VENICE & VERONA
|
VENICE & VERONA |
part 3 |
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.
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.
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.
