Our bed is one of the most comfortable we have had on holiday and we both had a great sleep – even if not long enough. Despite all our efforts to not do too much we are still ending up with lights off just before 11, and at times eating quite late due to long days. I am not sure what the cure is for us – perhaps its called retirement? Then we have more time to see and do things and don’t feel we have to cram it all in? Ah wishful thinking!
We have both air con and a window which makes for a great sleep so you can get the room to a comfortable level, turn off the air con and flick open the window. Awesome. The Grand Hotel des Arts Vernona also has tea and coffee in the room – complete with every type of sweetener you could think of from honey to fruit sugar, various sugar free and loads of milk so we can have more than one dribble in a cup each. They even have sachets of lemon juice if you have black tea with lemon – as the Europeans drink it. I am liking this place! Breakfast has been one of the most comprehensive continental spreads and very nice. Edible scrambled eggs (my readers will know most hotel eggs make me hurl as they are badly cooked, undercooked or not even real fresh eggs), italian cooked sasusge and instead of bacon – rich speck fried! The cold spread has every italian cold cured meat I am aware of plus some very nice cheeses – one in particular is a blue which is so sweet and oozy – I think that was on the pizza the other night and is Gorgonzola . To make it perfect there are plates of grilled tomato with herbs, aubergine, zucchini, and red and yellow capsicum. Oh, forgot to mention the expensive Italian Tuna, and a radicchio green and red salad mix. Fresh fruit selection lovely – all cut and in a fresh light syrup to stop it going brown – including very nice al dente apricots.
Our mission today was to do a big laundromat wah. Due to all the intense sweating our clothes need some heavy duty refreshing which hand washing can’t do. We asked reception for some help with directions and she gave us two options about 1.5km away. Loaded up with a full load we set off in the shade as much as possible to the closest one on the east side of the river. To get there we passed through the old town – town centre and the beautiful Arena. Entering Verona last night we felt a really good vibe – nice clean wide streets, and old town is equally grand and pretty. As we passed the Arena we noticed lots of stage equipment and then managed to decipher some signs and a big opera is on tomorrow night here. Gutted our timing is out one day to take advantage of this experience. I think it is wonderful that many of the old arena’s around Europe are still used – either bull fighting (French ‘humane’ style), plays or opera. We already feel Verona is a place we could happily come back to to use as a base for hopping around to other places, both for its vibe and proximity to other places of interest.
When we arrived at the laundromat it was open but dark and no one was inside. We looked at getting some some mixture and Vern noticed the machines had no lights on. We tested pushing buttons and long story short – no power in the place. Sweating and grumpy we thought of a plan ‘b’ which was taxi to the other one – as from where we were it was a 35 minute walk in 34 degrees and that was not appealing with a big bag of laundry (or without the bag to be honest). Next problem was where to find a taxi amongst one way streets in the rabbits warren residential section we had found ourselves. I suggested we head over the river into old town again and see if we could find something there, and maybe tick off a few sites along the way.
Here we found something that lifted our weary hot spirits a bit when on impulse we decided to pop into a very dilapidated church. San Fermo Inferiore, was first built in the 5th and 6th century by paleo Christians on the site where martyrs Saints Fermo and Rustico were martyred. The Benedictine monks demolished this and built two parts in Romanesque style – upper and lower churches in 1065 – 1143. Following them the Franciscans transformed the upper church to its current style in 1261. San Fermo is the most enchanting old building with faded and pale frescoes and a highly decorative wooden ceiling that looked like a beautiful old wooden ship interior. It was musty and dusty with light illuminating particles as it shone through the windows. There was something so special and atmospheric about the semi restored and mainly original church that appealed to us – together with the absence of other tourists bar a couple.
Underneath the church the older church was in a better condition but very minimalist with Etruscan style arches and old painting on supporting poles. In its minimalist style, and cool dim underground location also maintained a lovely humble and spiritual atmosphere that was appealing, refreshing and peaceful. As we exited we asked the ticket entry lady (only 2.50 entry) where we might get a taxi and she offered to call us one on the spot. Very nice indeed. Within minutes we had a nice airconditioned 10 minute trip to the other side of town to the next laundromat street. We had to use google to actually find the shop and then it was Vern who had the tantrum for a change.
There on the door was a closed sign, due to a bereavement – from what we could gather. Gone was our taxi, and we were there with the increasingly heavy bag of laundry in the peak heat of a Verona summer’s day. Great – nothing to do but walk home and see some sights along the way. Our position was close to another notable church and about 15 minutes from home. We stopped for a cold drink in a nearby cafe and used the bathroom facilities (had become quite urgent by now for our so called quick trip to town) and entered the larger San Zeno church.
San Zeno is once of the oldest churches in Italy originally built on the patrons (St.Zeno who Christianised most of Verona – originally came from South Africa) tomb in 380, but the current building was started in the early 9th century with the Romanesque exterior being completed around 967. It was badly damaged in Verona’s worst earthquake in 1117, and restored shortly after that. Further to St. Zeno laying at rest and his contribution to the city – it is also notable for the crypt being the wedding place of Romeo and Juliet. Whilst the exterior is a little plain other than its faded stripey style and worn stone lions guarding the entrance the inside is very airy and tall with pink marble and stone pillars and more lovely faded frescoes – some being layers of 12-13 and 14 century partially revealed on top of each other. It also has a series of doors that got me excited – firstly lovely dark old thick wooden slabs, and another decorative door with 48 bronze panels depicting various people and stories in 3D c. 11th century. We also enjoyed the peaceful cool dimly lit church before heading out into the heat and continuing our wander home.
On the way we passed the famous Roman Pietra stone bridge built in 100AD that crosses the in Adige river. Four arches were blown up by retreating German troops in WW11 but in 1957 they were rebuilt using the original bricks. We enjoyed our wander through old streets in a freestyle manner towards the general direction of home and had a refresh before we both set about doing a handwash of essential items to get us to the next stop with clean clothes. For dinner we asked a new reception for a better recommendation than last night and double checked it on TripAdvisor before having a shower and change of clothes and heading out in the heat again.
Before dinner there was a couple of spots in old town that I wanted to tick off – some frescoed buildings in the main old market square, Romeo and Juliets balacony (more legend than the actual one) and a 500 year old whale rib bone given as a gift. All of these places were within walking distance of the restaurant, and our accommodation – say a 4km loupe, which despite our big day we were still able to dig in and do at a leisurely pace. The temperature was no longer 34-36, but still over 30 and suited to an amble.
The heart of old town is very pretty and scenic here – Verona is likened to a small version of Florence, and slightly quainter. I also like that it is very clean and feels safe. The old town streets are kept in a tidy original facade and at the base used for modern shops and of course lots of eateries and accommodation. Fashion and high end shops are prevalent – like a mini Milan and the art, fashion combinations, and leather goods a delight to wistfully view. The square which once had markets, is a modern market place and was quite full of tourist even at 8pm in the evening. The whale bone looks small amongst the grandeur of old colourful buildings that surround it. We tried to find the Romeo and Juliet balcony which was about 6 minutes walk at the most but the GPS was having a tantrum inbetween the high stone buildings and narrow lanes so we gave up in order not to miss out on dinner – given its not the real location, only believed to be in vicinity.
The so called great restaurant was out of place in Italy and would have fit in a posh Paris neighborhood- not for the food, but the service or lack thereof. Firstly we got ignored for a table, then seated we were given a bread basket (part of cover charge standard here) and then left for a further 15 minutes before order being taken. They were in peak dining, but not that busy that the staff could not cope in my opinion. We had two courses each – courgette flowers filled with ricotta and an eggplant stack layered with a mascarpone cream, followed by macaroni with octopus stew and hand made veal ravioli with sage butter. The food was overall very nice except my octopus stew had hardly any sauce or meat – albeit flavour ok. Due to the slack service and long wait for dinner we left without dessert. It was also a bit pricey for what it was. Down the road was a gelato place that also sold ready made icecream desserts in little plastic cups, so we enjoyed a fruity panacotta style one and a hazelnut chocolate one – both excellent value and together the same price as dessert at the restaurant.
Wandering home eating our gelato in the warm moonlight we both confirmed our desire to return again – feeling the vibe of the Verona – small city of “love” as it is called.
Travels with Valrock 