Verona

Thought everyone might like to see Verona, where Emily goes now about once a week to do research with a doctor there.  Sometimes I tag along.  It's quite a charming town!  Home of the fabled "Romeo and Juliet", a cool old castle, and a very posh shopping district.  Check it out:

The first thing you see when you go to Verona's center is this huge old Roman coliseum.  They still hold events there, like opera in the summer.


















There are other Roman ruins in the town, too...it's amazing how they'll just pop up every now and then in the middle of random places.

This is Piazza Delle Erbe, an ancient herb market.  In modern times, it's a good place to buy tchotchkes like ceramic Juliet figurines, but a better place to grab a drink as the sun goes down and watch the tourists.

















Buildings adorned with frescoes and cool sculptures...

There's a river running around the historical district, very pretty.  An interesting tradition we were told about is that young people in love put their initials or a message on a lock, lock it on a bridge, and throw the key into the water.  OK, we're not that young, but we're looking for a lock....

Juliet's house.  A popular place for love notes.

I saw a guy doing this to the statue of Juliet, and thought he was just some kind of perv....then I realized it's a tradition.  Notice how shiny the right one is!



There's also a really cool church in Verona.  It's amazing how much art and incredible architecture is contained within Italian churches.








































Some of the frescoes in the church were within easy reach, and I noticed that some people had scratched their names and other graffiti in the paintings.  But what's interesting is when they did it....

















1383!  The oldest graffiti I've ever seen by a pretty good margin.

The famous bronze doors of the church:

Finally, we have the old castle, or Castelvecchio, of Verona.  I don't know what it is about castles, but I just love them.  So when I heard Verona had one, I was all over it.  They've turned the castle into a giant art gallery, so I paid a few euro and spent the rest of the day getting some culture.

The castle entrance:


















View from inside the courtyard:

And, the art inside...



































Most of it was sublime:

But some was a little, well, simpler:

This dude was so realistic, it freaked me out a little.

One of my favorites was the two saints.  The nice guy -

And, the one you don't wanna mess with.  Saint Badassicus, I think his name was.























Emily was meeting with her professor, so I was a little lonely that day.  But, I managed to amuse myself.

















Doorway to the dungeon-























Overlooking the courtyard, the river's off to the left.  They diverted its flow and used it to fill the moat.

















Up in the ramparts, where the archers used to walk.

And finally, the armory:

So hopefully you get an idea of what Verona's like.  A very cool town, a bit touristy to live in but fun to visit.  I'll leave you with a couple of shots that left me nostalgic for my time at Honda....


Street legal?  Yup.  Personally I can't imagine anything safer.

Fast, stylish, and comfortable, I see quite a few of these over here -

Anyhow, hope everyone back home is doing well, and ciao for now!