(Editor: You've got a real talent for using song lyrics from '70s and '80s in your blog post titles. Writer: Yes, you might say I have The Knack for it.)
Famed as the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Verona is so much more. After a pleasant 44 minute train ride from Padua to Verona's train station, we walked to 1.3 miles to our hotel. It wasn't the most interesting of walks, as most of it was through a more suburban part of town outside of the old city. In fact, it was pretty boring, as traffic whizzed by -- certainly lacked the charm of getting to our Venice VRBO and our Padua hotel.
We did pass by the path to the alleged grave of Juliet (not a real thing), and through a gate in the old city wall to get to our marvelous hotel for a night, the Butterfly Verona.
A wonderful boutique hotel with six rooms, we were greeted by the young, enthusiastic couple who own and run the hotel. Our room was available, so we were able to get right in. The couple who owns the hotel could not have been nicer.
After a bit of chilling in the room, where I vowed to Carol that the next day we would take a taxi back to the train station (I kept my word -- it was our first ride in a car since we drove to Dulles six days earlier), we headed out to explore Verona.
I had no tours set up, no timed tickets for anything -- just a day of exploring unencumbered by the clock.
We walked along the city wall over to Piazza Bra (yes, that's the name. Men, quit giggling and grow up!) Okay, I gottta add this -- in the local dialect, Bra means "big open space." (Men, you are giggling again. It's like part of us men are still stuck in 7th grade.)
The Roman arena dominates the plaza. First, though, we walked around the small park at the heart of Piazza Bra, and enjoyed the fountain called, "The Alps," which is a gift from the sister city of Munich with the symbols of both Munich and Verona carved into the pink marble of the region. There is also a plaque from Salzberg, the wonderful little Austrian city we love.
Verona (and Milan) are the southern end of the Alps -- we could see the snow-covered Alps on our train ride to Verona, and from at least one vantage point in Verona.
The Rick Steves Italy guidebook tells some wonderful history about Verona, along with bursting many bubbles about Romeo and Juliet (he does not talk about Samson and Delilah in this book).
(Editor: You are on Fire with the song references. Writer: Cheap jokes are still jokes.)
I won't bog down the blog with the stories, but suffice it to say, they are pretty cool.
There is also a big equestrian statue of Italy's first king, Victor Emmanuel II, which celebrates Italy's unification and independence. The King vies with Garibaldi for the most statues of Italian heroes in the country. There are not enough statues in Italy to the great Italian-American, Rocky Balboa.
There is also an unusual statue of a modern soldier, striking a pose like the David, but carrying a slingshot.
From there we went into the Roman Arena, which is the third largest Roman amphitheater in Italy. Apparently there is a similar, but larger building in Rome that is number one in size. A quick Google search fails to yield the second-largest, but I didn't work very hard at figuring it out.
The Arena in Verona was actually 50% taller than it is now, but time catches up to us all. It's still in better shape than FedEx Field, which houses Maryland's second favorite NFL team. FedEx field is famous for falling chunks of concrete and bursting sewage pipes that "shower" fans who then need a shower.
The Arena in Verona is still used for rock concerts and modern theatrical plays. Our guidebook claims there is an annual "popular opera festival" held every summer. The festival was started in 1913, and has only taken breaks during the two World Wars.
My skepticism isn't about that the opera festival happens in the arena, it's that the festival is popular! (I know, just because you couldn't pay me to go to an opera festival doesn't mean that no one goes, just that no one in their right mind would go.)
By the way, even though I think opera festivals are barbaric, that's still marginally better than the Roman gladiator battles and the medieval executions that used to be held there.
(Editor: "Marginally better" than gladiator battles and executions? Glen, you were once an advisor to Kristi Noem -- did you recommend she shoot her dog? Writer: Of course not -- the dog didn't like opera either!)
We climbed to the top of the arena, which had tremendous views of the Alps. Well, at least we are told those snow-capped mountains are the Alps. I don't know where the Alps end and the Dolomites start (turns out Google knows -- apparently they are actually a bit northeast of Venice!).
There had been an opera performed in the arena just recently, as they were taking down the stage set. Carol is sure it was Aida, as some of the large props are Egyptian themed, and that's the only opera worth its' salt that takes place in Egypt.
After that, we got lunch at an outdoor cafe in Piazza Bra. We walked around the Piazza a bit, and then stopped to see the devotional column from the Middle Ages. Verona was off to a great start.
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