Verona (cont...) and Firenze

To continue my tale of Verona: whilst in Verona we wandered the streets in search of palaces and plazas, mostly content, though the weather was poor. For the most part, Verona is a city like any other Italian city, but there are two features that make it particular, or special. In the city's main piazza (plaza), there are several historic buildings, and two ancient towers, but most importantly, on the walls of the buildings ci sono... there are murals of the renaissance, faded with time, but clearly present. Poi, a bit from the main piazza, there is a coliseum which can not match the one in Rome for size. But for completeness, there is no comparison, the coliseum in Verona is nearly intact. So much so that qualche volta (from time to time) they will hold concerts in its confines. And for the price of 6 euro (i believe) one can walk through the coliseum: the same place where roman citizens sat two thousand years ago.

Firenze
I know not what I will find in the other cities I visit while I am abroad, but I do know that to this point in my life I have not been in more awe than I was while in Firenze (this is Florence). I spent two days, and far more money than I had hoped, enjoying the splendor of this magnificent city. I hear the nightlife is superb, but did not know much of it, as my treks through the city's vibrant art center rendered me exhausted. We did enjoy, on both nights we were there, sitting a small bar in the piazza sipping martinis and listening to live covers of popular songs (mostly english, because the italians know more of American and British music than maybe some would suspect). This, however, is not important in describing the wonder of Firenze. Nor are the meals we ate (superb, but little difference from other Tuscan cooking) nor the hostel we enjoyed (at a great value of 14 euro a night per person). Invece, instead, the important element of Fiorentine culture is that of art. Mio amico ed io... my friend and I spent 40 euro apiece to visit museums in Firenze, of which we went to four. We visited the Duomo and climbed to the top; a truly breathtaking view. We marveled at the work of Michelangelo and how he molded his David to be a perfect human speciman while at the Accademia. We visited an old house of the Medici (this is one of the more important families in all of human history) and wondered aloud how Lorenzo created an entire world in pastel in a mural around one room of his house. And finally we found ourselves at Palazzo Pitti, standing, silently, in front of a painting by Benvenuti che si chiama... which is called Il Giuramento dei Sassoni (the judgement of the saxons). I can hardly describe how detailed, how perfect this painting was. Every inch of the canvas was obviously labored over to create a photograph rather than a painting, and even further, if you look closely enough, you may see it move. You may smell the sweat of prisoners facing their judgement at the foot of Napoleon. You may hear the water in the background, as all fall silent in wait for him to speak.

This weekend I embark to sample local pork, cheese, wine and olive oil.
The following weekend I will go to Stockholm.