LIBRETTOS & LIMONCELLO SPRITZ: A WEEKEND IN VERONA
My fiancé has been wanting to attend one of the open-air opera performances at the coliseum in Verona for a while now, but we’d never quite been able to make it there. As luck would have it, this year my parents invited us on a family holiday to Puglia celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and we were able to tag on a long weekend in Verona to see ‘Nabucco’ before heading home.
We booked this trip months before having our offer accepted on our apartment, so whilst going on holiday right now was potentially not the smartest idea, ‘girl math’ reasoned that since we’d already paid for the flights & accommodation we’d be losing money by cancelling.. right??
Whilst I’m not as big a fan of opera, I was excited to see the city of Romeo & Juliet as well as the vastly underrated ‘Letters to Juliet’ (one of my favourite comfort films, which I deem ‘required watching’ for anyone thinking of going).
I’ve deliberately not included the balcony on this list as it’s an ‘in & out’ job just so you can say you saw it, doing your best to avoid the flying arm and phones.
We had the loveliest weekend (the relaxing benefits of which have quickly been lost in the stress of work & moving) and stumbled across some absolute gems.
If I were to go again, even just for a day, this is what I would do:
Breakfast/Tipple
Bar Caffetteria ‘Al Duomo’
Bar Caffetteria ‘Al Duomo’
Just down from the cathedral sits a seemingly unassuming little café, where we happened to stop by for a pre-dinner drink one evening. As we walked past the cabinets filled with beautiful patisserie we were greeted by a beautiful courtyard set under a canopy of real grape vines - it was just magical. We had spritzes with complimentary snacks there before the opera, and when we returned for breakfast we had the biggest ‘cornetto con cremas’ I’ve ever seen and the most divine mini chocolate cakes.
View
Castel San Pietro
Castel San Pietro
Just over the river (and up many, many steps…) is a castle, the grounds of which provide the most stunning view of Verona - trust me, we went to all the viewpoints! Disappointingly, you can’t actually go inside the castle, but the view made up for it. In typical Italian fashion, there’s a bar when you reach the top so you can catch your breath and rehydrate with a cocktail before heading back down.
Afterwards, a nice stroll along the river before it gets too hot is a ‘must’!
Lunch
Locanda 4 Cuochi
Locanda 4 Cuochi
This place was so good we went back twice.
The restaurant is run by two former students of renowned chef, Perbellini (honestly, I have no idea who this is but I’m assured he’s very good by those ‘in the know’). Hailing from Verona, they returned in 2012 to open Locanda. Service was fast and friendly, but I may just feel this way due to the colouring pencils and paper table coverings we were encouraged to doodle on.
Nestled unassumingly down a side street just around the corner from the coliseum, they serve modern, elevated Italian and European dishes - think polenta croquettes and deep fried courgette flowers for starters, sucking pork belly for main (aka what I had and highly recommend!).
You’ll want to book ahead, but we were able to do this the day before with no problem. Enjoy!!
I tried my best to find out more about the restaurants approach, particularly how they choose suppliers, but there wasn’t much online and I forgot to ask the lovely waitstaff in the moment. Given the quality of the food, I’m inclined to hope the origins were local.
Museum
Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo
Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo
Before dinner, there was a lull in the crowds as everyone had a rest & got ready for the evening. We used this time to have a relaxed stroll around the city, popping into a few antique shops and ultimately decided a wander round a museum was the perfect early evening activity before pre-dinner drinks.
There are an abundance of museums in Verona, ranging in focus from archaeological to cultural, and of course art - the Maffei focuses on art, using it to draw a timeline of Verona’s history. I usually skip through any modern art exhibits but the majority of Maffei’s were so well done, blended in with the traditional art, often immersive and clear in purpose.
Rounding a quiet corner, we stumbled across ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ on loan to the museum. I really didn’t see any advertising for this, nearly walking past it I practically double took when I saw it and initially thought it must be a print - it was so special to see in person.
Opera
The Amphitheatre
The Amphitheatre
As mentioned, the open-air opera in the amphitheatre was why we travelled to Verona. We had booked seats on the floor of the amphitheatre, but they extended up the sides before transitioning to simple cushions (rented separately to the ticket price) towards the top of the steps. The stage was huge and quite raked so everyone’s view was fantastic.
I thought the vocals were fantastic (although apparently the lead did miss one of the key parts - I was none the wiser but the lady next to us was less than impressed) and they had simple translations on screens either side of the stage to help you follow along. The advertising made the production look very traditional but in actuality it was reset into a modern alternate-universe with some very high-tech large moving orbs, the alarms of which were going off for the entire first act.. the second act was much better! The next day a traditional opera was taking place but we didn’t manage to snag any tickets. I’m still glad we went, but might need to delve deeper into the description of the staging to avoid a repeat of the orb fiasco.
The setting in the amphitheatre was just spectacular, and I’d go again just for the atmosphere.
BONUS:
Where to stay
DOMUS LA SCALA
I had originally planned on booking a hotel for this trip; We were only going to be in Verona for the weekend and I knew we’d be out & about most of the time with no need for a sitting room or kitchen etc. However, on going to book the hotel, they were all (or at least, the centrally located ones) beyond extortionate - think upwards of £500 a night!
After recovering from that shock, a quick browse on Air B&B brought up a load of beautiful, well located options. We were able to stay in a lovely apartment just off the central square (Domus La Scala) which was reasonably priced (£160/night).
As a side note we had the nicest, most accommodating host, Matteo, who let us adjust check-in/out times based on our flights which was a god-send!
