Highlights of Verona

On my first afternoon on a revisit to Verona, Italy, May 11-14, 2011, I met a woman from Sydney in my hotel. She had never been to Italy before, and we decided to spend the following day together. I chose as our excursion the Roman Theater, and we spent a lot of time there looking within the museum sections and climbing through the entire hilly area.

Before she left Verona to join her brother on a business trip, she gave me her 2-day city pass (€15, near $19.50), which covered most of Verona’s main sights. In one day, I saw five! 

I began at the Torre deo Lambert (Lamberti Tower) for a fabulous 360-degree view of the city. It’s 368 steps up, but you can pay €1 to take an elevator past 243 of them. 

Next was the recently restored Casa Giulietta (Juliet’s House), a 13th-century, 5-story house (no elevator). It was an interesting, pleasant experience and miraculously was free of tourists because I got there at 9:30 a.m. 

There was a guest book to sign. Most of the pages were filled with curlicue hearts and arrows and amorous embellishments written in Italian. I dated my entry and wrote, “Marilyn loves Don. Portland, Oregon.”

Before it got too hot, I took a long walk outside the Old Town to the Romanesque Basilica di San Zeno, begun in 1123. I love this one. It was my second time there.

I headed back along the Via Sottoriva, which follows the river, to the Gothic-style Basilica di Santa Anastasia, a Dominican-order church begun in 1280. It has lovely frescoes and magnificent stained-glass windows. 

Finally, I went to the Gallery of Modern Art (Mercato Vecchio, 6, Verona; phone +39 045 800 1903), at Palazzo Forti, to see a temporary Chagall exhibit. I could have stayed longer, but by then I was a pretty tired 76 year old.

MARILYN HILL

Portland, OR