April 4: Sore feet and Castelvecchio

We began today with two missions:  buy our Verona Cards, do some laundry, and buy a GPS.  Both completed successfully, after a trip all the way around the arena to find Tourist Information -- we saw the beautiful church of San Fermo Maggiore, with fabulous restored mosaics.  A quick bus ride back to the hotel – sure we were lost again -- to drop off laundry, we ventured out again.  We saw San Zeno, again a real experience that reminded us how different it is to view church art in a church setting compared to a museum gallery.  We were also bemused to learn that Saint Zeno, or at least his bones, promenaded around the area in 2013, before being returned to the glass sepulchre in the crypt.  We headed off to the Castelvecchio, but first had to stop for a quick Marrachino – not the cherry, but my new favourite drink.  Too bad there is so little liquid in this lovely concoction of coffee, cocoa, and milk (no sugar).  We bought some sweets from a market stall, and then headed into9 the museum.  By this time, we had been walking for many kilometres, mostly, like yesterday, with heavy packs, and were feeling the results in our backs and feet.  We went through the Catelvecchio museum, happy that we had purchased the guidebook.  Verona has long been a centre for art, and we have decided that this is the trip where we are learning about painting – whether we wanted to or not!  Other things I have learned:

1)       Mary Magdalene’s hair grew so long it covered her body, so men could not ogle her any more when angels flew her up into the sky each morning to see the view.

2)      The CastelVecchio (which means “old castle”) had “the stairway to heaven” as their family emblem, and they paid for it to be put everywhere.  Therefore, you can buy the stairway to heaven, Led Zeppelin!

3)      San Zeno, besides going out on promenade more than 1000 years after his death, was “a fisher of men” and is usually depicted as having a fish on a line.  This makes it seem unfair that so many other saints have to carry the means of their martyrdom in their images. 

I am just throwing in some random images here.

From the Castelvecchio Museum.  This is just before the Italian Renaissance, which happened here a lot earlier than in Germany or retain.

View from the bridge near the Laundromat.  Historic Verons is wedged into a thumb of land, almost an island, in the Atliges River, so one crosses a few bridges in a day.

Interior of San Fermo Maggiore, facing the main alter.  The wooden roof and the doors are original from the 12th century, except for the automatic door closer on the small "everyday door" set in the middle of the super impressive one.

Fresco from the 12th Century in San Zeno.  The smaller ones depict scenes from the life of San Frescon himself, the 8th Bishop of Verona, who came from Africa and greatly expanded the Christian religion in this area.

The Bronze doors of San Zeno, created by many artists over time - each one adding a panel.  They don't follow any particular style, but all were created between 1350 and 1450.

I liked this little panel, from the opposite door, done in several colours of bronze.

Main alter, San Zeno, all ready for Easter.

San Zeno.  He used to be on top of a pillar near the main alter, but was moved 500 years ago to make way for a mosaic of the Venice Lion.  His fish is held on by a piece of string.  I doubt it is the original!

This really is the body of San Zeno, resting in the crypt after his promenade.  His garments were remade for his last promenade in 1935.

Ian says, "Your new favourite drink is good, but not big enough to satisfy thirst or to justify sitting here for half an hour."

Buying treats!

From the Castelvecchio Museum:  This is the famous "Lombard Plate", made of silver, with scenes of battle.  Made between 500 = 600 A.D.

Early advertising is shown above - benefits of starch from a bakery, the second is probably for wine, and the third shows the medicinal benefits of Dill (with a man and a woman kissing). 

 

I have also discovered that I can ignore my fear of heights to climb caste ramparts, etc. – but it still makes me a bit nervous – as Ian’s bruised upper arms will attest!

After the castle we walked our bruised and weary feet back to our room for a rest.  We checked the web for a place for dinner, wondering if we should splurge on something fancy.  There is a Micheline stared place near our hotel, but when we checked Tripadvisor it had so many poor reviews we went to another restaurant near the San Zeno.  There we discovered Pastiera de Napoli - a cake made from cream of wheat, ricotta cheese, and candied fruit - a bit like cheese cake, but even better!