Verona – a post of its own

It was great to also have booked the Castel San Pietro campsite just up (steeply) from the river in the centre, having got the last pitch.  This was so that we could spend Friday afternoon and evening in Verona before being able to have an easy airport dropoff the next day.

Preparations underway for the festival

Prompted by some pitch neighbours to take the opportunity to also visit the opera, google told me that this would be the first night of the festival, with the opera being Verdi’s Nabucco (based on the bible stories tellings about Nebuchadnezzer). We decided via whatsapp to invest in the tickets notwithstanding our combined lack of serious knowledge and interest in this art form. But it was Verona, and in the Roman arena built in the 1st century AD, and we both liked the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves …..

Even though this phillistine didn’t really know whether she could sustain a visit and focus and given the start time of 21:30 and the possible heat of late 20’s or thunderstorm cancellation, the price was paid based on a complete lack of informed/faint hope assumption that it surely couldn’t be longer than 1.5 hours of performance at that time.  Subsequently we were told that it was a 3-hour performance which tbh only the prospect of dancing to real disco and funk would generate the required effort in me …. and the highlight piece of music was in Act 3 of 4, ie after the interval.  My brother had informed me that on his visit, lots of people left at that point.

The view from a campsite terrace

Well it was abit hairy navigating the way in the city to the site, having input to both satnavs the 3 streets we should use rather than any other route, but we made it without incident if not stress on the driver’s part.  In the ever increasing heat I felt we should go down the steep hillside steps on foot in search of lunch and then in theory a quick exploration and sussing out the arena, before returning to the site for a siesta. The best laid plans would then envisage us going in again in the evening for the opera, sustained by gelato.

Lunch was quickly found and followed our experience of easily settling on nice cafes and restaurants throughout the stops. This then propelled us onto exploration, which if we hadn’t have targeted the arena after the spontaneous route that we took at the start, we would have been satisfied with the historic buildings and streets we saw along the river. At this point Verona had clocked itself up as another historic city worth a visit. But as we navigated the streets it became one beautiful and architectually-varied square and buildings after another, and really quite amazing.

So we spent more time in the heat of the afternoon than originally thought, and that climb back up, even though through the beautiful secret garden type vertical nature of the site, was harder than expected. After a siesta of sorts, a major faff ensued in trying to find the digital tickets which were not in my email anywhere. Fortunately I had taken a screenshot of my order, the monies had been paid, and I had created a portal account which eventually I found the right way to log into and retrieve them. I might well have been happy to have written off the price of two tickets and the experience in not finding them, thus avoiding the effort. What an admission.

Reading the blurb also informed us that we needed to be there well in advance of the performance – ie 2 hours!  So in we went again sooner than expected, and having understood we’d be on these stone blocks for upto 3 hours, armed with my rucksack with portable seats and some throws for padding.  Needless to say, I was not allowed to enter with the portable seats, nor my solid plastic large water bottle which had to be left at risk in the plastic box at our gate.

Of course it was a worthwhile experience: the incredible location, a ‘cast of thousands’, wonderful orchestra and staging of the opera. But all this could not keep me awake as we approached the interval. In my defense I had driven the 300km or so from Lucca that morning. My guest, who had wondered whether her back would be upto the 3-hour seating arrangements, had more staying power and would have stayed to the end. But she sacrificed with me the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves so that her campsite wristband, in hindsight I should have got one also, would open the gate for us both at the bottom of the campsite, at around midnight when we got back. My portable chairs and water bottle were still there.

The next morning airport drop-off required a civilised departure of 9:30 and increased confidence as to the airport environs. I absolutely echo the 2nd 1st mate’s sentiments of the next post. Verona goes to the somewhat revolving top of my list of cities I would strongly recommend to visit.

What a trip this has been so far, and heartfelt thanks go to all my companions who’ve added to my joy of travel on the continent this time.

Just a taste …..