Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou?

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Verona.

Today we’re off with a car and driver on a search for Romeo and Juliet in Verona, about one hour drive from Venice.. Verona is in the province of Veneto and was part of the Republic of Venice. It sits along the Adige River and was a Roman stronghold 2100 years ago. We began our visit with our guide Valeria atop one of the hills overlooking the city, San Giorgio. Looking down we could see the strategic Roman bridge (still in use) sitting at the bend of the river so as to guard access to the city. The Romans were incredible. They built an aqueduct to bring water into the city and constructed it to go under the river (2000 years ago!). The inner city is not as charmingly decaying as Venice but picturesque nonetheless. Interestingly, the sidewalks are paved in pink, red and white marble from local quarries and as one walks along fossils are visible in the slabs since this is sedimentary marble.

The two high points of visiting Verona are Juliet’s house (she of Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou ) and the Arena of Venice. As we entered the small courtyard of Juliet’s house amidst the throng of tour groups, Valeria told us about the renowned couple. While it’s true that there were feuding families in Verona, there is no actual record of a Romeo and Juliet. An unimportant Italian writer wrote a novella about a love-crossed couple and the concept was stolen by Shakespeare. In the 1930s a film was made about Romeo and Juliet and it ws so successful that the Veronese decided they must capitalize on it. They took the lid of an old sarcophagus and used it to fashion a balcony on a house, and Voila! Juliet’s balcony became world famous. Nevermind, the story is still lovely and one can look up and think of the love-struck young man saying, “what light in yonder window shines.”

Next we were off to the Arena, the largest mostly intact Roman arena. It’s still in use today for opera and concert performances. Again we were astounded at the architectural skills of people living 2000 years ago.