Verona

After a fabulous week in Monza/Milano/Como, we said goodbye to Nadia and Emanuele and took a train to Verona. We were met at the station by Mr. Gaspari, who was to be our host (along with his wife) while we were in Verona. His daughter had moved to Rochester for a post-doc position at the University the previous year and he had come with her for a month to help her settle in. She just happened to move into an apartment a couple of blocks from us, and our bishop had asked us to check in on them. We got to know them fairly well and when he invited he said that if we were ever traveling to Verona, let him know and could stay with them. We thought, yeah great, one of those things you never think is really going to happen. Well, we did go to Verona, we let him know and he really was thrilled to host us and take us around for a couple of days. Anyhow. He took us to their little apartment and got us settled on a small fold out couch in their living room. They had a nice little meal of rucola, parmigiano reggiano and bresaola. Yummy.

After dinner, we piled into their tiny car and drove out to a tiny town, Borghetto, and just enjoyed the evening walking around, taking pictures and shopping. Lisa got a little bag and we bought some gelato.

Lisa at Borghetto

It was a very nice evening, and got rather funny on the way home. We weren't too far from Verona, but it was dark, and the Gaspari couple was a little older and he had a slight problem seeing in the dark. He was getting mad at the other cars that were driving around us and talking about how awful the other drivers were, and it was really him. He was driving so slow and really couldn't see where he was going. It was sad, but also kind of funny. He left his brights on to help him see and all of the other cars kept honking at him to get him to turn them off, and that just made him madder and yell about the lack of respect from other drivers. Again, kind of sad but also funny. He was a nice old man to be so good to us, I hope we didn't wear him out too much. We finally got home after several hours of driving around and taking wrong turns and trying to figure out where we were. About 1:40 am, the TV suddenly came to life for seemingly no apparent reason and it was REALLY loud. Random.

Lisa and Signore Gaspari looking at the hills north of Verona.

The next day, we walked around the entire city with our gracious host acting as a tour guide. It was really amazing, he gave us a running narrative about everything we were seeing, from how the city was constructed, when, why, and by who. There is quite the incredible history to the city. Part of Verona's fame comes from Billy the writer and his story of star-crossed lovers.

Lisa with Juliet's Balcony in the background.

We made a stop by Juliet's house and saw her balcony and her statue. Her statue was kind of interesting in that her breasts are very well polished because it is supposed to be good luck to rub them. Can't say that it has worked.

Juliet, in all her glory.

After our fabulous tour, we headed back to nap and get ready for a great night out. One of the big attractions to Verona is the Arena di Verona, and we were visiting right in the peak of opera season.

View of the Arena di Verona from outside.

The Gaspari family had gotten us tickets to that night's performance of Il Nabucco by Verdi. Wow. How do you describe sitting in a 2000 year old stadium, watching an opera written by one of the most famous composers ever? You don't. All I can say is it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I think that the most incredible part for me, was the performance of Va' Pensiero. It was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip, and an incredible finish to our stay in Verona.

Lisa and our wonderful hosts, the Gaspari family.

Looking at the crowd in the Arena di Verona.

Lisa overlooking the center of Verona.