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Laurel & Ric on vacation: Part I – Verona

24 Jul

I hear you cynics out there: You took a vacation, and you live in Rome? Yes friends, we had to get away and see more of this amazing country. Plus we needed to cool off!

First stop, Verona. You know, Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. While we made the obligatory stop at “Juliet’s Balcony,” the motivation was to experience this town we’ve heard much about, and to attend an opera in the Arena, a 2000 year old structure much like Rome’s famous Colosseo. It was quite a production.

“Aida” is a huge and fascinating work. Staged in the ancient Arena in Verona, the stage was elaborate and took full advantage of the venue.

I wanted to see Aida, which is four (4!) hours long, starting at 21:15 (very late for Americans), after sundown, when the day starts to be tolerable. Ric almost threw me over the stands when I told him I thought it was three hours long. (Of course I waited to tell him until we were seated with our rather expensive tickets long since paid for.) It turned to be four hours because there are 4 acts and 3 long intermissions, totaling at least an hour, to facilitate changing the elaborate sets. There were dozens of supernumeraries but only about 5 main singing roles. The “supers” filled the stage, climbed to the highest ledges with lighted torches, and generally added to the “really big show.”  It was so riveting, even in Italian with no translation (ah, Portland Opera, you spoiled us!) that Ric stayed awake for almost all of it. (OK, I rested my eyes during some of he particularly long arias too. Just a little. During the really long ones.)

The Arena in Verona used to be twice as tall. Amazing to be able to attend an opera in a 2000-year-old structure!

The Arena begins to fill with opera-goers as the sun fades away and night descends.

In honor of Verdi and the 100th performance of “Aida” many years ago, opera goers are provided candles to simulate a time when there was no light and the opera fans provided it with candles. (Long story; Google it.)

Verona is a very nice little city settled by the Romans in the crook of a river, the Adige. Anchored by beautiful Piazza Bra (nothing to do with women’s lingerie), Verona requires nothing more of one than to stroll, savoring the architecture, the ambience, the food.

Not quite like the Willamette River, the Adige runs fast through Verona, but there are a lot of bridges, green hillsides, and charming architecture. Many bicycles, too. More than we’ve seen since Amsterdam.

In Verona you are still clearly in Italy. But move a little further north, and it’s not so clear. More to come…

Getaway

17 Jul

Taking off for a little vacation to Verona and Ortisei. Libbyjean may have some separation issues. She’s taken over my backpack.

What with the relocation, we haven’t had a getaway since we came home from our last Italy trip on New Years’ Eve 2011. Yes, we had 2 weeks of glorious pre-deployment training, and a trip to the midwest to see family before the move, but this is to be a Ric-and-Laurel-Getaway. Be back in a few days to share photos and stories. Ciao!

Day trip to Ostia Antica

19 Jun

Ostia Antica, Photo by NIcholas DiStefano.

Friends Nick and Wally were here for 5 days after their 2+ weeks in Sicilia. Pompeii was initially high on their list, but they decided to try the Ostia Antica experience instead of the lllooonnngggg day trip to Pompeii from Roma. We were game to accompany them as Ostia is on our list.

Field trip: I was lucky to catch part of the teacher’s lecture. Luckier still to have understood most of it! Perhaps my Italian comprehension level approaches 3rd grade.

To avoid the afternoon heat we started out at 08:15 Sunday morning. Bus to Termini, metro to Porta San Paolo, and then a train to Ostia, put us at the gate to OA about 09:30. We almost had the place to ourselves! There was a German group of college-age kids, a couple of other groups that seems to be archeology students, and what appeared to be an Italian grade school group on a field trip.Ric and I loved Pompeii when we visited there last December, but this is such a different experience. Ostia is an easy self-guided tour, with Rick Steves’ narrative to keep us on track. It is a very peaceful site where one can wander at will. The wildflowers bloom throughout the site, softening the edges of the ruins. There are amazing intact mosaics depicting the merchants and baths of Ostia.

It seems like nature could easily take over the site and it would be lost to us forever.

Ostia has a long history, having been founded in 620 B.C. (!!!), but as the Roman Empire declined, Ostia became less important. There were invasions and pirate sackings, and eventually due to floods the Tiber River shifted and land-locked Ostia. What the volcano did to Pompeii, politics, flooding and time did to Ostia.Ostia gives wonderful insight to Roman town planning, life and construction. You can arrive from Roma on a simple metro/bus ticket for €1.50 each way. It’s a half-day trip, perfect for a summer morning. We were home for lunch by 13:30. Entry is €8.50 per person (although residents over 65 with a codice fiscale get in for free). I won’t drag the narrative on and on. Here are some additional pictures to tell the story.

In the “Piazzale delle Corporazioni” or Square of the Guilds. mosaics depict services and products in a universal language.

Arch overrun by greenery

Ostia’s Theatre: Still the site of entertainment, but leaning toward concerts in the current era.

 

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