We are making list of words we need in everyday life …
And then we are going out on the town …
San Giorgio again.
Skyline w. Duomo.
Statue on a bridge.
Trattoria.
There are shrines everywhere!
An improbable garden.
The view from our bridge again *sigh*.
(b/c I am struggling with this #%$# blog program!)
We didn’t understand much of the conversation at our dinner party Thursday night, but we had fun and the guests seemed to enjoy my cooking. Peter’s nephew, Stephen, visited from Florence and it just happened to be his birthday … Peter bought a large tray of assorted pastries that looked just plain TOO SUGARY, but then I had to try a bite, just to make sure … WOW! Che squisito! Afterwards we went to a nice Osteria [Osteria a la Carega, carega is Veronese dialect for "chair"]. When we woke up (at a more reasonable hour), I realized that I left the digital camera in the back of our rental car. P. returned the car on his way to Paris earlier that morning, so we had to walk to the rental place at the train station to pick it up.
This is our walk BACK from the stazione …
Starting from the stazione.
The Porta Nuova and environs.
Corso Porta Nuova walking towards “il centro” and the Arena.
The Gate to Piazza Bra and The Arena.
Piazza Bra (Arena is out of the pic, to the right).
The Arena decorated with a giant metal star for the holidays …
Pasticceria enroute from Piazza Bra to Piazza Erbe.
Love-ly Graffiti at the entrance to “Guiliette’s Tomb.”
The “tomb” was originally a set for a movie [ca. 1920].
More Graffiti.
Juliet’s shiny right breast.
It’s kinda the same as rubbing the nose of the boar statue at the Firenze Straw Market.
And on again to Piazza Erbe …
Approaching …
Arrival! We’re close to home!
A side street.
Approaching the bridge.
San Giorgio. Will we ever get tired of this?
Entering the neighborhood. One more block to go!
The view across the street from our patio.
The fresco on our patio.
Hall interior, pre Steve’s preliminary deep clean.
The Maestro of the Deep Clean.
The city is surrounded by medieval walls which have been turned into a park system.
Mary loves this park and it is completely fenced* from the road.
*mostly walls varying in age from 11th to early 19th century
I think this is Monte Baldo & a view from the other bridge into our neighborhood.
Because the Adige River snakes so much, we have to cross the river when we walk west or east.
Look closely .. their fruit matches their house!
Don’t let the fruit deceive you, it’s VERY cold!
We have 1/2 the floor below the tower.
The next day [weds, 14] … Peter left for Venice for a night, we slept ’til two pm and then walked around for a while. Two things that I can’t believe: that we live in this beautiful place (apartment, town, country) and how Mary seems unfazed by it all. It is like she was BORN here, born to live in an apartment. OK, OK, she is pretty unbearable on the leash, but otherwise, fine.
Peter decided to throw a dinner party Thursday night. Guess who’s cooking!
More of our walk …
The view as we cross the bridge into il centro storico, the historic center.
We walk a block, let Mary do her business in a small dog park near San Giorgio (the cathedral on our side of the river, not the Duomo). Then we cross this bridge, take in the view and continue on to Piazza del’Erbe.
Our last meal at 217 9th St. NW
Last American Walk.
A lot to catch up … Monday, December 12, we took Mary for one last American walk. Steve’s mom kindly drove our huge amount of luggage, giant dog kennel and us to Dulles around 10am (flight not until 7pm). Upon arrival, we had to find the place to “mail” Maryland. We were sent to a cold, loud warehouse at another terminal. Everyone was extremely kind and Maryland seemed calm. She even willingly went into her kennel!
Addressing Postcards.
The rest of the hours went pretty quickly. we addressed Steve’s postcards then left for London. The flight was crazily bumpy. We couldn’t sleep, watched “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and landed at Heathrow at dawn. Another quick flight to Milan and PRESTO, Italia.
So where was the pooch? Yipes. It took 3+ hours and many trips to various officials to get her. The guys at the warehouse ribbed us for the note we put on Mary’s kennel: Mi chiamo Maryland. Ho paura ma sono molto simpatica. “My name is Maryland. I am scared, but I am very nice”.
We rented a car, and began our haul to Verona. Because it took so long to get Maryland, we got stuck in Milan rush hour traffic. Definitely traffic to rival Northern Virginia and then some. The drivers are truly crazy. There they are in tiny Smart cars (the ones that look like basketball high tops), zipping by at 100mph or better on the Autostrade. We were in bumper to bumper for a while (3 or so hours), which made me feel relieved, really. The high speeds combined with my terrible depth perception were much worse!
Steve drove like a champ. We had to stop to get coffee at rest stop near Brescia. The place â??the highway pulloverâ?? had the most amazing food. A robiola, arugula and prosciutto sandwich for under 3 Euro! And now knowing the secret of Italy, the potential for cheap, delicious food, we had the strength to go on … the 1/2 hour more to Verona.
Mary didn’t seem to mind the long trip …
Peter waited up for us with his friend Rosanna.
He fed us gorgonzola, prosciutto pizzas with thinly sliced eggplant.
Aaaah.
So very sleepy at Heathrow.
Keep your fingers crossed … three offers!
Good ol’ 217 9th Street NW.
All of our stuff is out,
but it still looks like it’s our place.
We are leaving for Verona on the 12th of December! Finally!
How is this little girl going to do on the plane? As it turns out, she’s not so little (she barely fits into the XL crate).
Take the dog to the Alitalia desk at Dulles. They will approve/reject the crate. If “no!”, dash to nearest Petco [the only store that carries the air-approved brand] and exchange for the XXL. Bring cordless drill and cut air holes into top of crate. Pay a bajillion extra dollars. Argh.
I am packing a suitcase devoted to cleanup at the other end [literally].
Ciao.