Bollito e pearà

A few days ago we had lunch in a small trattoria, a few steps away from Piazza Erbe. We went there especially to eat their fantastic bollito and pearà (boiled meat and breadcrumbs sauce). This is the king of veronese typical cuisine. It's warming and very homey, every mom (me included) cooks it for the family!

At the restaurant they normally come to the table with a big tray on wheels where the different types of meat are neatly displayed for you to choose. The waiter cuts the meat there and there and serves it along with pearà, a typical sauce made with breadcrumbs, stock, marrow and pepper, that you can see here in the glass bowl. 

I like to eat the meat with the pearà but I also like it with a little sprinkle of salt and olive oil (the meat is cooked purposedly with very little salt). My choice was: beef, chicken, veal, cotechino and tongue!

Love debris

I seem to have opened up a discussion about graffitis. Although in my post yesterday I didn't condemn the graffitis, I want to point out that I truly hate to see horrible spray writings on buildings or anywhere, it is indeed such a lack of respect and here in town I see so many... sometimes I shiver, like when I approached the Arco dei Gavi, a huge roman white marble arch (like a smaller Arc de Triomphe in Paris) with graffiti on it...

But this is this is quite a peculiar phenomenon, grown on very unique basis and I think the municipality of Verona should do something more. People come from everywhere to see Juliet and sign their names. There is an organization that receives thousands of letters (like a love agony column...)and each one receives a reply, whatever the language. Certainly the town owes a big slice of the tourist income to Shakespeare, so, I think they don't want to be strict on the graffiti issue in this very place.

Although, I think they should handle it in a different way and I have my own idea. I would install removable panels and let the people write on them and eventually make a permanent exhibition in different indoors town sites, or sell them...a graffiti made by lovers from all over the world...

If you have other ideas, please let me know, I might present them to the Mair!

Erased love

Yesterday, as I was walking along Via Cappello when I saw a "different scene" inside the hallway that leads to the little courtyard of Juliet's house. Not the usual groups of people taking pictures marvelling at the sight of the famous balcony,  but this little scaffolding and two guys working on the hallway right wall.

They were scrubbing the graffiti after having removed a thick layer of tiny paper notes attached to the wall with a chewing-gum... (some people are civil enough to use tape or a post-it).

The hallway is so thick with lovers names and hearts that it oozes with love... 

Within a few days of work the walls will be cleaned and painted but they will remain immaculate only for a few hours and the graffiti process will start all over again.

 

Icons

The FIAT 500 is certainly one of the most popular italian icons, I guess, along with pizza and the Colosseum. Launched in 1957, its production ended in 1975. This one dates back 1966. Nowadays it is considered a little family jewel and it is very popular among the vintage cars amateurs. 

Across the road you can see another popular italian name, Agip, the biggest petrol company. But you can also spot one american icon, the big yellow M...

Holocaust Rememberance Day

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day  is the first universal commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. January 27 is the date, in 1945, when the largest Nazi death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland) was liberated by Soviets troops (Wikipedia).

Every year, on the 22nd January, this train wagon appears in Piazza Bra. It is quite impressive, rusty red and battered and it bears a dreadful chalk writing saying "54 stucke", the german for "54 pieces". This nightmare wagon was used from 1943 to 1945. It makes me shiver to think that innocent people were treated like "pieces" and shut in this iron box for a long, terrifying journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

Portici #2

This is another little "portici" in the centre of Verona. It's only a few meters long but it is, by far, the most elegant I know. Red carpeted, decorated ceiling, a few very exclusive shops...

Unusual sight

I was walking by the river the other day and I was admiring the bright velvety moss that grows on the trees along the river, when I came near to this huge american car. 

A big 80's (?) Ford, quite a striking presence in the narrow italian streets...

In the photo you can also admire Palazzo Ottolini, a fine XVIII building facing River Adige.

Corso S. Anastasia

Mr President

The sweets shop supports the new President. 

Pasta!

This morning the rain stopped but it's been gray and damp all day. The only good thing about this weather is the mild temperature that allowed me to wear my new coat, rather than my old long black duvet... 

Before going out (quite late in the morning) I quickly prepared the sauce for lunch. It really took me fifteen minutes and out I was, walking down to get a nice coffee...

This pasta is not typically veronese but I think you might like to know how to prepare an easy, quick, healthy and exquisite pasta. 

What you'll need:

- Broccoletti

- one sausage per person

- 4-5 tbsp of extravirgin olive oil

- 1 clove garlic

- a bit of peperoncino  (chilly) - salt (to taste) 

Boil or steam the broccoli, until tender, (if you boil them you can add salt in the water) put them aside. In a little saucepan put the oil, the peeled and sliced clove garlic, the sausage in pieces (I used a typical veronese sausage, the "salamella" which is made of various parts of minced pork meat, salt and pepper). Fry it for about ten minutes, until the salamella is perfectly cooked.

Mix the salamella with the broccoli in a big saucepan and, if needed, add a couple of tbsp of boiling salted water where you are cooking the pasta.

Cook pasta "al dente" and then add it to the broccoli and salamella. 

Enjoy!

Portici

This is a part of the "portici" that run along the liston, the large marble paved part of  Piazza Bra. I don't know a translation for the word portici (if anyone can help...). I think it was the cold and wet northern climate that generated the architechtural feature of the portici: a simple way keep dry in case of rain. Verona has really a few portici, compared to other northern towns, in fact I can think of only a couple more, certainly shorter than this.

Cloisters

San Zeno Cathedral. The cloisters are a stunning structure on the side of the Cathedral. Walking along you can see old tombstones, bits of mural painting, marble plates engraved with latin words. It's so silent here: a perfect place for walking and reflecting...

Details

Another little corner of the city centre with many little details to notice. First of all, another Telephone round sign (see the other one here) above the entrance of this little Bar- Pizzeria.

Then there is this old fashioned red sign "Pizza al Taglio" which signals that pizza here is sold in slices or pieces, rather than on a plate. On the right side you can see a bit of a marble frame nicely carved into rosso veronese, a fine local marble. 

Silhouettes

Messy "vicolo"

This is one of the few little alleys in the town centre that still look quite messy. Look at the moss and the old bricks of the building: sooner or later it will be completely restored so I thought it would have been nice to show you how it looked with a good hundred years of neglect.

Sorry, blogger failed to load the photo, I will try again in a few hours.

Stripes and the sky

Back at Tubino's

Just wanted to show you another interesting bit of the Caffé Tubino...

Jogging

Palestinian women

Some days ago I wrote about a small group of people demonstrating in support of the Palestinians. A couple of days ago a big group of palestinians gathered in the same corner of Piazza Bra to demonstrate against the war with Israel.

I was really touched to see many women in the demonstration, holding banners and flags to support their home country.

Stone balls!

This photo was taken on the first section of Ponte di Castelvecchio and the lawn is part of the Museo di Castelvecchio. I noticed these interesting stone balls of different sizes behind the gate.  I wonder if they are cannon balls or just sculptures. I'll try to find out... 

A quick lunch with Audrey

This is another café where I often sip my mid morning coffee (you must have worked out that this is part of my daily routine...), just a few steps from Piazza Bra. 

Somebody here had just eaten a small lunch watching Castelvecchio (not visible here) and a selection of photos of Audrey Hepburn on the screen. 

Uhm, not a bad location for a nice quick meal...

Today we'll be off to Tuscany, back home in Argentario. I have programmed some posts to appear in the next few days as I hardly will be on line. I'll be back by thurdsday. Bye!

Weekly market and the new veronesi

 Yesterday morning the sun shone brightly and me and my mummy (who's temporarily visiting) went for a long walk all the way to San Zeno district. When we arrived in the square we found the small weekly market just in front of San Zeno Cathedral. 

I particularly liked this stall for the bright colours and it was interesting to notice that the buyers were these two indian ladies, while the vendors were chinese. Nothing strange, so far, especially for american readers, but here in Italy immigration is a relatively new phenomenon and - especially here in the north - it is often an issue. 

I liked the contrast between the old tradition represented by the ancient cathedral and the new veronesi: people coming from far away and trying hard to build a new life in a foreign country.

Caffé Tubino

Caffé Tubino is an institution in Verona. It is the paradise of coffees, hot chocolates, teas, pastries, a real delight! It's all concentrated in just a few square meters where everything is stuffed (and I mean it). 

There are only a few marble tables and many shelves that go up to the arched ceiling. The shelves are full of tea boxes, coffee cans, chocolates, marmalades, tea pots, cups and saucers, plus various objects for sale. 

Yesterday I took my mid morning coffee here, standing at the bar and trying to decide which one of the lovely, tiny chocolates displayed on a glass tray I would pick up...

Demonstration

A demonstration was held yesterday in Piazza Bra. A relatively small group of people expressed their support for the Palestinians against the Israel. You can see one of the banners they displayed, it reads "We are all palestinians". 

When I walked back the people were still there, shouting their slogans. It was raining mildly and people walked by.

A cosy spot

The foggy, cold, rainy weather is still here with us. Today it also snowed for a bit, encouranging me to believe that I would soon have had some unusual "ingredient" for my photos... But it was only just a sprinkle...

I was approaching the newsagent when I realized how cosy the tiny kiosk looked in the gray, icy air, it was really inviting!  

B/W romantic promenade

First of all I want to say thankyou to all of you, blogger friends, for your  very very kind comments, they really do make me happy...! I am trying to improve but I must say that both my new computer and my new camera do help a lot!

Now, the photo. I took it the other day, on my walk in the "Foggy day", just a few hundred meters down the Lungadige. From this angle you can see the Ponte Pietra in the mist and the side entrance of Santa Anastasia church. 

Believe me: this is a perfectly romantic walk for lovers!

Belvedere

This photo was taken from the terrace of Castel San Pietro. Beneath the terrace there is the Roman theatre and Ponte Pietra. This is the very first place I visited when I came here, thirteen years ago and whenever I come to admire the view, I cannot but think that Verona is really spectacular!

Bronze glow

I am posting about snow, again. I can't help it. I took this photo after midnight on new year's eve. This is Piazza San Niccolò, which is near home. I like this sculpture and the contrast with the church of San Niccolò, especially in this light in which the bronze has such a special glow.

The man with the umbrella seemed captured too...

Foggy day

It's still icy cold here and today it was also pretty foggy. There is still some snow left on the roofs and on the river shores. I took a long walk today and enjoyed this magical atmosphere near the Ponte Pietra. This is the oldest bridge in Verona, built in 100 BC!

First day of the new year!

It was snowing lightly, last night, when I took this photo. Today the snow is almost completely melt, except on the roofs where it resists, untouched, for a little longer.

..And finally the snow!

I wished it so much and, finally, while we were having dinner (at home with friends), it begun to snow! A soft, lovely snow that added a magic detail to the special evening...

Later on we went out for a walk. This is Piazza Erbe. A happy crowd in the cafés, people walking and talking joyfully, the snow that kept falling...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! 

May the new year be a paceful one. 

Heartfelt wishes of good health, love and armony