An older couple sat down next to me, apparently of similar mindset. They opened a few bags, revealing a small feast of fresh fruit and snacks they had just purchased at the open-air market buzzing about twenty yards behind me.
The ancient courtyard I shared with the couple is surrounded by vaulted arch walls, built in what I can only assume is traditional Veronese style - alternating horizontal layers of rich, burnt orange brick and fading white stone. In the northern corner an ornate stairwayruns up one wall then turns sharply left to rise higher along another. At the top, behind the dark-haired Italian girl posing for a photo, tower two massive wooden castle doors, painted black and pockmarked with the wear and tear of a thousand years.
I haven't gone through them, but I know they lead to a staircase, then another, then probably a spiral one that opens to the top of Verona, the torre (tower) di Lamberti and a panormic view of the citta.
Something crashes in the shadowed corner across from me, snapping my eyeline out of the clouds, back down to earth. A waiter at the tiny ristorante tucked into the corte's shadows (which I didnt even realize existed until just now) dropped a plate on the stone pattio. A few chuckles and one or two cheers from the locals passing through the courtyard gave me pause - there's very little taboo here.
That reminds me, I should check the time. 2:45pm. In a few minutes I'll pack up the small lunch I bought from a bakery around the corner from Piazza Herbe, the aforementioned open-air market. It may just be fresh tomato focaccia and a Coke, but I'm proud of it. I spoke solo en Italiano to the women behind the counter and left with exactly what I desired. Not bad, eh? I'll be sure to relay this story to Danielle when I meet up with her at 3:00 at our hotel.
After her day lecturing, working and networking at the University of Verona (her conference), she'll enjoy hearing and laughing at my little Italian excursion.
Tomorrow I'll have more time to myself. Perhaps I'll wander in the opposite direction and check out a ponte or due.
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