An Introduction to Verona

Travel poster from the 1930s

My idea of a perfect trip to Italy involves time spent in my home base of Lucca along with a visit to a place that is entirely new to me. On my latest trip, that place was Verona.

Verona, in the Veneto region of northern Italy, is less well known to visitors (at least to American visitors) than nearby Venice. The two cities have distinctly different characters and it's fun to experience both of them when visiting the Veneto region. Verona may not have Venice's famous canals, but it has a charm all its own and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the historic old town is nestled into a bend of the Adige River, with some of the old city lying just across the river.

Historically, Verona was a Roman settlement. It has a long history of rule by various invaders (Visigoths, Longobards, Venetians, as well as by France and Austria), all of whom influenced Verona's art, architecture, and culture. Parts of the city were destroyed over time - by floods, earthquakes, conquering armies and, most recently, World War II bombs. Fortunately, many reconstructions  maintained much of the structure and character of the old city.  It is still possible to see everything from Roman ruins to Medieval and Renaissance structures. But Verona is not just a living history museum; it is a thriving city combining history, tradition, and modern life (including some high-end shopping).

With just three days in Verona I barely scratched the surface, but I did find much to love about this historic, thriving city.

Some highlights:

The fountain in Piazza Bra with the Roman arena in the background

Piazza Bra and Piazza delle Erbe are  beautiful spaces, full of activity and history. Piazza Bra is remarkable for the beautiful arches that mark its entrance and the well-preserved Roman Arena (amphitheater), which dominates the piazza. The piazza is lined with cafes and includes a green space that provides a perfect oasis of calm in the busy square.

Piazza Erbe is the place to feel the city's Medieval vibe. It is a thriving marketplace and the busy hub of the old city. Here you will find beautiful old buildings, the tall Torre Lamberto, and the ornate Palazzo Maffei.

While these piazze are the two main squares, there are many smaller ones that are also lovely. In fact, I think the piazze of Verona deserve a future post of their very own!

Busy Piazza Erbe

The city of Verona, viewed from an opening in the Ponte Scaligero. 

The River Adige flows through the heart of the city. Its bridges (ponti), including the Ponte Pietra and the Ponte Scaligero, have interesting histories, great beauty, and provide wonderful views of the city. The river also defines the city boundaries and helps make Verona a very walkable city. 

Verona is full of arches. Some are grand portas (doorways) through old city gates, others are small and mark entry into a piazza or a small vicolo (lane). Strung from them often are stunning light fixtures or cascading plants, which give the city a graceful air. 

There were more interesting churches than I could see in a short visit. The two I visited - the Chiesa del Duomo and the Cathedral of San Zeno - were architectural masterpieces filled with fascinating art and history.  . 

Cathedral of San Zeno, Verona

I can't talk about Verona without mentioning the fabulous dining. There is great variety in the dishes found here, and lots of seafood. My friends and I had several fabulous meals, including grilled shrimp, delicate pumpkin-filled ravioli, and a fabulous guanciale di manzo (beef cheek). The local white wines were similar to those of Bologna (slightly fizzy Chardonnay and Trebbiano) and there were full-bodied reds too (Amarone and Valpolicella). And of course there is great gelato to be enjoyed! 

Fine dining at Ristorante Torcolo, Verona. 

That's just a snapshot of my quick visit to Verona - there is so much more to see and experience that I can't wait to return!   -Post by JB

Happy New Year 2018

Happy New Year! Felice Capodanno!

The Duomo, Florence

The start of a new year is always a time of reflection – of looking back to the past year and ahead to the year just beginning. It’s also a time to catch your breath after the hubbub of the busy holiday season and to appreciate the lengthening daylight hours as we head toward spring.

This year, we at Two Parts Italy are doing our post-holiday rest and reflection at home in New Mexico. This is quite a change from last January when we launched this blog live from Italy as we celebrated the new year in Lucca. What an exciting way that was to start a new project and a new year!

In the past year we’ve written 75 or so posts, about Italian regions and cities, markets, foods, language, culture, music, travel and, of course, Lucca – one of our favorite places. And what adventures we had in 2017 – studying Italian in Italy, traveling to new places (Verona! Bologna! Pistoia!) and rediscovering others (Florence!).

Verona, Piazza Bra

Lambrusco Wine, Bologna

Pistoia, Market Day

We also traveled to (and wrote about) places in the U.S., and we've offered up recipes and general travel tips. We have enjoyed every minute of the adventures and the writing. All of the past year’s posts, organized by topic, can be found by clicking on the “Index” tab at the top of the page. We hope our older posts might provide you some distraction during the long days of January and February and inspire you to plan some travel. Here are a few of our favorite photos from our 2017 blog posts:

Villa Balbionello, Lake Como

Cinque Terre

Cloister, Santo Stefano, Bologna

Monreale Cathedral, Sicily

Temple of Concordia, near Agrigento

Tuscan views,Agriturismo Cretiaole

Looking ahead, we will start this year with a post about the beautiful city of Verona, a place we visited last fall. We also have new travel adventures planned - in 2018 Judy will travel to Hawaii, Italy, and Croatia. Joanne embarks on her first ocean cruise in February, which will take her to Barcelona, the French Riviera, and Tuscany. After that, she plans to spend almost half the year (spring and fall) in Lucca with a hope to see some of you there!

Lucca Italian School

Looking even further ahead to spring of 2019 – we hope you will join us on a Two Parts Italy travel experience. We will be taking a small group to Lucca for a week of language study and adventures in and around Lucca. Five mornings will be spent in small group classes at our favorite Italian language school. Afternoons will center around getting to know Lucca through cooking, wine, music, and culture, as well as exploring this marvelous medieval city. We'll leave some time for shopping too! If you've dreamed of studying Italian in Italy, or just want an introduction to the Italian language in the midst of a great trip, please join us! Individualized classes can accommodate all levels of Italian language learners, from beginning to fluent. Look for details and pricing for the 2019 trip this spring.

We want to thank all of you, our readers, for your support and encouragement throughout this year and for traveling with us through the blog. We appreciate your feedback, your reactions, and especially hearing that we’ve inspired you to travel to Italy. We also appreciate that so many of you have “liked” us on the Two Parts Italy Facebook page and that you share our Facebook posts! Best of all – we loved meeting so many of you in Italy this year, talking about your love of Italy, sharing a glass of wine, a caffe, or a meal, and comparing adventures. Italian travelers are the most interesting people! Here's to a 2018 full of good health, good friends and good travel!

Il Bernino Restaurant and Cafe

It seems as though with every stay in Lucca I discover a new restaurant to add to my list of favorites. On my most recent trip my discovery was Il Bernino, a small restaurant and cafe with a wide variety of delicious offerings. I wanted to try it because one of the new owners is a friend and also because I'd heard rave reviews from my Lucca Italian School classmates.

I kept returning to Il Bernino because the food is so good, the service friendly, and the prices reasonable. The setting is also beautiful. It's clear that the chef and owners care about the quality of the food - with an eye to using fresh local products and making seasonal changes to the menu.

The pretty counter is a perfect place to sip your espresso Italian style, standing at the bar.

An after lunch macchiato - these cups made me smile!

I first stopped in late one morning for a quick cappuccino, served Italian style, standing at the bar. It was a good espresso with just the right amount of steamed milk - a perfect mid-morning pick-me-up. An after lunch macchiato was also tasty on another day! 

The panini (sandwiches) in the display case looked so good that I grabbed one "da porta via" (to go) for an impromptu picnic on the city walls. It was simple but oh so tasty - a good prosciutto and a bit of cheese on a fabulous olive-studded filone (a long thin baguette). A great picnic lunch.

My next visit was for pranzo (lunch) with a friend (Judy, whom you know as the co-writer of this blog). We both ordered the same thing - spaghetti con vongole e limone (spaghetti with clams and lemon). This was a unique presentation in that the clams were chopped (as opposed to served in the shells) and the dish was topped with fragrant lemon zest. It was delicate and delicious - a dish I can't wait to have again and will certainly crave when I return home to New Mexico.

Next up (remember, I was in Lucca for almost two months) was another lunch, this time a Caesar salad with a juicy, perfectly grilled chicken breast on top. Grilled chicken is not a common dish here in Lucca, so finding this on the menu was a real treat. It was artfully arranged, with lettuce, radicchio, and small tomatoes  lightly topped with the chicken and a flavorful dressing. Another wonderful meal.

Il Bernino is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (closed Mondays). It's also a great spot for an aperitivo. There is a pretty outdoor seating area. For more formal dining, or on chilly days, head inside and up the stairs to the inviting dining room with it's attractive art and soft music.

Il Bernino is situated at the corner of Via Fillungo and Via Mordini. The outdoor seating is just a bit off busy Via Fillungo - close enough to watch the activity on what is Lucca's "Main Street" but at enough of a distance to feel quiet and relaxed.

Add this wonderful little place to my list of favorites in Lucca!

-post by JMB

The pretty upstairs dining room.

Contact information:  Il Bernino Via Filungo 86, Lucca.   

Arrivederci Lucca

Piazza Anfiteatro (the Roman Amphitheater) 

Last days in Lucca are always bittersweet. I look forward to returning home, to reconnecting with family and friends. I miss my kids and grandkids when I'm away; I'm sure the little ones have grown inches taller while I’ve been in Italy. And yet, I am terribly sad to say goodbye to Lucca, which feels as much like home to me as does New Mexico. Returning to Albuquerque for the late fall and the holidays means missing those wonderful seasons in Italy. Staying in Lucca would mean missing them in New Mexico. This is the challenge of a life divided by place - just where is home, and where is away? Which is "here" and which is "there"?

By necessity my last day was partially spent sorting through things I've accumulated in the last weeks, clearing out the refrigerator and kitchen in my apartment, and packing. But I also spent a lot of time wandering through Lucca and saying arrivederci to people and places. As I wandered, I tried to commit to memory my favorite views - rooftops, gardens, towers, statues, churches, medieval streetscapes, cafes, and squares. 

A favorite bar / cafe just off Piazza San Michele, Lucca

I stopped for a late morning cappuccino - an Italian ritual I will sorely miss at home. I tried to absorb the sounds and scents of the city and the magical sound of the Italian language (oh how I will miss my classes at Lucca Italian School).  And of course I took a long walk on Le Mura (the walls) and sat on "my" bench overlooking the back of the church and bell tower of San Frediano and the gardens of Palazzo Pfanner.  Of all the views of Lucca from Le Mura, this is my favorite.

A delicious farewell lunch at Gigi Trattoria.

I had a long, slow lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Gigi Trattoria. They served a fabulous autumn dish, risotto con zucca e salsiccia (pumpkin and sausage), alongside delicate verdure fritte (fried vegetables), a vino bianco frizzante (sparkling white wine)  and 2 little homemade cookies (Biscotti di Gigi). Knowing I would be gone for the next 4 months, they wished me not only Buon Viaggio but also Buone Feste (happy holidays), Buon Natale (Merry Christmas), and Buon Capodanno (Happy New Year ). We parted with the traditional Italian kisses and a "ci vediamo in Marzo" (see you in March). This welcoming friendliness, this willingness to embrace a straniera (foreigner) is one of the many reasons I love Lucca.

Late in the afternoon, because looking ahead makes leaving a bit easier, I walked past the apartment I have already rented for spring. It's right across from the Torre Guinigi (the tower with the trees on top) and around the corner from the Boccherini Music Institute. I know that I will hear music from the  student rehearsals drifting through my windows when I return in spring. Until then, I will be writing about my experiences in Italy this fall, daydreaming about Lucca, cooking Italian dishes at home, trying to build stronger language skills, and doing all I can to remain in an Italian frame of mind.            post by JMB

The Torre Guinigi, near the apartment I have rented for Spring 2018.

Autumn in Italy

It's difficult to pick a favorite season it Italy - who wouldn't enjoy a gentle rainy spring, a warm early summer, or the festive winter holiday season. But autumn - autumn is magic in Italy. So if I have to pick a favorite season, it would be autumn. 

Fall color along Le Mura (the walls) in Lucca, Italy

Colorful vines in Bellagio, Lago di Como, late September 2016.

October brings cooler temperatures, changing colors, along with the fall harvest and vendemmia (grape harvest). There are many sagras (food festivals) including sagras to celebrate castagne (chestnuts), porcini mushrooms, chocolate (is there a better place to celebrate chocolate than Perugia?) and wine. Fall is truffle season and the hill town of San Miniato, in Tuscany (along with a number of other Italian villages), hosts several weekends of truffle events. November is also the traditional month of the olive harvest and the time in which new olive oil is pressed. For foodies, fall in Italy offers a wide variety of gastronomic experiences including classes on olive oil and wine and even the opportunity for hands-on participation in the vendemmia and olive harvests.

Grape vines at Agriturismo Cretaiole, near Pienza, ready for the harvest in early October 2016.

This beautiful costume is from a photo shoot for a previous year's Lucca Comics and Games.

In addition to food celebrations there are many fall cultural events and festivals throughout Italy.

In Lucca, where I spend most of my time, the big event is Lucca Comics and Games, held each year in late October / early November (this year's dates were November 1 - 5). If you are a fan of comics or gaming, or dressing up in fantastic costumes, this is definitely the place to be in fall. Over 250,000 people attend (it's the largest comics event in Europe), most dressed in costumes to fit the year's theme.

There are other fall events as well, celebrating everything from Italian cinema to saint's days to medieval competitions. There is no shortage of things to do during an Italian autumn.

As for me, my favorite fall activity is walking along the walls in Lucca as the trees change from green to gold and red, hearing the crunch of leaves below my feet, feeling the autumn chill in the air, and just breathing it all in.                                                        post by JMB