la cena veronese

Yesterday I went to Verona with a friend and got my own personalized tour from a few true Veronese. The city of Romeo e Giulietta is filled with churches, piazzas, gelaterias, Roman ruins, palazzi, bridges, castles, and Asian tourists. Everywhere you look there's medieval architecture and the winding Adige, which cuts the city in two.

It's a beautiful, quaint place, easily navigated on foot, constantly bustling with tourists and locals alike, with many of them taking their dog for a walk. Promenade walkways are worn from centuries of foot traffic. Today they are lined with shops with a nearly every window containing a bottle of wine regardless of the wares they sell. From souvenirs to Diesel Jeans to beauty products... maybe it's just because this week is Vinitaly the annual wine trade show and the largest in the world.

Giulietta's balcony is crowded with tourists and forgettable where Romeo's house is all but forgotten... or at least my Veronese friends told me that only the locals know where it is.

But real highlight yesterday was a visit with a friend who lives in the campagna or the countryside, five minutes outside of Verona's center. It's like a completely different world out there. Vineyards and parks full of trees and green vegetation cover the terrain. We went to la casa di Laura, a massive countryside villa surrounded by vineyards and farmland, where her family has lived for at least six generations. Complete with a beautiful garden and plenty of livestock. Fresh eggs from the chickens, milk and cheese from the sheep and goats, and rabbits for pasta sauce or stew. And horses, dogs and roosters romping freely around the property.

We ate dinner with the family where she served us risotto con radicchio rosso (which turned the rice purple) served in a fragile bowl made of crunchy Parmesan cheese followed by fish with potatoes and tomatoes accompanied by fancy white and rosa (pink) champagne. And of course there was an antipasto before and dolci after... che buon appetito.

Era una bella giornata... not to mention the bluest, clearest, warmest, most beautiful day of spring thus far.