January 8, 2014

We're not scheduled arrive in Milan until tomorrow.  But we didn't know that until this afternoon.  This morning we made a huge effort to see as much as possible of Verona because we thought we only had a half-day.  Then at about 1:00PM, or 13:00 as Italians see time, Jack thought to double-check. Good eye!  Milano will appear in our sights tomorrow.

Our AirBnB host recommended visiting Old Town Verona, an easy walk from our little flat.  Andiamos!  (Off we go!)

Part of an ancient amphitheater that’s being renovated along our path

We had an early lunch at a little sandwich shop.  The owner spoke no English but she recommended a charcuterie il fromage (cold cuts and cheese)  for due (two).  It was enought to feed cinco (five).  We did our best.

There's a church in Verona that was built in the 9th century.  So beautiful, the Duomo di Verona, or Cattredale di Santa Maria Matricolare.  

Approaching the Duomo

The church has many placards in different languages for their visitors explaining the tremendous age and histories of the church-things we're viewing.

View from the pulpit.

Most of the things, from an American perspective, are from the Dawn of Time.  I'm not even Catholic and I felt guilty going in there.  Was it disrespectful of me not to remove my Borsalino hat?  Were priests in those confession boxes spying on me as I snuck past?  Who knows?  I tiptoed out of there.

A bad case of the guilt.

A big park square is in Old Town Verona, bordered on one edge by an ancient Colosseum (huh - I thought Rome had a lock on the ancient Colosseum business) and statues of Famous Guys.  They were from the Dawn of Time, too, from the look of the placarding.  The square's trees still had Christmas lights blinking on them and were so pretty.

The old meets the new in Verona

A gladiator checks his text messages

We took an elevator ride to the top of an ancient bell tower in the Old Town marketplace.  It had a wonderful  view of Verona although it showed a fog moving in.

We eased back down, only to discover it was 11:55. Had we just waited five more minutes...

 was right after the bell tower tour, when we were having a restorative prosecco for my  sore foot, that Jack decided to check our reservations for Milan once more.  Mamma mia!    So glad he did.  We hopped a cab from the park square to the little flat.  Later, when the restaurants open (circa 19:00 horas) we'll forage for dinner.

I had to buy this, but didn’t have the courage to taste it.