The highlights, Verona

Favorite thing: Either to watch or participate is very enjoyable this passtime at Verona..

Fondest memory: It was a hot day in Verona,I walked all the streets , seen all there was to see then i come across this people messing about in the river,watched for some time wished I was among them.

Fondest memory: A favourite memory was going into the arena on the day that we saw the opera Aida in the evening. It was quite fascinating to seee the stage being prepared with all the props and trying to decide the best place for us to sit on the stone steps - the cheap unreserved ones where the acoustics are wonderful.

Favorite thing: The fountain of Madonna Verona (or in Italian La fontana di Madonna Verona) is one of the city symbols. The fountain was erected at the wishes of Casignorio della Scala to celebrate the repair of the city's aqueduct. In 1368 she was repaired and it's one of the oldest in the city. It is constructed in the form of a female figure, dating back to Roman times. In her hands, she holds a scroll bearing the emblem of the city of Verona and she stands on a base on which are sculpted eight masks from which the water flows. On one of these you can see the epigraph "Marmorea Verona" - Verona Marble.

Fondest memory: The highlight of our stay in Verona was seeing La Traviata at the Roman Arena. Verona's opera festival runs for most of the summer, with performances almost every night and the Forum, with its excellent acoustics, is a perfect venue. It was quite an experience to be there as darkness fell, as the music began, and as the candles were lit. This tradition of each spectator ligthing a candle dates back to 1913, when opera was first performed here and in order to illuminate the stage and to read the programmes, the audience brought small candles with them.

All was going great - but then the rain came! Halfway through the first act the first drops started to fall, members of the orchestra then walked off the stage and we were left waiting in frustration. We had a half-hour wait until it cleared, then another rain-delay followed the briefest of restarts. Luckily we had brought two bottles of wine and plenty of munchies. Finally, the bad weather passed and the opera continued. Despite the delays, we had a memorable evening and I would recommend this festival to anyone who visits Verona in the summer months.

Favorite thing: To get to the enclosed and monitored part of the archeological museum you can either walk or take a lift.
Its setting is actually an old monastery and the featured displays are in the rooms set around a courtyard.
The Jesuit order's premises became a museum in 1923.
Many of the bronzes come from the collection of Earl Jacopo Verita when he started acquiring around 1770.

Fondest memory: This particular piece, from Isola della Scala and dated 11th century AD shows Hercules fighting against the Lybic giant Anteus, son of the goddess Earth. He raises Anteus, thus denying him contact with his mother, who would have given him strength.
These small bronzes of gods were produced from Roman times to be offered to the gods in small sanctuaries.
Other statues were merely decorative, used as ornaments or as objet d'art in the houses of the rich.

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Favorite thing: The Roman Amphitheatre, better known as the Arena, is the most important of the monuments for which Verona is famed, and of which the city is so proud.
Originally, the Amphitheatre stood outside the Roman walls of the city. In the 3rd century A.D., however, the Emperor Gallenius extended the latter to include the Arena, which is thought to have been built in the beginning of the 1st century.
In size and importance it is second only to the Colosseum in Rome.
Most of the architecture in Verona built during the Renaissance was inspired by the Arena, the city's crowning glory

Fondest memory: If possible, visit it in July or August during the Opera festival.

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Favorite thing: ....This pride first became evident in the late 16th century when a special council was set up, known as the "Conservatores Arenae". This council was responsible for completely rebuilding the triple ring of internal arches supporting the terraces, and for the care of the 73 supports which radiate outwards and form the blackbone of the structure.

Fondest memory: Arena must be visited in July or August, during the Opera season, it looks realy spectacular at that time.

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Favorite thing: The interior of the Arena is very impressive. From the pit, one looks up at flight upon flight of giant size terraces, which sweep upwards in ever widening circles.
The pride which the locals of Verona take in this, the most famous of their monuments, is shown by the care lavished on the building.....

Fondest memory: Next performance, in July 2004, is opera "Aida", and the whole inside is suddenly very different.

Favorite thing: The town of Verona is situated on the banks of the river Adige and it is the most eastern part of the Veneto region.
Eversince the ancient times, there was the settlement here on the crossroad of the important routes. During the Roman times Verona was important commercial and cultural centre. The golden age of the town was in the Middle Ages when the mighty lords of Scala ruled the place and the whole province. The most important historic sights of the town dates back from that period.

Favorite thing: Definitely not my favourite thing but, for continuity's sake, I digress.
By the time I'd finished eyeing off my wall in the previous chapter and reached the church I was, as one is wont to say, dying to go to the toilet.
Alas, as the cold air penetrated my layers of clothing driving me to the ablution blocks, I was informed they didn't have any. The nearest were about two blocks away. I don't think the word "distressed" is too strong on this occasion to describe my predicament. It was with the utmost restraint that I spent my time in the church.

Fondest memory: In order to house the shrine of the patron saint of Verona, this mainly Romanesque-style church was constructed and is the most ornate of its ilk in northern Italy.
For 12 years from 1124 it was laboured on, though parts from previous buildings were used (earthquake 1117).
The alternating colours come from the use of tufa and bricks.
When the apse was rebuilt in 1386 an upturned ship's keel style ceiling was incorporated, adjacent to the bell tower that was commenced in 1045 though its current height (72m) wasn't attained until 1178.
The crypt contains the tomb of San Zeno who passed away in 380 AD after being appointed eighth bishop of Verona in 362 AD. The extraordinary thing is that he was African.
The rose window symbolizes the wheel of fortune, depicted on the rim are figures highlighting the rise and fall of human fortune.
Above the Western Doors is a multi-coloured bas relief showing San Zeno vanquishing the devil.
The cloisters, with rounded Romanesque arches on one side and pointed Gothic on the other, are also noteworthy.