Verona, Italy

Two households, both alike in dignity

in fair Verona where we lay our scene…

The first person to call Paris the city of love must not have visited Venice or Verona. Furthermore, I’m not sure Shakespeare could have chosen a more appropriate setting for Romeo and Juliet. Despite our troubles the night before, Lauren and I woke up ready to take in as much of Verona as we could before catching a train to Venice. What we saw was so cool that it made the delayed trip well worth the hassle. Verona is really two cities, an old medieval city complete with an arena and several ancient plazas. We walked a block or so from the hotel and took the bus into Old Verona. It was a very short ride, and we knew exactly when we had arrived. As we passed under gates and through walls hundreds of years old, we were instantly transported into another time. The major sight to see in Verona is the arena. A smaller, although better maintained, version of the coliseum in Rome, Verona’s arena continues to host festivals and events. Days earlier the Killers brought American Rock to the house, and days after our visit the annual festival was to begin.

Now, while the arena was a pretty cool sight, since 1620 or so, Verona has gained notoriety thanks to an Englishman and a couple of fictional Italian teenagers with raging hormones. Well, that’s how I have described Romeo and Juliet to my students for the past three years, now that I have seen the streets of Verona I may have to change my tune. Yes Romeo and Juliet made some rash decisions, but it’s impossible not to feel the romance of Verona. Lauren and walked under archways, through narrow streets, along the river, and had lunch in a plaza surrounded by statues and disappearing frescoes painted centuries before. The citizens of Verona seem to have embraced their place in literature. The names of several hotels and cafes pay homage to Gulietta and Romeo. Apparently, you can even visit the Capulet’s home and for a fee stand on Guliette’s balcony. We chose not to indulge in this particular fictitious fantasy.

Under a warm blue sky, our time in Verona was coming to a close when Lauren spotted a plaque mounted on the outer wall of Old Verona, visible to those leaving through the gate. Engraved alongside a bust of William Shakespeare were the following words from Act III, “There is no world without Verona Walls, but purgatory, torture, hell itself. Hence banished is banish'd from the world and world's exile is death...”

Well said Romeo.