Sunday, August 29, 2010

American Invasion Part Five: Two Gentlemen (and a Lady) of Verona

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Dateline: Thursday, June 3rd. Ugh, that seems so very long ago now. Am I lazy or what? I guess all this Italian living is rubbing off on me... maybe that's where the phrase 'Rome wasn't built in a day' came from. But I digress...

After our fantastic trip to the Cinque Terre, we slept in a bit - well deserved, in my opinion. Alee would be leaving the next day, and she was already content with what we'd seen and done so far. But Ryan and I were trying to convince her that she needed to see at least one more city during her stay here in Italy. It took some work, but finally we prevailed, and it was decided we would go to Verona that day; a relatively short trip from Bologna. We looked up some times, and decided to shoot for the two o'clock train. A little late to get started, sure, but it's normally a short trip and the city itself isn't too big. So after a little breakfast, we got ready and headed out the door - a bit late,  as per usual. We were playing chicken with the train schedule, so when we finally got to the station it was literally a run to the ticket machine and then to the train platform. At one point I headed down the wrong corridor in the train station, so I abruptly stopped and spun a 180 to turn back in the opposite direction - only to find Alee skidding to a halt right behind me in her not-so-grippy flipflops. We practically ran into each other, but quickly recovered and made it to the train with just barely any time to spare; it wasn't even two minutes after we boarded that the train took off for its destination. But we were onboard, on time, and eager to get to Verona. Everything was going fine, until...

It seemed to be taking an awful long time to get to our destination. It was only supposed to be an hour and a half train ride, but it had already stretched past the two hour mark. After lots of furtive glances at our watches, Ryan and I started to ponder aloud what was taking so long. That's when Alee chimed in with a gem: "Oh, did we get on the 2:00pm train? We need the 2:08 train, that one's an hour shorter."

DOH

Well, there wasn't much to be done about it at that point, and we arrived at our destination anyway - even if a little bit more behind. In the end, it was no matter - there was still a beautiful city for us to explore.

Exiting the train station, we headed towards the city center. It was a bit of a trek to get there, and on the way we strolled through a nice little green area on the edge of the city.


In the middle of the park we found some strange statues:


My first comment was that they were posed in reaction to the pigeons that would surely torment their statuesque existence. Then we read the plaque which said that it was to honor the fallen Italian soldier in a WWII battle, and I felt like an ass. Not the first time in my life.

Nearby there were also some ruins of an ancient wall; Roman, from the look of it. Since we decided to go at the last minute, I didn't get to do the normal research I would before visiting a city, but I did know that Verona used to be a significant Roman colony.


As I said, I didn't do any research beforehand, so I have no idea what this next building is. So it's just a photo of Ryan looking stoic.



From there we continued on into the city. We were all pretty hungry, so we stopped to have a kebab on the way which turned out to be delicious. Not very local, but after a week of non-stop Italian gluttony it was a nice change.

After lunch, we made a short pit stop in a nice little park/piazza full of greenery and locals lounging the day away. There were some interesting public art displays there, consisting of enlarged newspaper frontpages from world events going back to WWII. The one that really caught our eyes was this:


It's interesting to see one of the events that defines our nation's modern history through the eyes of another culture. Italy has seen its share of terrorism too, as have a lot of other European nations. But I find the headline here particularly haunting: "Terrorism, apocalypse in the USA. Thousands dead, winds of war." If we only knew at the time.

We continued the trek towards the center of the city, passing through the quaint little streets and piazzas.


A little ways beyond the intersection in this picture, we ran into a group of Canadian girls studying abroad in Verona. Ryan, still on his backpacking-through-Europe high, couldn't help but stop to chat every time we came across some English speakers; I, however, was boycotting them since they were going into a McDonald's. C'mon, we're in Italy! Anyways... onwards it was.

Approaching the old center:


A closer look at the gate:


Once inside the walled area, we came upon a huge piazza with a nice green park in the center and lined with buildings from almost every era from now back to ancient Roman times.

A substantial looking governmental palace - and a nun, not so on the run:


To the right of the above shot was another big, fancy building with lots of gargoyle faces. Each one had a different expression; for this one, the comment was "You're mom told you your face was gonna get stuck like that!"


Pretty much every major square in Italy has some kind of war memorial in it. I thought this was a neat one, dedicated to the men that fought and died in the Italian Alps:


Outside of Rome, one of the oldest, biggest, and most well preserved Roman amphitheaters is found in Verona. It's STILL to this day used for plays, concerts, and other public performances. Unfortunately we couldn't go in that day because they were setting up stages and props for just such an event.


And one with Al and I, for good measure.


In the square, we came upon a huge group of Japanese tourists, all wearing the same funny lil' bucket hat. We got distracted by something else for a moment, and when we turned back around the whole group had disappeared. Obviously they were ninjas.




Seriously, it sounds kind of silly but it was really disturbing. All those people disappeared in like five seconds. Where the hell did they go? In the end, it wasn't really our concern, so we kept moving.

Here I tried to take a picture that would convey how beautiful the piazza was with its small but mighty park right smack dab in the middle. However, it ended up being more a picture about the silly part-time gladiators hamming it up for some coin from the tourists. I laughed then, but pretty soon I'll probably have to join their marginally-employed ranks. If only I can find some Roman ruins in Bologna...


Around the other side of the amphitheater were some little shops and backalleys. How would you like to have  an apartment overlooking a 2000 year old colosseum? Talk about a view...


We started wandering in the direction of the city's medieval castle. On the way, I took some photos of the beautiful little Veronese streets. So different from home!



After a few minutes, we reached the city's 14th century castle.









It was really fun walking around the inside of the old place. It was almost totally open, and the path through the main gate leads to a fortified bridge that was built contemporaneously. The whole time we were exploring the castle, average citizens were just walking by; businessmen in suits, people with armfuls of groceries returning from shopping, and couples just out for a walk. It was amazing, I couldn't imagine doing that as part of my everyday life!

Here are some more shots of the interior.






I tried to make it look like I was doing the leaning tower of Pisa thing. But unfortunately this tower was built by competent engineers and I just ended up looking like an idiot.






It looked like they had a moat on the inside as well.






It was so cool getting to walk all around a real medieval fortress! I was in heaven.



Well, what have we got here?



Inside the grounds there is a museum and various park/administration offices. One such place had a little buzzer/intercom button outside its door in the photo below. Alee joked about how she didn't realize the security was so advanced back in the old days, and pressed the button. To our surprise somebody answered, so we nonchalantly moseyed off in the direction of the bridge. And then a bird pooped on me.


The bridge was built at the same time as the fortress, and fortified to serve as an escape route for the local ruling family in case the peasants or the neighboring ruling families started to get restless. It's some pretty impressive architecture, and was noted for having the largest bridge arch at the time of its construction in the 14th century. 









The views overlooking the river that runs through the city were spectacular. Lining the banks of the river on either side were picturesque old palazzos and the belltowers of old churches. It was a breathtaking scene.












One of the keeps rising above the bridge for protection. Also, this is where the bird pooped on me from. Bastard.



Beautiful cityscape.



Monkeying around on the bridge.



Al joined in too.



Ryan continued to make fun of me for the stupid photo of me trying to hold up the tower that wasn't actually leaning.





It took a couple tries to get this shot...



The bridge in all its glory.



After crossing the bridge, we wandered down the opposite bank of the river towards some old Roman ruins of a theater. It was a long walk, but all the areas along the riverbank were very pleasant and tranquil so it was nice.


As you can see, there weren't huge crowds of people or anything like that. Just us, the scenic landscape, and a cool cloudy day.


The quaint palazzi lining the banks. The city seemed like it would be a really nice place to live.


One of the churches and its bell tower. The churches in Verona tend to follow a style of construction which emphasizes alternating stripes of marble and reddish-orange bricks.



Ry hamming it up in front of another ancient bridge.



Eventually we arrived at the ruins of the theater. It is normally open to the public for visits but by the time of day we arrived it was already closed. Still, it was pretty impressive, even from the outside; it's always an eerie feeling standing in the midst of something that old.


Like the arena in the city center, concerts and other live performances are still held in the ancient theater. Here you can see the semi-circle of stone seats pretty well behind all the modern scaffolding.


A bit dilapidated, but I guess that's to be expected after a few thousand years.


Continuing back towards the city center, we passed many more beautiful churches and houses. And of course at some point we had to stop and get some gelato, too.



Alee insisted on going down to stick her hand in the flowing river, despite our insistence that it would surely cause her to contract the plague. She's a stubborn gal.


On our walk back towards the city center, we also visited one of the spots Verona is most famous for: Juliet's house. Yes, Juliet as in "Romeo and -". Much of Shakespeare's works take place in Italy, and legend has it this particular building was the inspiration for the balcony scene.


The actual balcony overlooks the interior courtyard of this edifice, which was also unfortunately closed at the time we arrived.


But looking through the closed gates, we could see how this spot is a mecca for those searching for true love. They come and leave notes and messages for their current and future lovers here on the walls. The city even runs a volunteer committee that responds to thousands of letters every year that arrive addressed to Juliet, asking for advice with their love lives.


It was about time we started to head back to the train station, and on the way we passed through a really nice little piazza. Everything in Verona just seemed so quaint, nice, and friendly. It's hard to explain the feeling you get just walking around the city.




Unfortunately, it was time for us to leave the charming little town. We were only there a short time, but it definitely left a lasting impression. We made the long hike back to the train station, working up an appetite that would be well vanquished when we returned to Bologna. We went out for a last meal together at an excellent little osteria in the student quarter of town with cheap homemade Bolognese food and even cheaper wine. It was sad knowing Alee had to leave the next day, but I was glad Ryan had conspired to join us and that he would be staying a few days longer. Little did I know at the time just how long my American adventures would keep going! But, like always, that is another story for another day...