The Main Event: Verona & La Bohème
From our lovely stay in Lago di Garda, we drove east for 45 minutes to Verona.
Ira navigated us to our hotel without any issues. Compared to Sirmione's sea of people, Verona was a breeze. Still, Ira was more than happy to hand over the car keys to the hotel staff for the next 48 hours.
The hotel was ideal--not only did they take care of the car, but it was just steps from the Verona Arena. From our room, we could lean out the window and see the edge of the Arena in Piazza Bra.
After unpacking and getting the lay of the land, I was ready to venture out again. We followed one of the main streets away from the Arena towards Piazza delle Erbe, where Ira took this photo of the fountain.
What I found out later was that the piazza was built directly on top of the old Roman Forum. These days, that seems a little crazy, but at the time it was simply practical. Why dig out millions of tons of accumulated debris when you could build directly on the existing foundations? It was also cheaper to reuse the stone from the ruins.
The fountain is the ultimate example of "reuse and recycle." It's constructed from a Roman statue found in the rubble and a repurposed Roman bath basin.
Genius!
We worked our way backward from the old forum along the Roman east-west road, the decumanus maximus, to the historic Porta Borsari, an ancient Roman gate dating to the 1st century AD. Built from Verona limestone, it served as both the primary entrance to the city and a customs gate.
Dinner at Castelvecchio
Other than our walk, the only other thing we had planned for the day was dinner at a restaurant recommended by our friend Janie. Ira was excited for beef at Locanda di Castelvecchio.
We got really lucky and had, in our opinion, the best waiter. Stefano proudly told us the history of the building. The space occupied by the restaurant was once a pharmacy, which was destroyed in a fire in 1830. Miraculously, the original wooden wall paneling and ceiling survived.
We decided to trust Stefano completely and asked him to bring us a few things to share--whatever he thought we would enjoy.
It was an interesting meal, but so on point. Everything was delicious, and the entire meal worked beautifully together.
The filet was, in Ira's words, "the best beef I've had in Italy."
I'd have to agree. The crust was crisp and flavorful, while the inside practically melted in your mouth.
That's one of the things I love about Italian food: it celebrates the ingredients rather than trying to hide them. This meal was no different.
We finished with a little bit of everything from the dessert cart.
Definitely a meal to remember.
After lingering over dinner, we finally decided it was time for a walk. So it made perfect sense to cross the street and visit the actual Castelvecchio.
We weren't the only ones with that idea.
It was a beautiful walk across the bridge and through the park on the other side.
We eventually crossed back over the river toward our hotel and ended up in Piazza Bar, where we got an up-close look at the beautifully lit Palazzo Barbieri, which also serves as Verona's town hall.
What I hadn't realized from our hotel window was that inside Piazza Bra was the set for La Traviata.
Our tickets were for the final performance of La Bohème. The following night was La Traviata, which is set in France, so the Moulin Rouge-inspired set made perfect sense.
I later learned that because there isn't enough backstage space inside the ancient Roman arena to store multiple massive productions, something pretty fascinating happens.
The Midnight Swap
The moment the curtain falls on one performance, an army of night-shift technicians begins dismantling the stage. Giant set pieces are wheeled out of the amphitheater and stored right in the open plaza in front of the building.
By dawn, the stage is completely clear, ready for the next production to be wheeled inside for that evening's performance.
Talk about a changeover!
We walked around the end of the Arena, and I suggested we stop in the gift shop. It was empty since that night's opera was still underway, so we could shop at our leisure.
I wanted a souvenir, but more importantly, I wanted seat cushions.
The Arena is a fabulous place to watch an opera, but it doesn't exactly come with cushy seats. We'd been strongly advised to bring an extra cushion, so why not get the souvenir ones?
There are plenty of events back in Massa where we'll be able to use them.
Plus who doesn't want a cushier seat?
Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano
The next morning, we headed toward the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano.
On the way, we made a quick detour to photograph Juliet's balcony. We declined to pay to stand on the balcony and have our picture taken, but plenty of people did. Thanks to Ira's patience, he managed to snap a photo between the seemingly endless stream of girls.
Apparently, there is some disagreement about whether Shakespeare's Juliet had anything to do with this particular balcony. However, Letters to Juliet, starring Amanda Seyfried was definitely filmed here.
So take that as you will.
It was worth a photo.
We continued toward the Adige River and crossed via the Ponte Pietra, a Roman arch bridge completed around 100 BC and the oldest bridge in Verona.
A few blocks beyond the bridge we reached the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano. The theater was built in the 1st century BC. It has been fitted with modern seating and is still used for summer events.
On the right is the Chiesa dei Santi Siro e Libera and to the left of the church is a former monastery which now houses the museum. Up the steps we climbed to visit the museum and were rewarded with a beautiful view of Verona.
There were so many fascinating objects in the museum that I'm only including a few of the ones that caught my attention.
The first was a mosaic, one of a group of three depicting gladiators. This was the most complete, showing a gladiator who had defeated his opponent but then granted him clemency.
Excavations in the 19th century uncovered several sphinxes, that were probably positioned at the ends of the seating rows reserved for important visitors to the theater.
We next found ourselves in the communal dining room of the monks of the convent of San Gerolamo.
Decorating the walls of dining rooms with depictions of the Last Supper was a deeply rooted Italian tradition. Only fragments of this fresco remain. It originally filled the end wall, roughly 3.5 to 4 meters wide.
For comparison, Leonardo da Vinci's Cenacolo in Milan is 8.8 meters wide.
We're going to have to make a special trip to see that one someday.
The photo below shows the coffered wooden ceiling of the Sala del Soffitto Dipinto (Hall of the Painted Ceiling).
What surprised me was that the ceiling wasn't originally from this room. During the major mid-20th-century renovations that created the museum, the wooden framework was dismantled, resized, and reconstructed here to preserve it.
Apparently, this was fairly common after the war, when historic homes were being remodeled or dismantled and architectural elements were salvaged and incorporated into public collections.
Kinda cool, really.
We worked our way back toward our hotel, did a little shopping, and passed the Arena once more.
Of course, Ira couldn't resist taking a photo of the gladiator.
You have to admire his commitment to the role.
Back at the hotel, I was ready for some downtime before getting ready for dinner. We had early reservations at the hotel restaurant so we'd be finished in time for the opera.
It was incredibly convenient. We could have dinner, run upstairs to change, and simply walk across the street to the Arena.
My outfit was cream-coloured, so I was grateful for that.
Unfortunately, I had a little mishap.
My earring fell down the sink drain.
I don't know how many times that's almost happened to me, but this time I wasn't so lucky.
What was lucky was that when we called the front desk for help, they said, "We have a guy."
Turns out it was the same guy who had parked our car and helped with our bags and delivered a welcome bottle of Prosecco on ice.
He was THE guy.
He came with disposable rubber gloves, unscrewed the trap, and rescued my earring in about two minutes flat. Two minutes later, he was out the door.
Bing, boom, bang.
Couldn't have gone better.
Restaurant at the Hotel Bologna
We finished getting ready and scored a great table in the corner, away from the hustle and bustle. We shared a few dishes, all of which looked almost too pretty to eat.
In fact, the plates were so pretty, including those from the night before, that I started thinking how nice it would be to outfit our apartment with a mismatched collection of beautiful dishes.
Very cool.
La Bohème at the Verona Arena
After our early dinner, we went back upstairs, put on our fancy clothes, and walked over to the Arena.
Past the gates.
Up the stairs.
And then our first glimpse of the Arena and the set for La Bohème.
The stage itself was impressive.
But as impressive as it looked before the opera began, watching the stage transform throughout the performance was even more incredible.
It was an incredible night and an incredible birthday trip.
Thanks Ira.
It's going to be pretty hard for him to top this one.
Luckily, he may not have to.
At this rate, my next big celebration will be at 120!!
Ciao, ciao!
Comments
Post a Comment