Verona Wandering, Day 1

When we arrived in Verona, we had to check into our hotel. Originally we were supposed to stay in a furnished apartment, but the guy accidentally overbooked us on Saturday night. To make up for it, he put us up in the five star hotel across the street. We did not complain, even though we had to move to the apartment the next morning for one night.

We had a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant where Jacob had tortellini yet again. I had a nice lasagna with an excellent chianti. Then the wife and kids headed back to the hotel while I went exploring. The San Zeno church, the Roman ruins, and the Castelvecchio were grand enough to get their own future posts, so here I'll cover the other sights I saw that first day in Verona.

On my way into the heart of the city, I saw a statue of Aleardo Aleardi, a 19th century poet from Verona who was part of the neo-romantic movement.

Aleardo Aleardi, which reminds me of Galileo Galilee

Many statues inhabit the city, though these ones along the Corso Porta Borsari struck me.

Don't Jump! I guess with the ropes they can't.

I eventually wound my way to the Piazza delle Erbe. This was the old herb market from the Roman times, though it has clearly been rebuilt several times over. The area was busy with commerce.

Piazza delle Erbe

Palazzo Maffei, c. 1600

Near the fountain

At the far end of the piazza was a happy discovery, the local library!

Not so gloriously decorated on the outside; the true treasures are within!

The piazza by Verona's famous Arena (more on that in the Roman ruins post) has many fine modern works.

Statue dedicated to those who died for liberty

A fountain! If only they'd turn it on.

Victor Emmanuel II, in 1861 he became the first king of a united Italy; previous king in 6th century

Gateway leaving the piazza

Later on, we brought the kids down this way to the castle, stopping off at a fountain just outside the gates.

Fountain in Piazza Bra

The children were every excited to go see the castle, which will be our next post!