Verona, IT

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed our stay in “Fair Verona”. In ways that have nothing to do with Shakespeare, it is a very charming and historical town with a certain je ne sais pas, a friendly feeling. Likely, it helped that we met more Canadian travellers there, and on the way there, than anywhere else during our travels.

It took three separate trains to convey us from Sorrento to Verona. First, on the cheap “commuter” train from San Agnello to Napoli we met a couple from Atlantic Canada, then second from Napoli to Bologna was another couple, this time from Toronto. We chatted with those, passing the travel time quickly.

Upon arrival in Verona, David, our host at Al Quadrifoglio Bed & Breakfast claimed to have been innundated with Canadians this past week, so it must be a popular time to travel. He gave us a map of town, marking off a number of recommended areas and particular sights. One of his recommendations was dinner at alla Quercia, a restaurant run by the same family for over twenty years, where he claimed we would get an authentic Italian family dinner. We walked over to check it out but it looked closed. Another couple emerged as we stood there and informed us that they had just inquired, and apparently there was yet another hour before the restaurant would open. Jeff and Tammy were also staying at the same B&B, and were from Ottawa, but had spent time in Calgary. We went with them for a drink from a nearby wine bar to pass the time, and chatted like old friends. When we had waited long enough, we returned to the restaurant and got a table for four. There we spent an entertaining and delicious evening enjoying a thoroughly Italian dining experience. There was no menu. Instead the waiter (the son of the owner, and the only one who had a smattering of English) rattled off a few options, laying out a schedule according to the popular Primi, Secondi & Contorni, Dessert formula. We don’t often pack in that much food in a meal, since just the Primi is generally enough to fill us up. In this case we took the full meal deal – in part because we didn’t have much choice – and let the waiter bring us a parade of laden dishes. I very much regret not having taken some pictures, but you can trust that it was a very full table. In the end, the three course meal for four diners came to 63€. One of our cheapest restaurant meals in Italy.

In the morning we were properly breakfasted, then headed in to check out Verona.

Christina was keen to start with the obvious, so we first visited Casa di Giulietta, owned in antiquity by the dell Capello family, popularly believed to be the namesake for Shakespeare’s Capulets. Since the balcony in that courtyard was added in the 1930’s it’s not likely the genuine article, but it makes a great tourist attraction.

After a little more looking than seemed neccessary we found the Club di Giulietta, where lovelorn lasses can leave letters, which are apparently actually responded to, as seen in the film Letters to Juliet.

We spent some time wandering the streets, and were surprised with the quantity of nice shops, and historic buildings. Apparently Verona is a pretty stylish place, even compared with other big Italian names like Florence and Rome.

Every time we crossed a bridge I would have to stop and take photos of the picturesque river and hills beyond. I was genuinely surprised at how attractive the city was – even after having seen many other Italian cities cut from this same cloth.

One event underway at the castle-like, and appropriately named Castelvecchio Bridge. Renaissance dressed vendors were selling all sorts of hand-made goods, foods, and crafts. Amongst the interesting items on display were several tables of tartufo, or truffles, packed in various preservatives, but also on their own, which was neat to see. We walked the length of the bridge, shuffling along with a horde of tourists who packed the bridge, finally emerging on the other end into The Arsenal.

The park and old buildings were populated by a small fair ground and market. The Arsenal Vintage Market is an annual event showcasing the goods of the vintage shops in town, all under one roof. In addition, live music is played nightly in one of the courtyards and our ticket in admitted us into that show as well. I took some time to browse the goods, and picked out something for Liz’s birthday – though my first couple of choices were pieces from “important designers” (of whom I’d never heard) and therefore into the multiple hundreds of Euros, which, as much as I love my sister, is a little heavy for this trip.Anyway, with Christina’s stylistic input I picked up the goods, then we went out for Thanksgiving Dinner. Sushi. While a little unconventional, they don’t really do turkey dinner here, and Christina was jonesing for a flavor from home.

Back at the B&B we met another new Canadian couple, David & Dianne, who were actually from Calgary and we enjoyed talking to them about home and travel. They had taken started their trip in the south, and told us about their different experiences there. One of my “next time” wishes for Italy is to visit Sicily, so it was neat to hear their good report.

We headed out to the concert, dressed warmly against the relatively cool evening air. Back at The Arsenal we found an Airstream, converted into a stage and production set for the show. The band billed themselves as “Folk Cabaret”, which is an interesting mix, but they did a pretty good job of living up to it. One member in particular was entertaining, and played a saxophone, flute, and strange mix of mouth harps and sound effect devices. The show was entertaining, but the evening was getting cold, so we headed straight home afterword.

In the morning we met Sebastian & Anja over breakfast. They were on holiday from Germany, and told us about some of what we had to look forward to once we arrived. We dallied and chatted for a while, until our hostess cleared us out and we had to get on with the day.

Christina wanted to check out The Arena, a sort of “mini-Colosseum” and another of Verona’s well known sights. We walked through town, and checked it out, but it was a little underwhelming both because of it’s smaller size, and because it was quite covered with scaffolding. They were taking down the sets from the show season, which we just barely missed.

We walked on to the train station to pick up some tickets for our next day’s travel to Venice, then on the way back into town stopped by McDonalds for some good ol’ Western lunch. We walked around town, covering some streets we had not seen the prior day, most particularly Ponte Pietra, as seen in most of the postcards in the rack. We walked along the river, back into down, down some more streets, then back to the B&B for a rest. We met up with both other couples staying there, and all left at the same time, but to different locations for our respective dinners.

Christina and I wandered around before selecting a restaurant, but finally chose one away from the touristy square. We had a nice meal, though Christina received “scampi” instead of “salmon”, then we headed back home. We regrouped with the gang there for a report on dinner. The Canadians had returned (for the second time) to the family joint down the road, while the Germans (inciting Christina’s jealousy) had gone to the sushi joint. We shared a moment over sushi reminiscences. Anja encouraged Christina with the news that Germany does not lack for sushi joints, and we talked about some favorite rolls. On that note, we packed it in.

In the morning we had another long, chatty breakfast, though this time each of our neighbors was catching an earlier train, so we had a little extra time to ourselves. We got packed up, and caught a bus to the train station where we had a ride to our last city in Italy – Venice!