Verona is not ugly

A few weeks ago, my roommates and I took a day trip to fair-enough Verona. It was pouring, and freezing and absolutely lovely.


Some people complain that Bologna is a dirty city, and on some level that is true. Many of the beautiful porticoes and buildings are covered with graffiti and the Bolognese have a relatively lax attitude towards throwing things away in garbage cans. But that actually ends up being something I like about Bologna. It is very much a living city, and I like the way the modern day graffiti brings the old fashioned architecture into the present. While many of the cities in Italy are painstakingly preserved, living mausoleums to an era long since past, Bologna seems rather content to be indifferent to its own history. I think that is part of what keeps tourists away. It's not that there's nothing to see here, but rather the way the city presents itself.

It might be related to the dominating presence of the University here. The University of Bologna is huge, and a major academic center for Italy, which I think contributes to the city being very forward focused. But I suppose I can write an epic on local politics etc. another day.

So, as much as I enjoy Bologna, Verona made for an interesting contrast. Both cities are pretty affluent but that is about where the similarities end. Bologna has a much more closed in feeling. The streets are narrow and twisting and those beautiful porticoes contribute to that confined feeling. Verona was much more open, and was much closer to what I had expected an Italian city to look like. It's clean and well-maintained and very tourist friendly. Everywhere we went you could hear at least three or four different languages being spoken. The streets are comparatively rather wide, and paved with something closer to marble or granite than the treacherous cobblestones here.

Verona was about a two hour train ride from Bologna, so while it was cloudy when we left, it was pouring by the time we arrived. So, we only saw two of its major tourist sights: the Arena, and Giuliette's Balcony. (That picture over there on the left).

The Arena is a Roman amphitheater dating from about 30AD. It is the third largest in Italy, so, well done Verona. We couldn't get inside because our train was late but I suppose it seemed very nice and Colosseum-like. Also, there were men wandering around in gladiator outfits. There's something about watching a gladiator nosh on pizza while smoking a cigarette during his break from work that's pretty entertaining. They still hold events in the Arena, namely opera and theater during the late spring and summer, so we are hoping for a return visit then.

By far, my favorite thing in Verona was seeing Giulliette's house. As you know, Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet in Verona. Although they were fictional people, the two rival families the Capulets and Montagues were based on rival families that existed in Verona. According to the museum, the story actually dates back to the late 15th century, and was originally set in Siena by the writer Masuccio Salernitano, who swore the events took place during his lifetime.

A Veronese writer Luigi da Porto later adopted the story and moved it to Verona, giving it much of its modern form, including the names Giulietta and Romeo, and those rival families of Montecchi and Capuleti. Shakespeare presumably drew from da Porto's account. Since then, some entrepreneurial Veronese designated a house on Villa Capuleti as Giuliette's house and it is a very popular tourist sight. There is a superstition saying that if you make a wish about true love underneath Giuliette's balcony, it will come true. Sweet, huh? Just so you don't get too sappy there is a bronze statue of Giuliette about five feet from her balcony, and it is apparently good luck to rub her breast. Needless to say, it is impeccably polished.

That is all good and nice but what I found really beautiful was the passageway into the courtyard. The walls are covered in love notes, some written directly onto the paint, others scribbled on paper and taped on top of other notes. All in every language you can imagine, as high up as you can see. We stood there and read as many as we could for awhile, until we got so sappy and teary that the guy we were traveling with made us leave to go drink in the square.

Which is what we did for the rest of our time in Verona. The rain was coming down like crazy, making it virtually impossible for us to walk more than five feet without getting soaked. We settled in at a sidewalk cafe with some heavy canvas umbrellas overhead and sat out the rain for a bit, drinking wine and watching our fellow tourists scramble through the rain. We eventually had to trek the mile and a half back to the train station and made it about 5 minutes before we gave up trying to stay dry and took turns jumping in puddles instead.


Although we spent the whole time there going on about how much we loved Verona (particularly around the time we found the shopping district), the trip made me look differently at Bologna and my time here. I find I really appreciate the experience afforded to me by the city, that in many ways in Bologna we see the way the Italians actually live, and our lives are as close to that as would be possible for a bunch of Americans living abroad together.

On a side note, I passed my Italian oral exam today. I can now officially tell you about my last vacation, what my apartment looks like, and the basic plot of Saved by the Bell. However, I still can't order wine, work my washing machine, or explain to the Italians what is wrong with Sarah Palin. Not surprisingly, almost every Italian I have met wants to talk US politics and explain to me why McCain will win "because Americans are stupid."