Here is a link to poorly edited video footage of the event.

You might want to turn of the sound and fast forward to the fireworks! The band was AWFUL!

Ben Forgey and his wife Anna Keene came into town from Puglia [the boot heel]. They are on a month-long Honeymoon Tour of Italy and arrived in Verona by train [a day's ride that traversed the entire length of Italy]. We bought a beef roast from the butcher and they brought Pugliese wine. After dinner, we walked to Piazza Bra for the fireworks. It was snowing!! The piazza was practically empty [it was around 10:30pm] so we walked to an Osteria in Piazza Erbe to kill some time. A little before midnight, the snow and the revellers had really accumulated. Outside, Ben started a snowball fight [we had the perfect cover, the closed vegetable stalls] and we followed the crowd back to Piazza Bra/the Arena.

I have never seen fireworks during a snowstorm [though I hope to again].

Today we hang curtains, fix up the kitchen, and haul a bunch of stuff up to P.’s creepy attic space. We are able to remove the hideous cabinet which kind of loomed over the sink in the kitchen and replace it with a nice clean hanging bar from IKEA. Also we install a thick floor to ceiling curtain across the hallway opening, which joins the front hallway to the back section of the apartment. This instantly warms the place up considerably. Curtains in our bedroom and the kitchen gives nice cheerful look to the windows and filter the light admirably.

Kind of traumatic experience at the post office with this at first very bitchy lady. Although she warms up by the end of the transaction, we are both a little shaken and are only able to mail half of our packages.

The ragazzi who stayed here the couple of years before us really did nothing to beautify this apartment. We hit the negozio di ferramenta for screws, a power driver, and odds and ends for the lighting arrangements. Back out the Via Milano to Auchan, the US-style shopping mall, for a wiring doodad we can’t find at the first hardware place we hit, a store called “Brico OK.” We visit two or three thrift stores and an art store way out in the ugly part of Verona where we buy canvas, brushes, and tubes of oil paint.

Out to ol’ Migross for that coffee. Turns out it’s an eventful day. We decide to rent a car from some “friends” of Peter’s at City Car Rentals. We will hit IKEA Brescia for curtains, pillows, comforters, towels and the like.

Fun driving on a two-lane road, “via Milano”, through the little towns. At one point the misty expanse of Lake Garda looms on our right with great hulking cliffs. Delicious meal of meatballs and we begin a whirlwind shop. Return on the Autostrade, back a little after 8pm.

Steve says: can’t believe I forgot to buy coffee when L. & I shopped on the 24th. All the stores are closed for the holiday [San Stefano]. L. & I awake and dress for a pre-pranzo walk, decide on the spur of the moment to visit the Brunellis next door. We bring a big bottle of wine. Beppo is a cool old cat with a boozer’s nose like a lump of cauliflower, kind and sharp eyes. Marisa reminds me of Miss Thelma [our neighbor in c-ville]. She wants to meet Maryland. She loves dogs and our little girl puts on a good show, flopping on the Brunelli’s rug. They offer us white wine [it's noonish] into which we dip biscotti, surprisingly tasty.

Doner Kebap for lunch is a bit much. We nap post-pranzo, back up and it’s time for another walk over the Ponte Pietra and past the Duomo.

PS. Today is the Brunelli’s 49th wedding anniversary.

some posts are now in the archives.
(departure from Dulles, arrival, better pictures of the apartment),
so please browse the archives.

This is a giant crèche (presepe) in our neighbors’ yard, taken at night, so the color is a little off. We visited three churches yesterday and each one has a Nativity (the fountain in the Piazza Erbe also has a very interesting terra cotta version). The most amazing one was in the Duomo, but the light was low and a little boy and his grandfather were waiting to look at it, so I was too embarrassed to attempt a snapshot. It was set in an Alpine village and rested upon lots of gnarled tree trunks. Really cool.

See the crèche to the left of San Giorgio?

We got up early and walked Maryland to the Saturday flea market at the soccer stadium. Almost everything was new and made in China, but there were a few good booths of used clothing and some great meat & vegetable stands.

Kebaps (spelled correctly) are really popular right now. We had pitas with shaved meat (it CAN’T be pork, right?) and ah, the Potate Fritte, the Holy Grail of French fries. Right up front they ask you if you want Mayo or Ketchup (Mayo, of course).

I bought a little bit of black thread to fix my coat. We took an extended two hour dog walk through the park system and went home.

Later we decided to stock up on food for the weekend (thinking that the stores would be closed for X-mas day). We went into a macelleria to get our meat. We wanted lamb (l’agnello), but I pronounced the word incorrectly. We then listed the meats we DIDN’T want: bistecca, vitello, pollo. Steve even baaahed, but lady at the counter had no clue what we wanted. We decided to order some veal. While she was making our cuts, we started oohing and aahing over the cool artwork on the wall. That eased the tension a bit. I ordered some steaks and loaded up on sausages. Then I wrote out the word A-G-N-E-L-L-O and Steve drew a picture of the lamb, she told us how to pronounce the word correctly (which seemed CLOSE to what we had said, but we suspect that she was being purposefully obtuse at first) .. so we HAD TO order some lamb as well … and Total: 30 Euro! Mangiamo bene!

Duomo.

more dog walks.

San Zeno, our favorite church.

The cloister at San Zeno.
Every church has a nativity and they don’t place the Christ child in the manger until Christmas Day.

Details of San Zeno.

Some of the old wall.

More of the old wall.

A knight’s view.

Archway.

A Roman arch, an American dog & a Russian hat.

“Everything and More” was recommended to us by Peter’s former tenant, Josh. He came by on Sunday to give us some pointers on the apartment and living in Verona. “I don’t know if you guys are into secondhand stuff or not …” Hmmm. He marked down several places to visit on our city map.

In America (or at least in Virginia) in the past 10-15 years, thrift stores have mostly become large warehouses of used clothing. When I was in high school, there were aisles and aisles of used household items [an entire row dedicated just to wooden salad bowls, it seemed]. Of late, I have been ruing the fact that my buying power in those days was so limited. Just think of the loot I could have collected … an “if I had known then what I know now” sort of thing …

Yes, I am setting up the scenario that Di Tutto Di Piu’ was a return to the glory years! And now I had the knowledge and the Euro!

Steve and I made a rule that we weren’t (I wasn’t) allowed to make any clothing or household purchases during our first week in Italy (it may have originally been a two week rule, but Steve kindly reduced it to one). Aside from buying a nice set of towels, we (I) had stuck to it. Well, today was Wednesday.

When we go shopping, Steve usually finds a book, sits in an old recliner and reads while I browse. After about two hours Di Tutto Di Piu’, Steve had collected quite a pile for himself, including twenty miniature plastic baby Jesuses (miniature plastic baby Jesus – the reason for the season?)

I found a Russian-style fur hat with ear flaps [a pricey 30 Euro] and some Christmas presents. We finally had to leave because the store was unheated and our fingers were numb.