Pictures from Verona

"Pleasant Verona! With its beautiful old palaces, and charming country in the distance, seen from terrace walks, and stately, balustraded galleries. With its Roman gates, still spanning the fair street, and casting, on the sunlight of to-day, the shade of fifteen hundred years ago. With its marble-fitted churches, lofty towers, rich architecture, and quaint old quiet thoroughfares, where shouts of Montagues and Capulets once resounded....." Pictures from Italy, Charles Dickens, Chapter 8

The walls of Verona

When Romeo was forced to leave Verona, he despaired: "There is no world for me outside the walls of Verona, except purgatory, torture, and hell itself. So to be banished from Verona is like being banished from the world, and being banished from the world is death." Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Arena di Verona

Still standing since the first century AD, the Arena no longer hosts gladiator fights but it still draws a crowd. It is the venue for large events like the Verona Opera Festival during the summer months and concerts throughout the year with headers like Andrea Bocelli and Adele. (Read Arena article here).

Piazza Bra

The colorful Piazza Bra is the largest square in Verona. Its cafés and restaurants have the the best views of the Arena and preferred seats for people watching.

Walking around Verona is like walking back in time. Turn a corner in the busy city center and you might find another layer of its rich history.

Via Mazzini leads to Piazza delle Erbe and Casa di Giulietta (Read the full article about Juliet's house), possibly the most popular attraction in Verona. But that's not all. It is also a fun shopping street and it's easy to get distracted here.

Piazza delle Erbe

Piazza delle Erbe has all the ingredients for a fulfilling afternoon of exploration. The square is an architectural timeline - there is a Roman statue of the Madonna Verona from the 4th century crowns a 13th century fountain, the medieval towers of Lamberti and Gardello, the frescoed façades of the Mazzanti houses from the 13th century, the crenellated Casa dei Mercanti from the 14th century, the Baroque palace of the Maffei family from the 17th century. And if you thought you had evaded the shops on Via Mazzini, well there's a thriving outdoor market here where you can buy pasta, olive oil, clothing, souvenirs and all kinds of things you may or may not need. It's best to take it all in with a cool drink from one of the outdoor cafés.

Santa Maria Matricolare

The Duomo Catedrale di Santa Maria Matricolare dates back to 1187 and stands on the site of a basilica from the 8th-9th century which was destroyed by an earthquake. This Romanesque church has seen multiple structural interventions over time and has incorporated a Gothic inspired interior.

I was drawn to the side chapels primarily due to their sheer size and the faux niches with portraits of saints and men of the Church. The two chapels above show the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (center) and the taking down of Jesus from the cross. Note the pilasters that frame the arched altars and the pediment above.

Sunset over the Adige River in late November. The Adige originates from the Alps and flows down northeast Italy through Verona before continuing its journey to the Adriatic Sea.

Too early for dinner or calm before the arrival of hungry bellies.

"I had been half afraid to go to Verona, lest it should at all put me out of conceit with Romeo and Juliet. But, I was no sooner come into the old market-place, than the misgiving vanished. It is so fanciful, quaint, and picturesque a place, formed by such an extraordinary and rich variety of fantastic buildings, that there could be nothing better at the core of even this romantic town: scene of one of the most romantic and beautiful of stories." Pictures from Italy, Charles Dickens, Chapter 8

How to get there:

Several trains connect Verona with Milan, Venice and Florence daily. Check the train schedules here. https://www.italiarail.com/train-schedules

*****

Images by TravelswithCharie

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called Kasaysayan ng Maynila (History of Manila). The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

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