished lunch the rain had ended and we had dried out.

Our apartment was a minute’s walk from Piazza Bra well within the early medieval city and on the edge of the Roman city. The city has evidence of three fortresses and walls…the Roman walls, the early medieval city and the thick late medieval city walls. Today the late medieval broad walls with its fortresses that were designed to resist cannon shells have been turned into a parkway that runs from the river on the east side to the river on the west (the old city sits inside a “U” in the Adige River).  

Like Parma, Verona is in the lush agricultural Po Valley. Serving as the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and The Taming of the Screw, Verona has a population of just over 265,000 (725,000 people in the greater region). The northern Italy city has long been a transportation hub that today is on the main rail line between Venice and Milan, and at the end of the Brenner Pass route into Austria. Lake Garda is less than a 20 minute drive to the northwest and the ski resorts of the Dolomite Mountains to the north.

 Our first afternoon evening was given to visiting our immediate area, the Arena and Piazza Bra, and then walking through the ancient shopping street Via Mazzini to another major square, Piazza della Erbe. Built by the Romans before the Roman Coliseum, the Arena is still used today as a major venue for concerts. With a renown summer opera season, opera is its most common entertainment. Unfortunately all but a small portion of the outer ring no longer exists due to a 12^th century earthquake.

Originally seating 30,000 the Arena seats only half that number today for concerts. As we sat and walked around the inside of the Arena we both wondered what it would be like to attend a musical performance in the 2,000 year old venue. Artists take such pride in having performed there that they often mention it in their professional summaries that are printed in concert brochures (when we went to Carmen at the Kennedy Center, one of the major performers had the Arena as one of four notable places where he had performed).

I was struck that many of streets in the old city have marble walkways and streets. A number of the smaller main streets that don’t carry large heavy vehicles are marble. With marble quarries nearby, the builders of 1,800-2,200 years ago were making do with what they had nearby.

The Arena isn’t the only antiquity performance site still in use in Verona. Just across the Adige River, almost opposite the Roman bridge Ponte di Petra, is an outdoor theatre built into hillside, the Teatro Romano. We were unable to tour the theatre as a stage and lighting from a recent event was being dismantled.

The Ponte di Petra, built in the second century before Christ, is one of two ancient bridges in use today by pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the river. Ponte di Petra, like the 14^th century Castelvecchio Bridge, was destroyed by retreating Nazi troops in World War II. Both bridges were carefully rebuilt using much of the recovered original material as possible.

The medieval Castelvecchio Bridge crosses the river at the Castelvecchio, a red bricked castle. Today the castle is a city park and museum.

As it was at the end of our street we passed through the Porta Borsari several times. Porta Borsari, an archway entry built in the 2^nd century as an entrance into the Roman city. It stands today astride a major shopping street. Since Porta Borsari was the main entryway into the city, it was more elaborately constructed and decorated than other entry ways.

We spent a good portion of our full day in Verona walking the streets and visiting four medieval churches…Verona’s Duomo built in the 12^th century,  San Zeno Basilica also from the 12^th century (its bell tower is mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy), the 13^th century Sant’Anastasia and San Fermo Maggiore. The space of each of the four churches is filled with artwork used to explain and remind biblical stories to worshippers, many of whom had little to no reading skills when the churches were erected.

We didn't venture off to see the "home" of Juliet and her balcony. Seeing the home of this fictional character was not high on our list as it is for other visitors.

      

Overall, we enjoyed our stay in Verona. Thursday, over dinner at a Piazza Bra restaurant we wished we could stay longer in Verona. We loved the city’s character and feel...and knew that we could readily live here.