A Day in Verona

9-11-2008

The hotel we are at in Italy has a fantastic continental breakfast, probably because it’s an actual hotel opposed to a hostel, the Centro Carraro: Turismo e Convegni. We bored a bus after our apricot-filled croissants, fresh cappuccinos, and cereal, then headed into the heart of Verona. 

We met with a fantastic tour guide, Christiana, right next to the ancient Anfiteatro Arena, which at the time we were visiting was being set up for a performance of Notre Dame de Paris. Even with the modern seating and staging which was in place for the opera/musical season, I could walk up to the top of this massive arena, look down, and put myself in the shoes of an Roman spectator, watching as beast, men, and blood entertain the crowd around me. As explained by Christiana, a spectator of today’s football Americana, football, or any other sporting event is not much different than a spectator of Roman games: there were conversations about who was injured/performing well/etc., bets were placed on who would win, and each contender had his streak of winning or loosing. The only difference is that loosing often meant death.

 Perhaps the most impressive part of this arena, to me anyway, is that it is still used today, unlike the Coliseum in Rome.

Christiana wove us through the tiny alleyways of Verona with a thorough explanation of most everything we saw along the way.  Some of the most interesting parts of this Italian city were below our feet. First, the recycled stone that is everywhere in this city. Much of what was used to make the more “modern” structures, which are still 500-years-old, were made from older Roman ruins.  The arena also had an outer wall which was used as the city’s personal quarry when restructuring parts of the city over the centuries. Even parts the streets were made of ancient stone. In certain sections, you could look down at a stone slab and see fossils in the rock, many of which we would have missed without Christiana. The most interesting part of Verona, to me anyway, was the ancient Verona 20 meters below our feet.

Verona truly is the recycled city. Streets we built up on top of other streets and buildings upon other buildings. Every time they would build new, they would build on top of the old. If new Verona were torn up, the Verona of old would reveal itself, and often it does. We walked past an excavation that was only dug up because it was intended to be a parking garage, but is now an archeological dig. 

With the help of Christiana we learned much of this fantastic city, even learned how to tell the illegal tour guides from the official ones like her. Ohh and she showed us Juilet’s house and even more recognized, her balcony. 

 LARGE GROUPS, SMALL GROUPS, and INDIVIDUAL Touring                       (an academic required writing)

Throughout the tour thus far, I’ve had the opportunity to travel with different group sizes. I’ll be pessimistic now and get that out of the way. I hate traveling with the entire group.  Too many people trying to get through small places. Too many people to keep track of. Too many breaches in social graces. I wouldn’t say I’m embarrassed to be with a large group, but we certainly do stick out more.  However, there is really nothing wrong with that. After all, we are tourists, just like everyone else in these sight-filled cities. On the flip side of that though, even other tourists often carry with them a touch more tack than a large group of students. That’s why I prefer the smaller group.

Six to eight people tops, and even that can be a bit much. Four can be the best. Much quieter. Also, one can cater a small group to people with similar interests. We can stop in the same shops and not be bored out of our mind when one person wants to spend an hour looking at something the rest of the group isn’t interested.

Today I spent a good hour romping around Verona on my own, I did the same for an afternoon in Salzburg (see Segway pics). Solo travel can be extremely liberating. However, it’s always nice to be able to share your experiences with others. Plus, I really don’t have a problem with anyone I’m touring with. I feel as if I can latch on to any group of people and head out with them! Granted, there are those I enjoy spending more time with than others, but I can’t really complain about anyone one person or group.

CONTINUING WITH MY DAY IN VERONA: Once the tour was over and I cruised around by my lonesome for a while, I met up with a group for lunch at a lovely little pizzeria off of the main plaza of Verona. Here I had a few glasses of wine with a unique tortellini dish. No sauce smothered the taste of the beef inside the pasta shell like in America, rather the tortellini was lightly dabbed with an oil. At the pizzeria I also experienced an awesome lesson of group size dynamics.

 I walked in by myself and met up with a group of about 10. During lunch it was a bit overwhelming, as a broken glass covered the table at one point and the decibel level was higher than I would enjoy. Thank heavens, our waiter was super cool and understanding. As we finished our meals, of which I sampled everyone’s pizzas, pastas, and raviolis, this group was ready to move on, I however was not. I needed some chill time. During our meal Meredith and Becky came to the same restaurant and sat at a table for two out in the alleyway. I, along with Billy from the first group, decided to join them for a glass or two of wine.

Again, this group size is ideal. We simply sat and basked in the area around us. I love Meredith, because she has the sense to stop wherever we are, take a moment, and remind us all, “Hey guys, look at us. We’re eating at a sweet pizzeria in Verona.” I love those reminders. Lately, I’ve been getting better at reminding myself to take in everything myself, as opposed to taking it all in through my camera lens.

 We finished dinner and my group got even smaller as Billy and I parted ways with Megadeath (Meredith) and Becky. Billy and I were ready to cover Verona with our tracks, and we did.

We pointed at the highest point in the city and said lets go there, and we did. Along the way we stopped into some beautiful churches, one with a few priests sitting in the pews ever so quietly saying their prayers. I joined them for a second and asked God protect the souls of those lost 8 years ago on this day. That day is so vivid in my mind. As vivid as I hope this trip will be…

Billy and I made our way up a hill and got a great overlooking view of the city. On our way back down the hill we got in a bit of trouble. We hopped one gate to get down and inadvertently found ourselves in an outdoor Roman ruins museum. We continued down the path and ran into a group of museum curators who apparently had seen us jump that gate on security camera. He pointed to a security monitor and said, “saw you on camera.” He ushered us to the elevator and told us to leave. Which honestly was the easiest way down the hill! Sometimes playing the ignorant American helps quite a bit. Thanks Italian curator!

    

We met our bus at 18:00 and Rupert drove us back to the Centro Carraro. I couldn’t have been happier that we had a bus that day because Billy and I probably walked close to 10 miles or 16 kilometers.

That night we had a three course dinner at the hotel restorante. Starting with bread dipped in oil and vinegar. The appetizer was the best slice of lasagna I’ve ever had (sorry mom): rich and creamy, like pasta noodles held together in a square by deliciousness.  Following was the main course of pork cutlets with a lemon slice. Once the lemon juice covered each bit, the true flavor of the pork was exposed and my tastebuds couldn’t have been happier. Ohh and I did I mention I probably had the equvilient of one full jug of bianco vino  (white wine) to myself?

The night ended with a drunken online search of how a few of us were going to get to Florence for a day trip on the 13^th.  That ended in failure. However, our waiter, Bugs Bunny, joined us again for a few glasses.  

After those few glasses, the after party started on the front lawn with a huge group of Italian students.