One Gentleman In Verona

Verona is a large city, with a population of more than a quarter of a million people. It is also only a short drive from Lake Garda. The outskirts are predictably industrial and commercial in character and navigating the road network trying to get to a car park proved a bit challenging. Eventually after a few wrong turns and frayed nerves I managed to get us into a large multi storey car park, close to the centre of the old city.

Verona is a city full of history and nothing illustrates this better than the Arena which we arrived at after a few minutes of walking from the car park. The Arena is, or was a Roman ampitheatre and is well preserved. Archeologists think it was orginally built in the first century AD.

The Arena, Verona

Now its a major concert and classical music venue that holds 30,000 people and every year has a major opera festival. We were too early in the year for the festival and the queues for a guided tour of the ampitheatre were too long, so we chose instead to head towards another of the iconic buildings in the centre, Torre de Lamberti, the tallest medieval tower in Verona. 

Torre de Lamberti

Constructed in 1132, this 35 meter high tower was a real statement of wealth and power from one of the wealthiest medieval families. Its been well preserved and fitted internally with an elevator that whisks you almost all the way to the top. From the parapets thre are panoramic views of Verona.

Verona

Verona has so much history its hard to know where to start and we contented ourselves wandering through the shaded streets admiring the beauty of the historic buildings. Every corner turned brought something new to admire. Buildings topped with red tiled roofs and finished in red and cream brick or pale pastel render decorated with designs were both aesthetically pleasing and testament to the creativity of medieval builders. 

Street scenes in Verona

Verona also plays heavily on the Shakespeare connection - especially the connection to Romeo and Juliet. Drawing tourists in, just off a main street, is a small courtyard lined by mediaval buildings. Attached to one is 'Juliets' balcony' - a complete fiction of course but an admission charge for the building its attached to must be a never ending money tree for the owners. As we walked by the place was a scrum, so we moved on, found a cafe and had a drink and something to eat whilst planning what to see during the afternoon. 

Verona is also packed with churches, which in themselves are repositories of magnificent renaissance art. A combi ticket gives a discount on entry to four churches and we started with the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Matricolare, the most important church in the city. This was beautiful but outshone by the second church we visited, the 13th century Basilica di Santa Anastasia, which was simply beautiful. A marble tiled floor, of black, red and white and high vaulted ceilings with a roof supported by marble columns created a space for a wonderful set of 13th and 14th century frescoes. Near the entrance, on either side of the nave are two figures of hunchbacks, supporting fonts.

Basilica di Santa Anastasia

The time had come to check into our hotel, so I braved the traffic again and moved the car to a reserved car park near to where we were staying and we checked in. Our spacious room overlooked the Adige river which does a loop around the historic centre of Verona. After a brief rest we set out again to see a bit more of the city and to check out somewhere to eat. Our wanderings brought us to the river, which we crossed then recrossed using the oldest bridge in the city, Ponte Pietra. It was constructed over 2000 years ago by the Romans, but damaged in World War 2, and then rebuilt. 

Ponte Pietra

It led us back into the old city and we finally found a small osteria called Il Bertolido, tucked away in a back street that served traditional food. It turned out to be a little gem, providing the best food we'd eaten on our trip. We both opted for beef cheek, slow braised in amarone wine, served on a bed of polenta with some sides of grilled vegetables and tiny roast potatoes. It was mouth wateringly good. We shared a very good tiramisu for dessert before strolling back to our hotel in a state of post dining contentment. 

Fine dining in Verona

We were only in Verona for one day so we got up early the following morning and found a cafe for a simple breakfast of coffee and pastries. It was lovely strolling through relatively empty streets, seeing the city come to life. We had time to duck into the courtyard to see 'Juliet's balcony'...empty apart from one other person. It's a rather underwhelming space, and apart from the balcony there's little to see other than a bronze statue of Juliet. Apparently it's good luck to touch one of her breasts...what the #metoo movement makes of this I'm not sure. 

Juliet and 'the balcony'

We had time for one final bridge and church before we had to leave, so hiked across to the 14th century Scaliger Bridge, built by the same family that had built the castle in Sirmione. It's a lovely red brick crenellated bridge, that was also damaged and reconstructed after the second world war.

A bridge too far?

The Scaliger Bridge

Our final visit was to a church. The Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore is a Romanesque church full of more medieval religious art. It's a little way from the centre, so we had a mile walk to find it tucked away in a quiet part of the city. It was worth the trek, as like almost everything we'd seen in Verona it was a beautiful building.

The Crypt, Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore

Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore

We rushed back to check out of our hotel and pay the car parking charge. Before leaving felt another coffee was required and you are never far from a bar in Verona. Just around the corner, under a Roman arch, a simple bar provided a caffeine fix. It was time to hit the road. Our next stop was another city, only a few kilometres south, the equally historic city of Mantua.