My big splurge on my trip to Italy will be staying a night at the Hotel Aurora, which is on the beautiful Piazza delle Erbe in Verona. It even has a terrace overlooking it! I’m in the middle of reserving a single room with bathroom inside it by e-mail, and I’m very excited! After a long flight, it’ll be nice to have a hotel room instead of a hostel (like what I’ll have for the next two nights).
About Piazza delle Erbe (Square of Herbs):
-It has such a long history, this was the town’s Roman forum.
-A century later, Verona was conquered by Venice in 1405, so the lion of St. Mark presides over the piazza.
-It’s been a marketplace for awhile. In medieval times, the stone canopy in the middle held scales where merchants weighed their goods.
-That fountain’s statue was originally Roman, but it lost its head and arms. When new ones were created, it morphed into the Madonna, “the Madonna Verona.”
-The towers are medieval, each commissioned by a noble family.
-A couple of the bells of the towers were cast in 1464.
-Palace facades were painted during the Renaissance.
-Statues of Jupiter, Venus, Apollo, Hercules, and Minevra top a Baroque-style building.
-There’s a more touristy piazza in town, so hopefully I can mix with the locals here in having an evening aperitivo or passeggiata (drink or walk).
-And shop at the market which sells a variety of things. There’s a scent of herbs and spices in the air.