In fair Verona

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene
-William Shakespeare from Romeo & Juliet

One of my favorite trips was to Verona. We were only there for an afternoon, still it has been with me ever since. Maybe because we got some great artwork and I look upon the scenes from Verona every morning. Maybe because this city is the setting for Romeo and Juliet. Whatever the reason, Verona is my favorite city in all of Italy, maybe in all the world.

This trip was one of the first trips I took with Jeff after we got married. One of my very first adventures. Jeff, Mandy and I drove from our home in Pordenone to Verona. I think the drive was two or three hours, not far. We arrived in the down town section, the older section of town and found a place to park our car. We then found a newspaper stand and bought a book about Verona. The thing about Europe that makes travel so easy is that they take care of the tourists, the bumbling Americans who have no knowledge of the language or history. Every city sells books about their city in a variety of languages. All you have to do is find a newspaper stand and buy a book. They usually only cost a few dollars. The books tell you everything you need to know about that city, big beautiful pictures, history and maps. As soon as we buy our book we find the nearest McDonald's and we get ourselves a lunch and plan our day. This is pretty much how we bumbled our way through Europe. Had a great time. Saw many things. It is nice to live there for a few years, to be able to just show up and look around every weekend was an adventure.

What I remember most about Verona is going to see Juliet's house and standing on Juliet's balcony. At first I was skeptical, because Romeo and Juliet is a work of fiction, not a true story, not a story from a history book, it is a play, made up by William Shakespeare. It is a wonderfully written story, it is world renowned, a story known by all, but it is not a record of actual events. Well, not according to the people of Verona, they say that William witnessed the true and actual goings on between Romeo and Juliet and wrote he play about actual events. So we went and stood on Juliet's balcony. Jeff took our picture. It is in a box in my garage, maybe someday I will dig it out and scan the picture and prove to y'all that I once stood on the balcony of Juliet, where Romeo stood below and said those sweet words. I believe my husband called up to me from bellow, something about hurry up, I am hungry. Just kidding.

While Mandy and I pushed our way through the crowds to descend back to the street, through the house of Juliet, Jeff secretly bought a sketch of the balcony. He later had that sketch beautifully framed and he gave it to me for a present. I cherish that picture still today, it hangs in my dinning room, near a framed poster I bought while we were on the streets of Verona, that I later had framed. I guess you could say that I have a dinning room dedicated to the memory of my trip to Verona.

The other thing that really stands out in my mind is the Arena. It looks like the Colosseum in Rome, maybe a little smaller. It was built in the first century. For two thousand years it has been used. First for the gladiators, now days it is used for Operas and concerts. Elton John played there while we were in Italy, I almost bought tickets, I still kick myself for not going. While we were there that day, we bought tickets and just wandered around the arena. It surprised me how much it is like the coliseums in our modern cities. A big entrance, you follow signs to get to your section, you go through tunnels, the tunnels split, you go this way or that way to get to your section. The only difference is that it is all made of stone, the walls, the ceiling, the stairs, the seats, the stage, it is all stone. The stones were worn. Where you place your feet, walking down the stairs, there stone is worn. The seats are worn wear you sit. How many feet, how many butts does it take to wear the stone. Two thousand years worth of wear and tear. It makes me feel a part of life, all the life that has existed, all the lives that have passed through this arena. All the feet that wore away the footprints on the stone stairs. All those events.

You know how it feels to be at a concert, to be at a sporting event. The excitement of the crowd the pulse of the event courses through everyone there. I think I was able to feel a bit of that history a bit of the spirit of all that excitement, as I sat in the empty stone seat on that warm summer afternoon.

I guess this is one of the reasons I enjoy traveling so much. I enjoy learning the history of places and I sometimes can feel the history of a place, the spirit of that place seems to exist, like the place has a memory of all that has happened. I have felt that way only a few times, here in the Arena in Verona. I also felt it in the concentration camp we visited in Germany, I felt it at St. Marcos square in Venice, and at the Pyramids in Egypt. Have you ever felt that way, felt the history of a place, felt the spirit of the events of the people.