Magic gate

Of course it's not magic, but I like to think it is... You are in Piazza Erbe, under the arches of the Domus Mercatorum and you are attracted by the black curly gate, so you step closer and closer and push it. In a flash of light you swirl into the past... back into the centuries when the Domus Mercatorum had just being built in stone (1301 as you see it now) and it was of key importance in the development of the merchants corporations over the centuries.

Painter's corner

A painter sells his works under the arches of the Domus Mercatorum, Piazza Erbe.

Tower in the mist

Tic-toc-tic-toc. A different Time profile

Reading the time on the Torre de' Lamberti from under the arches of the Domus Mercatorum.

Under the arch

A few steps away from the green door (see post yesterday) there is a little portico, a very ancient one: it is, in fact, the back of the Domus Mercatorum. The little red bricks, the wooden beams and the variety of faded paintings make this place absolutely stunning. 

So far, the portico is used as a ... parking for motorbikes. Whoa!

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.

Military horses

These two guys in neat blue uniforms are Carabinieri, the national gendarmery. It doesn't happen every day to see them on horses, but here in Verona I have spotted them several times.
They are quite outstanding and as they pass they attract a lot of attention. I certainly wasn't alone to photograph them this morning as they stopped in Piazza Erbe and then kept on going, past the kiosks, towards Corso S. Anastasia.

Among the photos I took I chose this one because it shows a corner of Piazza Erbe which I have never featured before. You can see the Domus Mercatorum, (Home of the merchants), a medieval building (in 1210 it was built in wood, in 1301 it was built in stone, as you see it now). The building was of key importance in the development of the merchants corporations over the centuries.

There was a light fog this morning which made the buildings tops blur and dissolve...