A Castle, A Palazzo and the Art Within

                                                    

 Buon giorno,

My first order of business was a trip to the grocery store, but when I got back, Anna was already doing my room, so I dropped off the food, so my Prosecco could get nicely chilled and set out for Il Castelvecchio.

The castle sits on the bank of the Adige River and has been repurposed as a museum for Medieval and Early Renaissance Art. The polychrome statues are particularly fine, but they have also managed to transfer some frescos, which I enjoyed seeing. The museum is spacious and the exhibits are well presented. It was worth the walk out.

I also felt compelled to cross the river via the Old Castle Bridge before walking back to the historic center. You can see the view of the river above. It is a hot day, and I was already tired, so I decided to treat myself to gelato. Sugar and I don't get along well, but it's rude to come to Italy and not have gelato.  I had limone, nocchiola (hazelnut) and amarena (vanilla with cherries). All the favors were refreshing and I appreciated the coldness. It's my belief that hazelnut gelato is one of the most celestial things on Earth. For both museums I visited I got a discount for being old, which paid for my treat.

But I was not done. I made my way to the Piazza Erbe and the Palazzo Maffei. You've seen it. It's the ornate, white building at the far end of Piazza Erbe. This one is also worth a visit. It bills itself as a Modern Art Museum, and the collection is distinguished with a long list of the best known artists of the Early Twentieth Century, but there's also some Early Modern Art and period furniture. One thing they did--and did well--was set up some theme rooms with a mix of Art periods. This can be cringy, but here it worked.

                                            

By this time I was tired and footsore, so I made my way home--through the crowds of shoppers and numerous tour groups. The latter irritate me because a big clump of folks stop in the middle of the street to listen to the lecture, and it's hard to get by.

I think I have earned my apero of lovely chilled Prosecco, some black olives and almonds. Let's have a sip. I have air conditioning, but the bubbles are still refreshing. By the way Verona is the home of the Aperol Spritz. Aperol is made nearby, and I don't care for it. However, the Spritz is madly popular all over Europe.

Dinner was pasta with some tuna and that lovely DOP pesto genovese I got at the market a few days ago. And the Prosecco was perfect with it.

Ciao for now