Verona, Italy is best known as the residence of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. Although these fictional characters are over 400 years old, they are just that: fictional characters. The beautiful thing about Verona is that it allows Shakespeare devotees to blur the lines between reality and fiction.
Juliet’s house– After walking through a short entrance littered in love-graffiti, this is the first sign I spotted.
It reads (in short): This is a historical monument. Help us keep it clean…It is forbidden to damage or smear/smudge the walls. According to criminal law, offenses will be avenged with up to one year prison sentence or a fine of €1,039. I thought it was really fun for several reasons: 1) I understood it. 2) the irony of sign and wall. I waited patiently for the German-speakers to get out of the way so I could take a good shot and then wandered through throngs of people to find Joe and show him my clever discovery. He gave me a courteous sympathy-smile, then pointed out the same sign written in half a dozen other languages. Whatever.
Speaking of signs that tell you not to do things, this is a good one:
There are hundreds of locks in the courtyard, each one professing its own vow of love. (Hopefully each lover’s fate is better than Romeo’s and Juliet’s!)
Then there is Juliet herself, willing to be molested thousands of times a day, in the name of luck. Or love. Whichever you trust more.
Joe cops a feelski, in hopes of scoring some luck. Watch it buddy!
Juliet’s tomb– Despite 95o+ temps and oppressing humidity, I made Joe walk across town to find Juliet’s tomb, mainly out of curiosity. I mean, how could a fictional character be buried in a tomb? Shockingly, you have to PAY to find out. Out of principal, I didn’t want to pay, but curiosity was victorious this time. You need a large suspension of disbelief to really enjoy this. I’ll give it to the Italians. They have mastered the art of The Entrance Fee.
If you build it, they will come.
Ok, now for the real reason we came to Verona….performance of Aida at the Verona Opera Festival!
We figured the best way to see an opera, was in Italy, at the Arena di Verona. This amphitheater models Rome’s Colosseum and holds a festival each summer with 5 different productions. The sets are kept outside during the day, and re-assembled on stage each night for a different performance, via crane.
Arena di Verona and set materials.
It was a beautiful and slightly breezy night, great for sharing an opera with our Florentian friends, the Flammias, and thousands of other spectators.
Flammias and Walls
Photography wasn’t allowed during the performance, but a few illegals never hurt…right?
Act II
Find the 4 horses on stage!
Death scene
Just as amazing as the show, was an Italian man (I assume) across the arena from us. After a great song (there were many), before the rest of the audience had time to react, he would yell “Bravo” or “Bravi”. The acoustics in the area are so good, that none of the performers use microphones, and this guy could be heard clear as day, every time. His joy added to the ambience of the entire experience.
I don’t think we’ll need to see another opera in our lives. It just can’t top this!