Hapsburg - Renaissance Trip - Day 22 & 24 - R&R Followed by Verona

On Friday Pulandia picked up and moved to Croatia...or Slovenia...or both. Evidently the Pulandic maelstrom couldn't quite figure out where it wanted to end up. But that's an Honorable Pu story.

Wife and I on the other hand moved from the rental house to an apartment on the same estate.

Ahhhh the tranquility

Entrance to the Estate

Estate Compound

The apartment

View from the apartment (when there are no weddings - another long story)

On Saturday we went off for a day trip to Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet. But actually much more famous as a significant city in the Roman Empire and as a major city during the Middle Ages. Whereas much of what we've seen to date in the Hapsburg Renaissance period has dated from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, Verona and its major structures date from much earlier, the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.

In addition to that, Verona is a very vibrant city, filled with day-to-day life, and very beautiful. We rank it right up there with the top places we've visited.

Entering the city walls

The Roman Arena

Still used for opera today it is one of the three largest in Italy including the Colosseum.

The Castelvecchio

Castle of the rulers from the 14th century

View of the Ponte Scaligero - the old bridge from the Castelvecchio

Looking across the River Adige to the Alps

San Zeno Maggiore

This is a very old church - started in the 10th century - and done in Romanesque style. It is one of the best preserved from the era in Europe. In my opinion the restrained beauty is much more attractive than the opulent excess of the Baroque. I took more pictures here than anywhere in Verona.

These are some very rare original marble carvings of bible stories 

The cloister and views from the cloister

Very rare surviving Middle Age Frescoes

Look at the color of these. There is this impression from movies that this period was just a dark, lifeless era.

Inside the church

Gastronomy

I used some 2B methodology and researched a place that offered local food at good prices 

Enobicus

Wife with local Soave wine

Barley & lentil soup

Onion soup

Meat lasagna

This was the most interesting dish

It was called polenta with herring. It was described as lightly cured herring. It turned out to be a salad of herring (cold) over a very hot plate of polenta that was crispy on the bottom and soft in the center. A very different and very tasty dish.

The main Piazza Erbe

Remember my statement about color in the Middle Ages? Look at these frescoes on the outer walls of buildings in this piazza and the next.

The Piazza dei Signori

Back on the river and looking into town

We were getting tired at this point and stuff started to slip together 

(the bottle of wine might have influenced)

Gad we need a gelato break!

The Roman Bridge

The Roman Theater 

The Cathedral

Gad time for another break before we drive home!