10/2/24
Salve Ragazzi,
Have you ever been to Verona? I have always felt that it is too often overlooked when it is actually just a hop, skip, and a jump from Venezia (just over an hour on the train) and a truly lovely city.
Aspettate un attimo. Let me pause here, for a second, for…
OUR ITALIAN WORD FOR TODAY:
BUGIA (LIE)
Why did I choose this word? We’ll get to that later.
Back to Verona.
Right now, let’s put on a little mood music. The following is from Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’eclisse (The Eclipse), a 1962 starring the late great Monica Vitti. She was gorgeous, wasn’t she?
L’Eclisse was filmed in Verona, a city that doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves. And look what I found for you! The film is FREE on YouTube! Haha, look at me! Suggesting a movie not made in the last decade! 😄
Usually, when we think about Verona, we think about Romeo and Juliet. Probably the city’s biggest tourist attraction is Juliet’s balcony, and that’s ironic because the balcony, along with the house and practically everything else Shakespeare-related, is a big, fat BUGIA. (Our word for the day. More on this in a sec. I’ll get there.)
If you are old like me, your favorite Romeo and Juliet stars are undoubtedly Elizabeth Hussey and Leonard Whiting. Both were dreamy as hell. Franco Zeffirelli directed this interpretation of the Shakespeare classic filmed in Verona, and look! You can watch it on YouTube.
Fun Facts About Verona:
Verona has an amphitheater, the Verona Arena, which is still in use. It currently serves as a concert venue for Opera and Rock concerts, with audiences of up to 22,000. It was built in 30 AD, and in those days, it could hold 30,000.Verona Arena2. Juliet’s balcony at the Casa di Giulietta is una bugia. A lie!Our Word For The Day is Bugia because Verona sta dicendo una grande bugia. Verona is telling a big lie when it comes to Juliet’s balcony. But we love it.If you are a true romantic and love the story of Romeo and Juliet (Romeo e Giulietta), then have fun packing yourself like sardines into the little courtyard in Verona (with the 20th-century-constructed balcony) and pretend that’s where Juliet called out, “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?”For the record, the people in the above picture are doing it all wrong. The guy is supposed to stay in the courtyard, and the girl goes up into the balcony – and you have someone else take the pic. A stupid selfie up there is getting it all wrong! 🙄
People in Verona LOVE their horse meat! A favorite dish has been Pastissada de Caval since the time of the Lombards, from 569 to 572. During an enemy siege, the knights fought outside the walls, leaving many dead horses on the ground. Inside the walls, people were starving, so they found a way to kill two birds (or horses, in this case) with one stone.Let’s talk wine.My favorite red, Masi Campofiorin, is straight outta Verona.In 1964 Masi developed a new wine called Campofiorin. This was made by refermenting wine on the freshly pressed skins of grapes that had been dried. They registered the name for this process, Ripasso, but later handed it over to the Chamber of Commerce.
‘Campofiorin filled the gap between Valpolicella and Amarone,’ says Sandro Boscaini, ‘and it is the most widely sold IGT Italian wine.’ It’s the Passell house wine!Did I ever tell you about how I became friends with the owner of Masi Wines in Verona? Masi is probably the most widely distributed Italian producer in the world today, and Alessandra Boscaini’s family has owned the vineyards and winery since 1772, with first harvest in “Vajo dei Masi”, a valley in the heart of the Valpolicella Classica region. After over 250 years of passionate winemaking the company is still in family hands, run by the sixth, seventh and eighth generations.We were having dinner at one of our very favorite restaurants in Venice Hostaria Da Franz after a movie at the film festival and Alessandra and I heard each other talking about having been at the same screening. I had no idea who she is, but we had a really fun talk, As she left, we exchanged contact information and she sent a bottle of Montepiazzo, one of Masi’s best reds over to our table.After she left, Maurizio, the owner of Da Franz, came over and asked me if I knew who she was. He told me that I’d just made friends with our wine’s maker. Cool. We kept in touch, and Alessandra invited us out to the vineyards for an amazing tour.Take a look at this interview with Alessandro’s father, Sandro. It’s pretty interesting. And give Campofiorin a try. It’s delicious and very reasonably priced.
Now Let’s Talk FoodOur favorite restaurant in Verona is a wonderful and yet unlikely choice. It’s called Ostaria Trota Da Luciano, and we discovered it years ago when Brian was running past it one morning and thought whatever they were cooking smelled really good.We decided to try it for lunch, and walking in was like one of those old Westerns. The look on everyone’s faces said something like, “Y’ain’t from around these parts, are ya?” Luciano himself waited on us, and he actually seemed a little annoyed (These American tourists aren’t going to understand anything on the menu, and my English isn’t good enough to explain it to them) until I started speaking to him in Italian. Eventually, he warmed up to us, and by the end of the lunch, we were given complimentary desserts and an invitation to go back into the kitchen and meet his wife, the cook.We hadn’t been there since before Covid, but having dinner there this time did not disappoint. Luciano hadn’t aged a bit, and there, at his side, was his son, all grown up and working with him! Luciano said he remembered us but may have been telling us a BUGIA. A nice one. 😊Take a look at their menu. Yum! They have horsemeat!Before you go, just in case you didn’t find this out on your own, you can now watch Giuseppe Tornatore’s exceptional look at Ennio Morricone—ENNIO—on Amazon Prime and YouTube.
Morricone was most famous in the USA for composing music for Westerns. With an estimated 10 million copies sold, Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the best-selling scores worldwide.Definitely check it out.
Alla Prossima!
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s favorite Italian wannabe
I Love Italian Everything 