Verona

After a two hour drive from Milan, today was spent in Verona. It is a very pleasant city, however there are many tourists. Along the many strip, there are many fashionable stores to get the tourists to spend their money. I have to be reminded that everyone does not live in New York, and thus might not have access to these stores back home. Because I live in New York, however, I do not feel the need to spend any money on things that I can just as easily get at home. Perhaps there is some degree of exoticism in buying a fancy shirt in Italy.

While the main strip was very crowded, one did not need to walk too far into the side streets to be alone and find charming gems. Of course there were the medieval churches that had art spanning from the early 11th century to the later Renaissance and beyond. One that struck me was the church of the Holy Resurrection, or San Anastasia. The reason this church appealed to me is because sometime in its history, it developed a relationship with St. George, and so there were two images of the saint standing over the slain dragon. I always appreciate and look for the many different ways St. George is portrayed, as if I have some relation to the legend in virtue of my name.

Another curious attraction in fair Verona, where we lay our scene... with all the admired beauties of Verona, is a balcony that local lore claims is the actual balcony, where Juliet called, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" I found it astounding that a from a work of fiction, one would claim that this is the one and same balcony that Shakespeare wrote about 500 years ago. They even have a small plaque where they lay out their argument. They claim that a family, Capullo, which certainly must be the same as Capulet, owned this home, and this is the only balcony in the whole city which matches the description and time period that Shakespeare wrote. However, a quick glance at the famous scene from Romeo and Juliet will reveal that there is no description of any balcony, but instead the directions say that she comes from a window. Further, the scene is set in Capulet's orchard, where one would expect plants and vegetables to be growing on the ground, and not the small, enclosed stone space where we were. Even in fair Verona, we can see that people would take advantage of the dreams and romanticism of tourists.

Perhaps my cynical side has been revealed too much in this argument. However, I do not want to lead one to believe that I do not appreciate the romanticism of Juliet's Balcony. Whether the real Juliet actually spoke Shakespeare's words from this spot is not relevant. What is relevant is the hopes, dreams, and ideals of each individual who comes here, just for a glance of where true love may have blossomed in the face of a reality whose only purpose seemed to be to strike it down and crush it; to be where two lovers had the passion to discard this reality and strive to make the substance of the world conform to their inner most heart.