Even with the stop in Bologna, our early start meant that we were already installed in our apartment just before lunchtime. The three of us sauntered off to the restaurant we'd had recommended to us, only to find that it had moved. Nothing daunted, we ended up in the new location and found they had a few tables open.
We got to chatting with the older gentlemen at the table next to us, who gave us a different origin for the inclusion of horse and donkey in the Veronese diet: as we had been told, it was the result of famine following wars and the availability of warhorse and donkey meat on the battlefields. However, according to these people, it dates to the late Medieval period. Since my curiosity has now been aroused, I've done some quick research, and the answer is that no one really knows why they eat horse and donkey particularly in this area. Some say it dates back to the Roman empire, when other horse-eating tribes inhabited the area. Others, the Napoleonic wars. Regardless, they know how to make a wonderful ragù!
Verona is a great city for wandering. The city center is rather small, but there are lots of shops and a good deal of activity, plus churches! We came across the Church of the Jesus Windmill inadvertently (to be perfectly honest, I'd forgotten that this particular event had happened in Verona although I had thought about it with a snicker from time to time) and went inside. This time, undistracted by silliness, we had the chance to admire the frescoes properly. They are quite lovely and well worth the amount of time we spent in them. We also scouted around for dinner spots, happily running across various restaurants in which we'd dined during our earlier visits.
By that time, it was the appointed hour to meet Jim at the apartment, so we could enjoy the time with all four of us!
Highlights of our time together include:
Seeing the props hauled into the Arena. The afternoon of the performance, we happened to be down that direction, and had the delight of seeing all the props for the different productions piled in what appeared to be a haphazard manner around the back side of the arena. We were lucky enough to witness the crane in action, bringing huge sections of the prop pyramid over the top and into the stage area.
Aida. The performance itself was stupendous. They did not include the live animals as in previous years, but the stage was absolutely full of marvelous performers: singers, dancers, and musicians. They ended up using all of the tiers of the seating area behind the stage as well as the stage itself, and the effect of the sound's arrival from different sections of the arena was magical.
Marching band. On the day we left Verona, we happened across "Bands from the North," a festival of Scandinavian music schools. They marched into the city center, and then proceeded to play for several hours. It was a delight to see such young talent! One of the directors was so dynamic, we were all dancing along with the music as we watched him and his band.
And then it was time to get home! We had a few hours in Bologna, which we spent in an outside bar chatting and reminiscing about what we had seen.
Love,
Alexandra
We got to chatting with the older gentlemen at the table next to us, who gave us a different origin for the inclusion of horse and donkey in the Veronese diet: as we had been told, it was the result of famine following wars and the availability of warhorse and donkey meat on the battlefields. However, according to these people, it dates to the late Medieval period. Since my curiosity has now been aroused, I've done some quick research, and the answer is that no one really knows why they eat horse and donkey particularly in this area. Some say it dates back to the Roman empire, when other horse-eating tribes inhabited the area. Others, the Napoleonic wars. Regardless, they know how to make a wonderful ragù!
Verona is a great city for wandering. The city center is rather small, but there are lots of shops and a good deal of activity, plus churches! We came across the Church of the Jesus Windmill inadvertently (to be perfectly honest, I'd forgotten that this particular event had happened in Verona although I had thought about it with a snicker from time to time) and went inside. This time, undistracted by silliness, we had the chance to admire the frescoes properly. They are quite lovely and well worth the amount of time we spent in them. We also scouted around for dinner spots, happily running across various restaurants in which we'd dined during our earlier visits.
By that time, it was the appointed hour to meet Jim at the apartment, so we could enjoy the time with all four of us!
Highlights of our time together include:
Seeing the props hauled into the Arena. The afternoon of the performance, we happened to be down that direction, and had the delight of seeing all the props for the different productions piled in what appeared to be a haphazard manner around the back side of the arena. We were lucky enough to witness the crane in action, bringing huge sections of the prop pyramid over the top and into the stage area.
Aida. The performance itself was stupendous. They did not include the live animals as in previous years, but the stage was absolutely full of marvelous performers: singers, dancers, and musicians. They ended up using all of the tiers of the seating area behind the stage as well as the stage itself, and the effect of the sound's arrival from different sections of the arena was magical.Marching band. On the day we left Verona, we happened across "Bands from the North," a festival of Scandinavian music schools. They marched into the city center, and then proceeded to play for several hours. It was a delight to see such young talent! One of the directors was so dynamic, we were all dancing along with the music as we watched him and his band.
And then it was time to get home! We had a few hours in Bologna, which we spent in an outside bar chatting and reminiscing about what we had seen.
Love,
Alexandra
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