Snow in Verona

La Dolce Vita

My third year of university was spent studying, working and living the life in the Veneto, North-East Italy. I stayed in the hill-bound city of Verona, the beautiful, enigmatic backdrop to Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' and home to L'Arena - one of the largest and best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. Treasures in Verona abound, but my favourite include the still-vibrant frescoes topping the residential walls of Piazza Erbe, the excellent food and wine of the osterie and the capricious charm of the Adige, a river lined, stitched and knotted with a network of beautiful buildings and bridges, and coloured by the grapes that grow and grow around its winding banks, grapes that yield such world-renowned wines as Valpolicella, Bardolino, Prosecco, Amarone and Soave.

Le piazze


Owing to its exceptional structure and exemplary architectural development, Verona was awarded world heritage status by UNESCO in 2000. The stone-hewn city centre is beautiful, a maze of meandering alleys and cobbled streets that inevitably leads you into one of the three main squares or piazze.

Piazza Erbe

Piazza Erbe (built atop the old Roman market) is the hub of choice when time chimes for the post-9-to-5 aperitivo. Brimming with bars, cafes and balconied apartments that either stay in the family or outside your pay bracket, the square is beautifully lit and open to the sky. The drama of the frescoed façades and the pull of the free finger food is a difficult habit to leave behind. Remember, you're in Italy - dead of winter aside the weather is going to be great, wonderful or fantastic; you'll have evenings that turn into nights into mornings. A lot.

Piazza dei Signori

Piazza dei Signori is about 100 yards from the apartment block we were living in. And what a thing that is to be able to say. Quieter for the most part than Piazza Erbe, it has a more intimate, spiritual feel. Nicknamed 'Piazza Dante' due to the larger-than-life statue of the eponymous bard at the square’s apex, the square was transformed every Wednesday night, attendance becoming a bohemian ritual for the bongo-beating multitude of the students of the city. Sadly it was also the site of the most unsightly side to my year in Italy, which I'll talk about later on.

Piazza Bra

Piazza Bra (home to the Arena) is massive and wide and probably my favourite and least favourite of the three depending on the time of day and the time of year. For the most part it's home to the same brand of tourist-friendly, overcrowded restaurant that you find in most city centres. These take up an entire flank of a square which is more like a pentangular-circle-square than a real square. However, there are secret treasures to be found in the bright alleys that spin off this busiest part of the city...

Horses for courses - The nosh spots of the viccoli


As with all Itaian cities, Verona's cooking is at once reminiscent of the food found all over the peninsula and kitchen to a range of dishes entirely peculiar to the region. Maize-based polenta is a real Veronese staple. Often eaten as a porridge or mash, the versatile yellow cornmeal can also be baked, grilled or fried.


My first night in Verona was a lonely one and I resolved to fill my belly to compensate for my lack of company. The city is renowned for its osterie - taverns is probably the closest English translation - and I picked one in the old town, welcoming but modest considering its position directly opposite a couple of high-end tailors. The osteria represents the quintessential eating house of Veneto, a place where the food fills and great local wine flows by the pitcher. I couldn't believe the astronomical size of the gastronomy on offer. I went for something suitably adventurous to celebrate my first eve on Veronese soil - horse liver on polenta with green beans and a half-litre of red wine. A huge portion was shovelled onto my table with a smile and a basket of bread that could have fed a family of twenty for a month, but all this nervous sitting around had clearly worked up an appetite and I finished everything without breaking too much of a sweat.


As I got to know the city, meals out became rarer but far more social affairs. On the couple of occasions my parents came to visit we ate at a hugely atmospheric pizzeria called L'Arena, just a stone's throw from the eponymous amphitheatre.

Two wheels are better than none

Buying a second-hand bicicletta is something I wholeheartedly recommend. In my opinion there's no better way to discover the city and you can always sell it back at the end of your stay. That said, it's a great place to walk, but if like me you like swimming or football, or just having the ability to follow the river into the fields, then it's the way to go. I haven't got the contact details of where I got my bike from, but there are plenty of shops in the city and most Italian students will be in a position to point you in the right direction.

The Lega

The one down side was the politics. Don't let this sour your impressions, as it need only be as big a part of your experience as you allow it to be - suffice to say though that constant military patrols and patent racism are not my cup of tea. You can make your own mind up about Flavio Tosi, the incumbent mayor of Verona, a 'shining light' of Lega Nord. In any case it definitely keeps things interesting - as I referred to earlier, Wednesday nights in 'Piazza Dante' were a lot of fun, wine and juggling and candles and bongos. Legislation had been passed however, stating something along the lines of 'no unauthorised gatherings involving music in public places after 11'. At one point police began turning up to monitor the situation and one night it just kicked off, vans came hurtling into the square and pulled up behind the already excessive police presence. The doors opened and spewed out baton-wielding riot police who proceeded to firmly redress the balance of 'law and order'. A few people were taken to hospital. We were pushed back and one girl was hit around the head while trying to pull her friend away. This friend was clearly a major threat, wielding a STEEL STRING guitar and playing such sweet melodies that James Taylor singing Kumbayah in a corn field verges on apocalyptic in comparison.

Sorry to end on that note, it was a significant part of my year abroad so I don't think it would have been right of me to have omitted it. Despite this, I can't help but urge you to put Verona at the top of your list. You're an hour and a bit from Venice... I can't believe I didn't write about Venice(!) - wandering aimlessly is a must, as is considering the lago at night. It is the most extraordinary place. There is water and stone and colour and light where your eyes can see and well beyond. But night! Night in Venice tops it all. The clamour disappears in a flash. The streets clear and the spectacle, so fleeting during the day’s tumult, is revealed to be wondered at at your leisure. Remember though, stay in groups. With a bit of wine maybe. Bologna too and Pisa and Siena if you get the chances. My one regret is that I didn't get to travel that much. My rent was steep. I had a big room, we were central, big kitchen, balcony, roar of the Adige (Go to Sottoriva! The osterie live up to their Rough Planet/Lonely Guide billing)...TO BE CONTINUED SOON!