Travels with Kathryn

Yesterday (Friday) morning, we caught the 10.10am train to Verona, and it was absolutely rammed! We spent sometime trying to work out why, and apparently Friday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which is a bank holiday in Italy (and therefore workplaces and schools are closed) and evidently Italians are making the most of having a Friday off to spend the weekend in Verona.

This theme also continued in Verona itself – I have not been anywhere this busy since perhaps Istanbul. It was maddness!! So, whilst the extra bank holiday makes it a popular long weekend, the reason so many Italians have come to Verona is for Saint Lucy’s day, which is the 13th December. Whilst many countries (particularly in Scandanavia) celebrate this day, Italy has its own tradition and particularly in Verona where Lucia (accompanied by her donkey Castaldo) will bring gifts to good children and coal to bad children. If a child sees Santa Lucia delivering these gifts she will throw ashes in their eyes, temporarily blinding them (which comes from her own story where her eyes were gouged out as part of her martyrdom – how delightful). Anyway, once we heard these reasons, it made a little more sense why there were quite so many Italian families in Verona.

Even if you are not an Italian Catholic, one of the reasons why people (and let us be honest, one of my main reasons for coming) is to visit Juliet’s House. In my mind, this was going to be a visit to a quiet courtyard, a look at the balcony, have my photo next to the statute of Juliet, see the wall of letters to Juliet etc. This was obviously a complete fantasy, much like the house itself. So, there was a Capulet family in Verona, and there was a Montague family – however, that is pretty much where reality leaves us as there were no members called either Romeo or Juliet and the families were not rivals. We, of course, know that Romeo and Juliet is fictional and, therefore, perhaps more than we can expect. The story has been around for centuries, but Shakespere evidently was much inspired (we shall avoid using the word “copy”) by a popular Italian novel by Matteo Bandello which based the story in Verona with these families. All that is true is that the Capulet family owned this house. The rest is made for the tourists (even the balcony is a later addition from 1936).

Having arrived in Verona and dropped off our bags at the hotel, we walked into the centre and as we approached the house (having shuffled up the main street) we were directed around the block to enter from the back and joined a long queue… I had sort of planned to buy tickets to enter the house itself (only available online), but as these were sold out I convinced myself that I did not really need to go in (and reviews are very negative) and the courtyard would do. On entry, I was disappointed at how crowded it was, the fact that the wall of letters no longer exists (although there is a postbox) and the amount of groping of a statute of a 13 year old girl going on (it is supposed to be lucky, although the locals are trying to change this to touching her staute being enough). Maurane has reassured me that when she came some 20 years ago, it would have been more like I imagined. I shall get over it.

We shuffled on through a number of Christmas markets (which are mainly food based, no bad thing) to Ponte Pietro and then took a funicular up to the Castle San Pietro. When Verona was first setlled in 1st century BC, it was on this hill, but once the Romans arrived, people moved into the centre, and this became a temple. It became a castle during medieval times, and finally, barracks by the Austro-Hungarians. However, the main reason for coming up this hill is to see the views:

Having fought our way through the crowds, we were ready to return to the hotel to relax before dinner. The drink of choice is most of Northern Italy seems to be Spritzes (Campari, Aperol, Limoncello etc), which I am very much embracing to accompany a dinner of cicchetti (Italian tapas) and meatballs. After which we waddled home full of food and to bed.

Today after the mist cleared, was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky (I must remember that sometimes one does need sunglasses in winter!) and we started our day with (yes, as per usual) a walking tour which opened with an overview of the history of Verona. As I mentioned above, the first settlement of Verona was in the 1st century BC, after which the territory was held by the Roman Empire until its collapse in the 5th century. They were followed by the Barbarians, and Verona was controlled by various aristocratic families. Perhaps the most famous of these was the la scala family, who ruled until the end of the 14th century (more of them later) until the Venetian Empire took over. In 1797, Napoleon arrived, but he was unable to claim a decisive victory, and for some years, Verona was the line between the French Republic and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1866, Verona became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Italy and has been Italian ever since other than a brief period of German occupation during WW2.

We started our tour at the Arco dei Gavi. On initial view, I assumed this was your standard Roman Triumphal Arch. However, it is not. In fact, it is one of the few rare examples of an arch built by a family for themselves, i.e., to celebrate their own “triumph.” The arch was built by the Gavi family (one of the richest families in the region) in the 1st century. Originally, it was on their street, but later it was dismantled by Napoleon’s army who needed better access for the troops who at least had the decency to neatly dismantle it, numbering each stone and saving them in the amphitheatre. It was rebuilt in the 1930s in its new location next to the Castle Vecchio, which was built by the La Scala family in the 14th century.

Our first stop was Piazza Bra. Currently, this is mainly taken up (at street level anyway) by a Christmas/St Lucy market, but it is a massive open space (not really square shaped) containing the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre is one of the most ancient and best preserved Roman amphitheatres in the word – it may be smaller than Rome, but the Veronans would like these comparisons to be known. In summer, the amphitheatre is used for concerts, including an international opera festival, which (as we later went inside) will be something I will look out for as it is an amazing venue.

Our tour continued through to Piazza dell Erbe which is now, and has always been, the main social square of Rome and (when it does not have a Christmas market) is filled with tables and chairs spilling out of bars and restaurants. Surrounding the square are various palaces, the most impressive being the one shown below covered in painted frescos. The piazza also contains the Torre dei Lamberti, which is the highest structure in Verona at 84m. The rumour is that if anything was higher, then the city would burn, and everyone would die – a rumour probably started by the owner of the belltower!

We continued through the Christmas markets to the cemetary of the La Scala family. A number of their homes were in the adjacent square (Landlord’s Square) and it was evidently another way to demonstrate one’s wealth as the largest tomb (they are each for a single person) cost the equivalent of €4.5million in today’s money! Also note that ladder (la scala in Italian) as part of the railings design. Most fancy.

Our tour ended at Ponte Pietro (which we visited yesterday) and we returned to the Juliet’s House as I could not remember where I had put the magnet I brought yesterday and wanted to have a back up just in case. You can tell I am nearly 40 as my mind seems to be going… Luckily, I have now found it and Maurane gets a magnet to take home. We also fitted in our trip to the amphitheatre (above) just before it closed at 2.40pm – the relief.

It now being 3pm we went in search of food. However, Italy much like France, is very committed to the concept of meal times and most restaurants seem to close between 3pm and 7pm so we ended up in a more touristy restaurant then we would have liked but they fed us, so fine.

Tomorrow, I am waving Maurane off (back to the UK) and I will be getting a train (hopefully emptier and cooler) to Bologna – I shall report back on the leaning tower of Bologna situation…