We left Milan before 7am, toured Verona for 90 minutes, had a wonderful lunch and tasting at Villa Serego Alighieri (no photos), and arrived in Venice to board the S. S. La Venizia about 4pm. We’ve taken a short sail across the lagoon and are docked for the evening. Here are a few highlights.
Verona
Medusa: the Romans used her as a protective symbolA fortified family compound – Romeo and Juliet was accurate about families having blood feudsCarved heads above archways are typical of VeronaThe Madonna of Verona, aka the Lady of the City.Juliet’s BalconyThe hat is here because the Capello (“hat”) family owned the house. It’s now “Juliet’s House” because “Capello” sounds like “Capulet”!Rubbing the statue of Juliet is supposed to bring good luck.Piazza del Signore, the political heart of the city; also known as Dante Square from the statue of Dante in the center of the squareDante looks thoughtfulLocal wine!Cemetery compound of the DellaScala family, who ruled Verona in the 13th and 14th centuriesArena of Verona (the Roman Coliseum was modeled after it); part of the façade is visible on the left. It is used for the annual opera festival and will host the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics.This was the gladiators’ entrance in Roman times. Now it’s the VIP entrance!Castel Vecchio on the Adige River
Venice
We arrive at the S.S. La VeneziaVenice awaitsThe first of many bridges we will see here
For those of you who aren’t fluent in Italian or Apple Translate, that means “Milan without a schedule” – and that was our plan for today, which we followed religiously. We slept late, had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel restaurant (if you’re here, I recommend the waffle), and finally decided to go visit the Museo Teatrale alla Scala on Piazza della Scala. Along the way, we paid our respects to Leonardo daVinci’s statue.
The museum is adjacent to the theatre itself, and we were able to go into a box on the third level and see the theatre for ourselves. They were doing technical adjustments, so the lighting was very low…and you’re not supposed to take photos. Oops.
The museum is filled with artifacts from the theatre’s history, including musical instruments, paintings of the theatre and its artists, busts of composers, conductors, and artists, and more.
Bust of ToscaniniThe inscription on this 17th Century spinet translates as “Inexpert hand, touch me not”, and the Museum has decided that none of its visitors are experts.Commedia dell’Arte figurinesFranz Liszt’s SteiwayVerdi and his pianoBust of RossiniMaria Malibran, the Maria Callas of her dayAn assortment of musical instrumentsThe Origin of TheatreMaria Callas
The stairways leading to the museum were lined with vintage posters from earlier seasons of La Scala. I was struck by how little the design had changed, even to the poster for tonight’s production of “Der Rosenkavalier”.
This afternoon, we took a longish walk through Milan, out to the Arco della Pace, which Napoleon Bonaparte had erected in Milan after he’d crowned himself King of Italy. The walk took us past many interesting places – herewith a sampling.
The DuomoMuseo del NovecentoThe DuomoFormer Post Office, now Starbucks Reserve RoasteryGaribaldiThe ThreadThe NeedleA market at Piazza SempioneArco della PaceDivo Thomae ApostoloGalleria Vittorio Emanuele II (*Seriously* luxury shopping)
Tomorrow, we’re back to Organized Activities, beginning with a very early departure from Milan.