As we left Venice and started the short drive to Verona, the sun peeked out a bit giving us false hope for the day. I tried to get some scenic shots as we drove, but I really fail at photography. (We'll leave that to Mike.)
The mountains shown below surround the Fiemme Valley and Predazzo. Even further beyond that is Austria. It's cool to be so close to so many other countries.
Click on images to enlarge.
In fair Verona , where we lay our scene
So above is the Arena di Verona built in 30 AD. It is actually still in use today for Operas and other events. The day we were there, they had the Arena closed because of a marathon. We didn't get to go inside (which bummed us out big time) But we did get some great exterior shots.
**This picture of the inside I pulled from the internet. It is not one we took. I just wanted to show the inside.
The below pic is of the wall surrounding Verona when in was in the hands of the Romans.
Another arena shot.
I suspect, there will be more of these types of shots as we go along. I asked Mike to take a lot in Venice and whenever I saw a street like this I couldn't resist. I just love the layout of it. It's visually appealing and I could probably spend hours sitting at the end of a street like this just taking it all in. Michael can go off and explore the ancient ruins - I'll just be on a street walking around with a crick in my neck.
But, soft! What light through yonder
window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
I wanted to sorta scream - this place was so packed. I mean, I get that we all wanted to see it but some of these people were going nuts like it was a real place. Someone actually said, "How did Romeo climb up?" I felt a little like cupping my hands around my mouth and yelling, "It is fictional! A play written by the very British William Shakespeare. There was no Romeo. No Juliet. No climbing commenced!"
But, still it was pretty. There's no way I was pushing my way through the crowd to the gift shop on the other side. I mean, seriously.
Ugh. The rain came. It totally found us. The picture below is a wide shot of the Piazza delle Erbe. In the background, the tall clock tower is the Torre dei Lamberti. It was originally built in the 1100s. In the 1400s it was struck by lightning. The clock was added in the 1700s. (Yeah, I wiki'd it. Hush!)
Another shot of the Piazza and its fountain:
Some cool old wall still standing across a street between apartment buildings.
This is a shot of the Arco dei Gavi - this was built as part of the Roman wall and was one of the entrance gates. It was built about 900 AD.
The best part of Verona was the Castelvecchio (literal translation Old Castle). It, too, has been in Verona since the Middle Ages. That's crazy. MIDDLE AGES? Like pre 1300s. I love a good ol' medieval castle.
It did get fired upon from the French (because they like to attack little Veronese towns - pfft. tough, bullies!) during the Napoleonic Wars around the time our little America was busy declaring itself; 1776.
In the early 1900s the castle underwent a full restoration.
Inside the walls is the Castlevecchio Museum. The displays inside are made up of medieval sculptures, statues, weapons, etc. Mike went totally crazy taking pics of it all. Below are some highlights of our time in the castle and museum:
The Castlevecchio Bridge crossing the Adige River.
A shot of the hills from the castle. That building is the Sanctuary of Madonna of Lourdes.
We finished the afternoon in Verona with lunch at a cute little pub that was trying to be American. It had cowboy stuff all over the walls and was playing Boy George. (whert?) Next we are off to Milan. Until then:
Good-night,
good-night!
Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good-night till it be
morrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment