Verona

In the summer of 2024 we passed Verona with pain in our hearts. It was simply too hot to discover a new city. After visiting Bérgamo in the late afternoon, we decided to move on to the Croatian Adriatic coast. Just before the Christmasholidays of that same year, my parents decided to sell their campervan with which we also traveled for years. Due to the costs we hesitated for a while initially and the van was already nearly sold. After some thoughts and a lot of feelings, we decided we could not let that happen, and bought the van ourselves. Just in time. Only two weeks later, just after Christmas, we went on a trip as the proud new owners of my parents' van. The final destination was Verona!! Kurt Hielscher published twelve photos from here and I will post the results gradually here. Let's just start with the mighty Piazza delle Erbe, the heart of the city.

Piazza delle Erbe, 1925. Photo: Kurt Hielscher vs. the 31st of December 2024. Photo: Casper Molenaar. The photo is taken from the Palazzo Maffei that houses a museum I didn't visit. For 5 euros, I only bought the ticket for the balcony to make the photo. On the left the Torre dei Lamberti, part of the Palazzo della Ragione.

Piazza delle Erbe with the Palazzo Maffei. From its roof, in between the statues, I got into the footsteps of Kurt Hielscher to rephotograph his photo. The eyecatcher on this photo is however the Torre del Gardello which is not accessible anymore. When I found out, I really was disappointed beacuse I thought Kurt Hielscher made his photo from here. Only as a second option I went into the Palazzo to find out that that was actually the place to be!

Stairwell within the Palazzo Maffei. I went all the way up to the roofbalcony with the viewpoint. It was quite a climb but not as intense as the the climb of the the Torre dei Lamberti with its 368 stairs.

At the balcony in between the statues.

In Verona, we stayed on campsite Corte Agricola Monrò, just south of the city center or half an hour by foot to the Arena at Piazza Brà. On December 30st we enjoyed the sunshine we lacked in The Netherlands for over two weeks during a late lunch at arrival. only after sunset, we went to the city center to explore the city. The next day I took the opportunity to rephotograph Kurt Hielscher's photos by bike before uniting with my family again.

The Arena photographed by Kurt Hielscher, probably from the roof of the Palazzo Barbieri, a municipality building that was closed ofcourse on the last two days of the year, so I didn't succeed in rephotographing this photo, unfortunately, because since that I have been in Verona, I even appreciate the beauty of this photo even more, ànd I recognize some of the places: Castel San Pietro at the upper left and then the Basilica di Sant' Anastasia and the Torre dei Lamberti.

While the Arena is situated south of the city center, the Teatro Romano is in the north.

View on the Teatro Romano from above.

The Teatro Romano dates back to the late 1st century BC. It is situated just across the famous Ponte Pietra till halfway the hill with Castel San Pietro on top of it. Kurt Hielscher made two more photos here and I'll come back on the other two. It was quite fun to stroll around here to discover the places where these three photos were made but certainly not easy. The exact right spot was not accessible. During daytime it is one of the most important archaeological monuments in Verona and on summer evenings the decor of a variety of shows, from plays to concerts. Now, in wintertime, it is quite hard to imagine the place packed with spectators. The view over the city is stunning though.

Within the Museo Archeologico al Teatro Romano.

View from the Teatro Romano on Verona.

From the Teatro Romano, I cycled the Adige river upstream to the Ponte di Castelvecchio along the Lungadige Campagnola next to the river with nice views on the city center. Here you see the Teatro Romano complex just behind the Ponte Pietra and the Castel San Pietro on the hill in the back.

Ponte di Castelvecchio and the Adige river. 

Built in between 1354-1356, with 48.70 meters span, the three arched bridge was the largest at the time of construction. Within the Castlevecchio, a Museum was opened in 1924, but I didn't visit it. Maybe, Kurt Hielscher did? He could have because it just opened when he was there a century ago. At the end of World War II, on the 24th of April 1945, the bridge was totally destroyed by retreating German troops. Reconstruction started in 1949 and was completed two years later. I am not sure if it was rebuilt exactly the same, but somehow I didn't manage to get both photos aligned really well. The backlight of the sun didn't help me either, but the castle and the bridge were quite impressive seen from the riverbanks. I was totally surprised that one is allowed to cycle over the bridge to the city center again, ofcourse with modest speed because of all the pedestrians, but still. And it was fun to do, so I went three times over it till I moved on at the other side to capture some more of Kurt Hielscher's photos.

Castelvecchio seen from different angles.

While cycling over the Ponte di Castelvecchio.  People were strolling around the river banks or enjoying the sunshine on the last day of 2024.

Sunsetview on Verona from Castel San Pietro on the Basilica di Sant' Anastasia and again the Torre dei Lamberti. We went there by the Funicolare.

Lunch at Corte Agricola Monrò filled with sunshine and goose and chicken (which we didn't eat).

Below: The last rays of sunshine from 2024, an unforgettable moment for the whole of the family.