Two Gentle-Joneses of Verona

We spent a lovely day exploring Verona and wandering its streets. In Verona, I have found the perfect little Italian town: Small enough to navigate, not overrun with drunken tourists, still fairly authentic, local, and preserved, with excellent food, stunning architecture and history, and simply gorgeous. For the first time ever, I am charmed by an Italian town, and I would love to return. Holy shit! This is not something I have ever said before.

We started our walking tour of Verona this morning at the astonishing Piazza Bra. I say "astonishing" because right smack in the middle of the piazza is a Roman amphitheater from 30 AD. It's the fifth largest Roman amphitheater on the planet, and color me excited that we've now seen the entire Top 5: The Colosseum in Rome; the amphitheater of Nimes, France; El Jem in Tunisia; and Arles, France. (These are things that history nerds find impressive. I am just saying.) I do luvs me an amphitheater.

We continued on to Verona's most famous sight: La Casa di Giulietta, or Juliet's House. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" was based here in Verona, and in 1905 some creatively-thinking marketing types decided to cash in. Juliet's House is a beautiful 14th century palazzo, previously owned by the Cappello family (who MIGHT have been related to Shakespeare's fictional "Capulet" family). In 1905, the family sold the palazzo to the city, and the town collectively agreed that yessiree, that's Juliet's house! And then eagerly awaited the delicious tourism money to begin rolling in. (Spoiler alert: it did, and has never stopped.) In 1936 someone decided to crank the contrivance up to 11, and added the iconic balcony. No joke: The city found an unused medieval sarcophagus (don't we all have one or two lying around?), SAWED IT IN HALF, and stuck it on the exterior wall. Voila, it's her balcony!

So people come from all over the world to see her balcony, visit her statue (and grope her boob for "good luck"), and leave love notes and requests for love advice stuck to the garden's walls...with chewing gum. It's as repulsive as Seattle's gum wall, except romantic and literary???

People! Juliet and Romeo were FICTIONAL!

Anyway, it all reminded me of Kronberg Castle in Copenhagen, which was the setting for Shakespeare's "Hamlet." So many British tourists would ask "where is Hamlet's grave?"- despite the fact that Hamlet is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER- that the castle gave up and created a "grave."

I do not understand people.

We strolled the morning market at the stunning Piazza delle Erbe. With its medieval Venetian architecture and bell towers, it looks like a movie set. Nearby is Piazza Dante, which is also shockingly well preserved, devoid of touristy shit, and utterly elegant and charming.

Our walking tour led us by several tiny, dusty shops selling local specialties and wines. These types of shops are dwindling in Barcelona (we call them "colmados"), so we eagerly supported the local economy and bought some wine and cheese.

We stopped for lunch at a small osteria on the river, then walked along the riverside promenade to see the lovely bridges spanning the Adige River. Ponte Pietra is the most famous; it was built in 100 BC (not a typo!), bombed in WWII, then rebuilt from the original stones dredged from the river. The 14th century Castel Vecchio, or Scaliger Bridge, is equally amazing- not only does it look like the love child of a castle and a bridge, but when it was built, it was the longest span in Europe.

Later in the evening, we wandered the city. At night, with no day-tripper tourists, and the architecture beautifully lit, Verona is one of the loveliest towns I've ever seen. The piazzas and squares were peaceful yet buzzy; we snagged a riverside table for aperitivo hour, and enjoyed Campari spritzes under the terrace fairy lights. Around midnight, we had pre-bedtime gelato (that's a thing!) on a bench in Piazza Bra, in front of the amphitheater. Bliss. Czytaj więcej