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Published: March 20th 2011
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So I realize that I have not blogged in a long time, but my spring break trip to Verona and Venice is definitely worth blogging about. Jane, Deb, Krista, Fllanza (the ESL teacher), and I took seven freshmen boys to Verona and Venice after they had read Romeo and Juliet. Our first stop was Verona. Although Paris is called the city of love, it seems like Verona should have that appellation. Everywhere there are pictures of Romeo and Juliet and the theme of the city’s existence seems to be love. It is a beautiful, small city with more to see than just Juliet’s balcony. We stayed in the Euromotel Croce Bianca – which had great service and the staff was very helpful, which made it great despite the fact that it was about a 15 minute bus ride from the city center. On our first day in Verona, we first went to Castlevecchio. Once owned by the De Scala family, it now houses a museum of art, mostly Christian. There were frescos and statues and paintings from several different time periods. The boys weren’t that interested, so we moved through pretty quickly. Then we went to the Arena. The Arena is
a smaller version of the Colosseum, but it is much better preserved. We walked around on the ground where countless gladiators fought and climbed the seats where the screaming crowd watched them. After the Arena, we made our way to Juliet’s house. No one, of course, is sure that this is the house where the Juliet of legend lived, but local folklore or tradition claims this house as her’s. Inside the house you could write a letter to Juliet and see how the family would have lived. Graffiti covered the outer walls that led to the house written by countless visitors. Juliet’s house was the most crowded place in Verona. By the time we were done at Juliet’s house, it was dark, and we headed back to our hotel. Once there, the boys went for pizza and the teachers went to a little local restaurant that served great pasta and amazing amaretto cake.
On our second day, we started out seeing the tombs of the De Scala family. Their symbol was the head of a dog on top of a knight’s helm, which gave them the name “the dog-faced knights”, which I thought sounded insulting – I mean, who
would want to be called a dog-faced knight? The tombs, however, were impressive, stretching into the sky and covered in statues, all proclaiming that the De Scala’s were immensely rich. We also saw a statue of Dante in a square where the walls behind him were covered with old, fading frescos. Next to this square was the Torre di Lambarte, which offered a great view of the city after a 368 stair climb or an elevator ride. The boys seemed to love taking pictures of the city from above, although the height was a bit much for me. We then had lunch at a small café by the river which had excellent pizza. Next we trekked across the river and to the Roman Theater. Above the theater a church had been built, actually on the Roman ruins. The part of the church that used to be a monastery had been turned into a museum for both Roman artifacts and pieces from the church. We had a relaxed evening at the hotel eating crackers, meat, and cheese and watching Letters to Juliet.
Our last day in Verona was a “boys on their own” day. We went down to the Piazza
Erbe where they have a market, both fruits and vegetables and tourist items. After wandering around the market, we went over to Romeo’s house, which you can only look at but not enter. We then went to one of the neatest church’s I have ever seen. The Basilica of St. Anastasia had amazing artwork. It started with frescos, which must have, at one time, decorated the entire church. There was one of crusaders kneeling at the feet of Jesus. Then there were paintings and statues from more recent time periods, all layered over each other. It was the most interesting church artwork I have ever seen. After St. Anastasia’s, we had a great lunch and more great dessert. We had another relaxed evening watching The Proposal and then celebrated Arton’s, one of the boys, birthdays.
Before heading to Venice, we spent Tuesday in the picturesque Lake Garda area. Mountains loom over the lake, which is surrounded by little resorts and tourist attractions. We went to Il Vittoriale, the home of fascist poet Gabriele d’Annunzio. The gardens around his house were beautiful, but the guy himself was a little crazy. He thought of his house as a priory, a place
of enlightenment. He had collected items from countless religions and filled, literally filled, his house with them. He was also a fan of symbolism. For example, you had to stoop, to humble yourself, before entering the library/study. He also had a battleship – an actual battleship, in his garden. It was interesting to see, but I wouldn’t want to live in his house. Once we were back in Verona, we teachers went to Del Gal, another great local restaurant that was decorated with roosters. It was a great end to a wonderful experience in Verona.
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Kia
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Love!
I miss hunting for St. George with you! :)