Monday 4 September 2006

After breakfast we take the vaporetto to the railway station. There we have a coffee and take the 10:52 train service to Zürich via Verona. Soon after Mestre, the first stop on the mainland, it becomes apparent that there are problems on the track. The train grinds to a halt and the train conductor announces a 30 minute delay. We jerk along and arrive at Padova around midday. After that the train picks up its usual speed and we reach Verona only 50 minutes later. Upon arrival we book our seats on the train back for coming Wednesday. We take a taxi to the hotel Antico San Zeno. It is more like an apartment than a hotel room, complete with kitchenette. There is no restaurant. We go into town and have lunch at a bar. We want to visit the Arena , but it is closed to visitors today. We continue into town via de  Via Manzini, the main shopping street. We visit the  the house of Juliet. Despite the hype around it, the house has nothing to do with a historical Romeo and Juliet invented by Shakespeare. They have never existed. Shakespeare just made them up. The families that feature in the play - the Capulets (Capuleti) and the "Montagues" (Montecchi) - did exist, but there is no evidence of any feud between them. The house is a well conserved 14th century home, which is empty for the most part. The entrance gate is covered with graffiti by people in love and leads to a courtyard. Many have their picture taken on the balcony that is fixed to the facade. We continue to the  Porta Romana dei Leoni, the  Roman Lion gate. Next to it we see an excavated piece of Roman street. We return and walk towards the  Piazza dell' Erbe. This is the central market square with nice palaces, a market (with vegetables, fruit and lots of souvenir stands) and numerous side walk café's. We have a drink and take a look around the square. On the central axis of the square we see a Roman pillar (with a 15th century lantern on it), a fountain of the Madonna of Verona (1368), the Capitello (a 14th century pavilion under which civil servants were sworn in) and on the far end a column with the Venetian lion of St Mark,  a sign of the Venetian dominance here.  The square is surrounded by a number of high houses, part of the Jewish ghetto (like Venice). Next to that we see the Domus Mercatorum, a guild house belonging to the merchants (now chamber of commerce). At the end of the square we the monumental  Palazzo Maffei, now occupied by shops and a posh restaurant. The Torre del Gardello is the highest tower of Verona with 83 metres in height. The Torre dei Lambert looks out over the Palazzo del Comune (town hall). We return to the hotel by following the banks of the river Adige. 

At night we walk to the bar Al Ponte close to the bridge Ponte Pietra, on the river banks. It is quite a walk, but it is a nice bare with outside tables overlooking the Roman theatre and the hills surrounding the town. After drinks we move on to the Osteria de la Pigna on the street with the same name. Here we eat traditional dishes of the region with a good wine from the Valpolicella. We had picked a different wine, but that one was sold out. We get a lecture about the merits of the alternatives We choose one that seems right and turns out to be a good choice. I have veal with Tuna mayonnaise (Vitello Tonnato), Erik has salad with beef slivers. For dessert there is great Tiramisu and for Erik a Semifreddo.

We finish the day with a drink at one of the many side walk café's near the Arena. Most businesses here are tacky touristy pizza joints. Fortunately not all of them are. There is a music festival going on inside the Arena. The reason for it being closed this afternoon. There is live coverage of the show on TV. You can hear some of it on the square below, but the sound is not clear. After our drink we walk back to our room.

  Weather: sunny and over 30 degrees. at night still around 28.

Tuesday 5 September 2006

We have breakfast in our room, as this place has no breakfast room. It includes bread rolls, croissants, jam, and yoghurts. After breakfast we walk into town and have coffee and cakes. We go on to the Arena. Yesterday there was a TV show recording going on and there will be another soon. All the equipment is still there. Today the Arena is open to visitors. The Arena dates back to the first century AD and is the third largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire. It could once hold over 20.000 spectators who came to watch gladiators, sea battles and other forms of entertainment. Now it is used in summertime for gigantic opera productions and pop concerts. The theatre is, despite an earthquake in the 12th century, in pretty good shape. From the upper ring we also have a good view of the town. We walk on to the Piazza de la Signoria. A quiet square behind the  Piazza dell'Erbe. Almost al the buildings here, Palazzo Capitano and Palazo Communale are undergoing substantial renovations and we cannot climb the tower. We continue along the Adige to the Anastasia kerk. We then cross the bridge to the Roman theatre. It is still being used for stage plays. Uphill from the theatre we reach a former monastery now serving  as a museum, with collections of Roman statues and artifacts. From here we have a wonderful view of the city. Back in the centre we visit the cathedral, il Duomo. A fine building from different periods, but dating back to the 11th century. It has nice painting and statues. The cathedral is connected to two older churches. The older churches mark  the sites of two monasteries from the 3rd and 4th centuries. Excavations reveal the fourth century floors. 

We have lunch in cafeteria Al Duomo. The waiter has nice looks, but is evidently lacking in service skills. After lunch we walk back to the hotel for a sort of siesta. It has become quite warm by now. Around 3pm we go out again for a walk through the Castelvechio, the old fortress of Verona, once built on the orders of Cangrande II ("big dog") in the 14th century. The bridge connecting the fortress with the other side of the river was destroyed by the Germans in 1945, but was rebuilt after the war with the bits and pieces fished out of the river. We have a drink on a side walk café and buy a delicious Italian Ice cream. Later we install ourselves on the the Piazza dell'Erbe and enjoy delicious cocktails.

At night we eat at Osteria de la Fontenina, a recommendable restaurant on the North side of the river. We take the menu  (€65) in this lovely little and personal restaurant, with enjoyable seating outside in a little street. The menu consists of foie gras, quail with bacon, past with baked egg and Verones cheese, with risotto filled ravioli and lamb chops. One star according to Michelin and well worth it, we found. 

We take a taxi back to the hotel.

Weather: warm and sunny. Over 30 degrees.

Wednesday 6 September 2006

We rise early. At 7am we get a rudimentary breakfast, because the baker has not been round yet. At a quarter past 7 we are outside waiting for the taxi to take us to the railway station. Our train leaves promptly at 7.43 and brings us to Mestre at around 9am. There we catch a bus to the airport. The bus drive takes about 30 minutes and we are there well in time for our 12.15 flight to Amsterdam. The flight is uneventful and we arrive in Amsterdam around 2pm. It takes a while for our luggage to come off the belt. We take the (international) train at 2.40pm which brings us to Rotterdam at 3.21pm. From the station we take a taxi home.