Verona

5/9

Jen feeling a bit better, we drive out to grocery shop, Decathlon (new running shoes, thongs, towels, shirts for J, and Blu caps thin enough to stylishly go under the bike helmets), onto Verona - little Rome!

Nerve racking drive into Verona, cobbled streets, no access motorhomes on many of the TomTom roads, but finally we pass the famous 2000yo Ponte Pietra and head up a winding hill to Camping Castel San Pietro, a seemingly quiet hilltop, largely tenting campsite beneath castel & within medieval city walls.  Great views across Verona and to the famous walls all round.  Shakespeare is quoted to having said that Verona without it’s walls in akin to torment, a hell.  (he never came here)  It’s UNESCO listing in 2000 was made based on the exemplary fortress walls changed over the centuries reflecting historical shifts.  Tent sites terraced down hill, the place is more akin to a back packers’ with squat toilets, no electricity for fridge, but well treed with 2 great terraces for late afternoon dorps.

Squeezed Ed into a small site < 1m either side to other vans, 1 with 2 dogs and 6 adults coming and going 24/7.  The dogs were the best behaved - one of them was called “Sheila” and we endured that name whisper/yelled continuously for our whole stay.  

Lunch - cooked Italian style gnocci, tomato pesto & salami lunch, Jen had an afternoon kip to catch up, then we walked down the hill into town ~ 1730hrs, over the Ponte Pietra - some bridge when you consider it’s age and the traffic that has traversed it, interrupted briefly after being bombed in WW2.

The high walls are permanently dotted with tightly twirled lovers obstructing Wil’s normal balancing beam - to Jeff’s delight.  Wil comments however how bizarre it is that they plonk in such great vantage points given that they’re seriously sucking face and thus not taking in any vista!  Romance 101 to come.

Into Old Verona, a wonderful, wiggly, cobbled largely pedestrianised zone that oozes character and style in it’s grunge/decay.

the Duomo and Ponte Pietra - bridge 1000 yrs older then the church

2000 yo Ponte Pietra

There are 5 massive churches in Old Verona, the 1^st one we came to, San Anastasia has a pink, white & blue marble front.  Begs the question why they needed so many pews in so small an area, when 1000yrs ago when they built these things the population would not have been that big.  Iliara says it was a display of power. 

Wandered looking for the house of Juliet with it’s balcony, under which Romeo crooned.  We found it among the throng of tourists milling about writing love graffiti on the walls, gazing up to where the lady looked down upon Romeo, and rubbing the bronze Juliet’s right breast in the hope of a new and better romance.  In the back of our minds we recalled the story was fiction???  

Juliet and her balcony, built 1950's

locks of love

Just happened on a Roman gate and excavated ruin - nothing like happening on these things unexpectedly. 

Getting into the evening now, streetlights coming on, the white table clothes everywhere - eateries beneath cloisters, alongside moss covered old walls, squeezed b/w grape trellises, on tiny rickety balconies over the roaring river, pizza, gelati, unbelievably stylish people, dominant colours - red, maroon, yellow, mustard, terra-cotta, orange, staircases up hillsides - tiny doors, ornaments, potted chilli on the sils, we dawdle back across the bridge and up our hill, yoghurt dinner, Wil - fever, not hungry - oh oh

6/9

Bad night again - across the way in a tent was a crying baby who started her screaming about 2 am.  Our neighbours (with the dogs) clanking in and out of their door all night - where are they going???  Then there are the local hoons on motorcross bikes racing each other up the winding hill all night - the road only 2m away!  Someone is having a go at us aren’t they?

All healthy though - what a relief!  Whilst there’s no better time & place to get sick, it simply gets in the way of our excitement to explore!

School & internet research made for a really pleasant sort of “catch up” morning (although Jen still can’t come at the smell of coffee).  After a few breaks, the school bell had rung signaling ‘ pens down’.  Amusing myself, I tried to emulate/explore local foods without the exorbitant prices of eating out, and prepared what I imagine/have seen/read, as a typical Italian fare of tomato relish, salami, fresh juicy tomatoes on enormous slices of fresh, doughy white bread (bread comes in no other colour here).  Bellies bulging, we set out for Verona, all in Blu berreto and covered significant miles only getting home at 2030 with enough time to shower before bed and share a quick story over a terrace top ale.

Recounting our best bits saw at the top of the list, he gutsy, adventurous, mostly non-complaining little companions we have.  When making our way down from our campsite, Kel’s best bit was seeing 4 ballerinas rehearsing to Italian opera in the ruins of the Teatro Romano.  She froze mid-lesson (teacher Wil was creatively & with such gusto & determination introducing her to the Roman numeral system) to dreamily gaze down on the little “black fairies.”   

At our beautiful Ponte Pietro (destroyed along with all 10 city bridges when the Germans were retreating in WW2 only to be rebuilt 2 years later), we turned right having planned a squizz at 3 of the big 5 big churches.  The very small old city has about 25 churches.  It’s hard to get our heads around the place/dominance/importance of religion at times. The churches here have such unbelievably beautiful coloured marbled exteriors that they look painted.  Their large gothic portals often have striking arrangements of pale blue, pink & white marble that contrast against the walls patterned by stripes of small red brick walls & larger white marble stones.

Crossing another bridge took us into the heart of Castel Vecchio, the home of the Della Scala family (mafia prototype??) where Wil led a groovy enquiry into what the Utopia of different religions are.  It’s led to another project; Judaism 101.

Along the way we stopped to buy an Italian SIM card from WIND (running a promotion “Passae Wind” - tickling our childish fart giggle centres) allowing us to call all the special September ladies back home on their birthdays - Aunty Cath tomorrow!  Our ritzy Italian salesman reminded me so much of John Dicicco with his strong, friendly eye contact & confidence.  Jeff reckons all Italians (males) remind him of John.  A bit peckish, we paused for a giant nectarine each from a street stall. They are quite the best we’ve ever tasted anywhere - simply enormous, crunchy almost like an apple AND very flavoursome.

The 3^rd church, Basilica Di San Zeno, was a treat with a rose window called The Wheel of Fortune.  The ornate stained glass is framed with pale blue marble & gold trim. It’s gorgeous enormous bronze doors are deservedly famous comprising a mosaic of biblical stories some of which have been polished gold by the hands of worshippers over the centuries.  Kel especially liked the polished belly of Mary & Wil liked the bronze plaque depicting the wise man building his house upon the stone. 

"another church?!"

From here, we walked a good distance back into the heart of the old town in search of the Roman Amphitheatre.  It’s the third largest & best preserved in Italy and so stunning sitting right in the guts of it all with medieval, Roman & Venetian ruins; today’s living with shops & apartments dove-tailed onto ancient structures….. and the huge erection of a rock music stage next to it with pounding Italian reggae slamming one back into the 21^st century.  The juxtaposition of all the colours, time zones & nationalities held as one with the glue of vesper scooters & the aroma of expresso coffee, izza very pleasing!  We couldn’t have seen the amphitheatre at a better time with the late afternoon sun really highlighting its incredible salmon pink marble against a clear blue sky. 

This town is like wandering a sculpture park (not garden - the town planners and council don’t seem so interested in green spaces.)  It’s best to walk these town rather than cycle.  What about sustainability? And the electricity bill to light all the churches, bridges and significant other stone works ALL night - what about turning the lights off at midnight?

Heading roughly homeward, we’d decided on dinner of gelati again as it’s so bloody good and we were all a bit full still from the nectarine!  The gelati shops are so prolific (~1:4 shops) and serve extraordinary flavours in enormous portions.

We meandered the streets full of thriving Italian life & incredibly enticing small clusters of tables lovingly set & proudly attended by fussing waiters, back to the river where we stopped for an amazing Italian coffee and learned more about the etiquette (outside -E2.50/coffee; inside standing at the bar - E1.50).  Wil dreams on about the perfect day concluding with an enormous sumptuous pizza on one of the many balconies with a view. We dream that he can bring us back here to realize this.

back towards our campground

Satisfied & charmed by a gorgeous, we again drew the day to a close with a beer on the terrace overlooking it all.

7/9

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTY CATH!

Terrible night of extreme noise - motorbikes, dogs, neighbours coming and going (seemed like 30 people are in the adjacent camper - as it is there are 6 large adults & 2 dogs) and a loudly sad, crying toddler.  I’m pleased that the season is changing as we’re getting real crowd fatigue despite being strong contributors!

We secured a dental appointment for my INVISALIGN at 1500hrs and spent an incredible morning of school, internet research and extraordinary conversations with the 2 women in reception.  Big boss, Ilaria gave me a generous Italian lesson after paying the account and offered us all a history lesson on Verona (guess what her real job is - a teacher with special interest in teaching Italian to foreigners!)

So, after a superb E1.50 cappuccino, the Conns were treated to Ilaria’s classroom.  She took us on a stroll through the history of the Verona Walls from their first construction in Roman times around a strategically placed city cradled in the natural moat of a river bend to medieval times when the city was ruled by the powerful Della Scala (“of the ladder” - on the city’s coat of arms still) family.  The tombs of the family stand in the centre of city in raised, highly embellished gothic monuments.  On this period, the walls were topped with outward turned curved ‘v’s indicating to visitors/newcomers their affiliation to the church.  During this period, Dante Aligheri, the famous poet & writer, was exiled by the church from Florence to Verona where he grew in popularity and wrote Inferno, Pergatorio & Paradiso. Wil was so impressed with the story that immediately after the lesson he whizzed of to download it on his Kindle.  During this time Shakespeare wrote Romeo & Juliette which became very popular and was relevant to the feuding family Veronese stories.  Tourists including us gather in great hoards to see Julliette’s balcony, statue and tomb down the road even though she was totally fictitious. Furthermore, Shakespeare has never visited Italy. In fact, the balcony was constructed in the1950s & the house chosen for an address to receive hysterical mail to Julliette.  Apparently there’s film called “Letters to Juliette” that tells the fascinating story.  Ilaria also pointed us to a badly written but very popular book called “Three Meters Above the Sky” that explains the love lock thing on bridges & in romantic sites like Cassa di Julliette that we’ve seen all over Europe.

Then came small Napoleon in his big chariot who couldn’t get through the city’s main portal so he ordered it destroyed!  Finally, the Austrians extended the boundaries of the walls even further adding a whole lot of attractive hilltop fortresses.  After the world wars however, it all lay in tatters.

  

By this time, Kel was hopping foot to foot, quietly bored to bits…..but then there’s more. What an extraordinary woman!  We talked on about how Communism never really could displace the church, Mussolini's rise and fall and how he & his sympathizers actually were part of seeding an art movement which includes Lorca, Picasso, Dali, Gaudi….

believe that?  Wil was in his element, stringing together his European history, his enormous blue eyes sparkling in the company of his kind of amazing teacher who delivers with quirky humour all the while showing him respect & inclusion.  So……..Kel went cross-eyed when Jeff led the discussion into political leaders like Berlusconi and others.

We could have easily talked much more, or even slipped her in our pockets for our Italy tour but the dental appointment was approaching.  Just as we were about to leave she rushed out having written us a list of Italian films that examine different periods in time & politico-cultural issues.  Great service!  Wonderful generous spirit!

We hurried down a salad, and battled with TomTom, roadworks and Friday afternoon traffic to get there just on time.

A warm but mad Italian dentist used pliers, brute strength, high pressure water up the nose and in the eye, and a drill to remove the 6 hooks that I’ve lisped around, caught by mucosa on and hid behind a half smile, for 10 months.  E100 (cash only! “And do you want to have them whitened, and I could make them even straighter” & “no thanks” & 20 minutes later, no paperwork, I ran my tongue over smooth enamel (albeit around lacerated tender buccal mucosa & gingiva!) and ran back to Ed to show my patient, loving family.