A Day in Verona, A Day in Modena

 

My idea was to travel to a nearby town one day and home the next, so that we were not just running from place to place. So having spent a day in Venice, it was time to spend a day in Verona.

We loved the nearby Piazza Erbe, translated to Square of Herbs. We read that herb shops were around the square but I did not see any. There were, however, lots of restaurants, coffee and gelato shops and shops with shoes and clothing.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_delle_Erbe,_Verona

At the Piazza Erbe we found a very nice iced cappuccino and Zaya found her gelato so that we were all happy. We sat watching the people go back and forth.

Wine in the evening on the Piazza Erbe

Just a few feet off of the Piazza is the Juliette House (of Romeo and Juliette). This was thought up by a huckster wanting to bring people to Verona. There is often a line until late afternoon to go into the garden and see the alleged balcony. Of course, one can pay to go into the house and out on the balcony, but we chose to wait until there was only a short line and only go into the garden. We also did not rub the boob of the sculpture, while wishing for love.

Juliette's balcony

Dante in yet another Piazza

The Piazza Erbe is maybe a 5-min walk to the Piazza Bra, the location of the ancient arena. We read that the piazza is surrounded by tourist type restaurants but we did want to see the arena which is a smaller version of the Colosseum in Rome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verona_Arena

Our next day trip away was to Modena, the home of Ferrari, Balsamic and Pavarotti. Modena was only a train ride away and 1-1/2 hours later there we were.

The city of Modena is really pretty, houses are painted different colors and the streets that we saw were tree lined.

We’d originally planned to visit the Ferrari factory for a tour but we hesitated, as our Ferrari is not one of the high-end Ferrari’s and didn’t want to be snubbed. So, in the end we decided against it. We can go next year if we change our minds.

I did plan to taste and buy Balsamic Vinegar. For those of you who don’t know your Balsamic, the older = thicker and a more complex flavor. I love good aged balsamic, as do 3 of the grandkids. We could drink it out of the bottle. We tasted and bought 30-year, 20-year, 8 year and olive oil with truffles inside, and white balsamic. How we are going to carry all of these bottles back is the next question as we have little room in our bags. But we will get them home.

After some lunch we hopped into a cab and went to the Pavarotti Museum; this is the home that Pavarotti had built and lived in up to his death. He died of Pancreatic cancer in his bedroom.

https://www.casamuseolucianopavarotti.it/en/#

It was fun to see the clothes that we have seen photos of him in, hear his music throughout the house, and just see how he lived. We were surprised at how simple his house was. We were moved to tears hearing the music. There is one wall upstairs that is full of photos of Pavarotti, one with Enzo Ferrari and a photo of his son Dino Ferrari on the wall! That topped the visit for us.