Saturday 8th May
A Day in Verona
To save ourselves the effort of cycling we caught a bus the 3k’s into Verona. It is very attractive. The old part of the city is very small so we had a lovely day walking around looking at several different periods of history.
1st century Roman arena.
Outside the Arena there are the usual Gladiators and Centurions available for photographs and there were some other distractions too.
Pizza lunch break in the Piazza Bar.
As they seemed to be best friends with the centurions we imagined that they were all part of the act, but they seemed so authentic I didn’t enquire to find out!
In fact everywhere you look there are people in costumes
These ones had us baffled until we discovered that it was also Alpine Day.
The historical centre mostly dates from medieval times and Romeo and Juliet pop up all over the place - but no sign of the 2 Gentlemen. We thought that Romeo and Juliet was just a good plot for a play, but by the time we had been to Juliet’s house, the Romeo and Juliet Bar (very good ice creams) and passed Juliet’s grave we realised that there is a bit of historical fact to it all. It is strange to think that William Shakespeare probably never came here – or did he?
The entrance to the Capelli property.
The entrance to the courtyard which has been in the Capulet (in real life Capelli) family for the last 600 years probably looked a bit smarter in the 1300’s and we doubt Romeo would have ‘post it noted’ his love poems in the archway!
Sadly there is a lot of graffiti and people pin (mostly 'post-it notes') 'love poems' under the archway which fall off and blow across the yard!
The courtyard is a lot smaller than I’d imagined so don't know how Romeo concealed himself from his lover’s father – but it’s only a story and opera!
'The' balcony.
and looking down from the balcony!
There was a very grand wedding about to take place in St Anastasia’s church so we hung around munching sandwiches on the steps, with all the other tourists, but the bride was suitably late so we gave up waiting.
St Anastasia's church which we were made to leave because a wedding was due to begin shortly.
The number of Porsches turning up was quite impressive and the young were all beautifully turned out. Even the grandmothers and aged aunts were clad in exotic looking silk trouser suits and very high heels. The girls are very petite in this part of the world – in fact to be frank, skinny!! The young men had Vivi’s heart a flutter and if one of them could have sung opera I fear she would have been off.
We had bought the ‘Verona Card’ which comes complete with a guide to all the places to see and with one wave of this magic ticket you can wander in anywhere at will. It therefore becomes a bit of a mission to see all of the places they recommend, and we had to work very hard to do even half in the day.
We had lunch in the Erbe Square which had a flea market in progress which apart from spoiling any photo opportunities by blocking the view of the houses, was very pleasant. In the corner of the square is the Torre Lamberti, with 360 steps, mercifully there was a lift. So Whilst I went to the top, Vivi went in search of my birthday present – a wolf whistle attracted her attention, see photo of her in the square.
Vivi is down there somewhere waving!
(the whistle distracted me so much I never bought one, but I had found an excellent photo of Leonardo da Vinci’s design for the first bicycle, - made of wood- however it was on black tee shirt and wasn’t sure how well that would go with the rest of his wardrobe)
View north from the Torre Lamberti
It can’t rain much here because the houses all have the loveliest murals painted on the outside and they are still in very good condition after 500 years.
Murals - everywhere.
After lunch we followed the river westwards to the Castelvecchio Museum which didn’t have much to recommend it apart from a rather amusing 15thC painting of Orpheus and his underworld!
Eventually, exhausted we made our way back to the railway station and caught the bus home. Treading the pavements might be jolly interesting and entertaining but it’s a lot more exhausting than a day in the saddle.
A Day in Verona
To save ourselves the effort of cycling we caught a bus the 3k’s into Verona. It is very attractive. The old part of the city is very small so we had a lovely day walking around looking at several different periods of history.
At the city gates - W.S was here!
The tourist office here is very helpful and we were armed with very efficient maps and information. The oldest part of the city was built by the Romans in the first century A.D. and the Arena is every bit as impressive as the Coliseum in Rome. Typically, the Opera season doesn’t start until mid June (after Rod Stewart has been here) but it would be a great place to see a concert.
Outside the Arena there are the usual Gladiators and Centurions available for photographs and there were some other distractions too.
Pizza lunch break in the Piazza Bar.
As they seemed to be best friends with the centurions we imagined that they were all part of the act, but they seemed so authentic I didn’t enquire to find out!
These ones had us baffled until we discovered that it was also Alpine Day.
The historical centre mostly dates from medieval times and Romeo and Juliet pop up all over the place - but no sign of the 2 Gentlemen. We thought that Romeo and Juliet was just a good plot for a play, but by the time we had been to Juliet’s house, the Romeo and Juliet Bar (very good ice creams) and passed Juliet’s grave we realised that there is a bit of historical fact to it all. It is strange to think that William Shakespeare probably never came here – or did he?
The entrance to the Capelli property.
Sadly there is a lot of graffiti and people pin (mostly 'post-it notes') 'love poems' under the archway which fall off and blow across the yard!
The courtyard is a lot smaller than I’d imagined so don't know how Romeo concealed himself from his lover’s father – but it’s only a story and opera!
'The' balcony.
There was a very grand wedding about to take place in St Anastasia’s church so we hung around munching sandwiches on the steps, with all the other tourists, but the bride was suitably late so we gave up waiting.
St Anastasia's church which we were made to leave because a wedding was due to begin shortly.
The number of Porsches turning up was quite impressive and the young were all beautifully turned out. Even the grandmothers and aged aunts were clad in exotic looking silk trouser suits and very high heels. The girls are very petite in this part of the world – in fact to be frank, skinny!! The young men had Vivi’s heart a flutter and if one of them could have sung opera I fear she would have been off.
We had bought the ‘Verona Card’ which comes complete with a guide to all the places to see and with one wave of this magic ticket you can wander in anywhere at will. It therefore becomes a bit of a mission to see all of the places they recommend, and we had to work very hard to do even half in the day.
We had lunch in the Erbe Square which had a flea market in progress which apart from spoiling any photo opportunities by blocking the view of the houses, was very pleasant. In the corner of the square is the Torre Lamberti, with 360 steps, mercifully there was a lift. So Whilst I went to the top, Vivi went in search of my birthday present – a wolf whistle attracted her attention, see photo of her in the square.
(the whistle distracted me so much I never bought one, but I had found an excellent photo of Leonardo da Vinci’s design for the first bicycle, - made of wood- however it was on black tee shirt and wasn’t sure how well that would go with the rest of his wardrobe)
View north from the Torre Lamberti
It can’t rain much here because the houses all have the loveliest murals painted on the outside and they are still in very good condition after 500 years.
Murals - everywhere.
After lunch we followed the river westwards to the Castelvecchio Museum which didn’t have much to recommend it apart from a rather amusing 15thC painting of Orpheus and his underworld!
Eventually, exhausted we made our way back to the railway station and caught the bus home. Treading the pavements might be jolly interesting and entertaining but it’s a lot more exhausting than a day in the saddle.
Can't imagine that the hairdresser could have had that much to cut Slap? Understand the importance he attached to shining the bald pate though!
ReplyDeleteOne of my tennis team, Bobby Clochiate, says turn back! He is from Gradiscia d'Isonzo and returns there every July (normally during the bloody finals!). He reckons you might be heading towards London and recommends the town of Limone on Lake Grado.