Well, it’s been almost two months since I’ve posted anything here, and I’m sorry for that. I read an article a few weeks ago on blogging, and niche blogging in particular. The author argued that niche blogging is a difficult thing to do over time. You start out with a ton of ideas about your specific topic, you write about a lot of them, and then you either begin to move toward more general topics or you run out of steam. You basically run out of stuff to talk about, and that is what happened to me.
When I began this site, the idea was to discuss two things that I love: learning Italian and traveling in Italy. My goal was to write at least two posts a week, and I was able to do that for a while, but I simply ran out of steam. Other things got my attention, as I’m going to school full time, starting another business, and working on some other projects. But the thing that really got me, the thing that started to bother me subconsciously and contributed to my writer’s block, was the traveling in Italy part of the site. I had covered my favorite cities and places in Italy, and there are some other places and areas I could write about, but I knew that pretty soon I would run out of places I had actually been to, and I can’t write about a place I haven’t been to.
So I’m announcing a change here. I want to start this site up again, but the focus will be a little different; it will be more on learning Italian. I have always loved learning other languages, particularly Italian, so I don’t think motivation will be an issue. I plan on posting more lyrics to Italian music videos because I enjoy the music and the lyrics and sharing music with others, and I also want to write more posts that hopefully will help people learning Italian. I may still post occasionally on traveling in Italy, but only when something catches my interest.
So for people who were reading Dreaming In Italian regularly, I apologize for the time off. Hopefully, you’ll still enjoy the content here as the focus shifts a little bit. I’ve met some really cool people in the short time I’ve been doing this, and I hope to continue that. Thanks for reading.
Verona is a city with incredible history and multiple claims to fame. Shakespeare’s most famous play, Romeo and Juliet, is set in Verona. The city has l’Arena, which is one of the best-preserved ancient Roman structures in the world and is now world-famous for its unique opera experience. And the famous poet Dante spent time in Verona after being exiled from his home in Florence.
The city of Verona
Prior to my time in Milan, I spent six weeks in Verona as part of a summer study abroad program, and I absolutely love this city. It’s small enough to be manageable and you can become familiar with it fairly quickly, but it’s big enough to have plenty to do and see, and it has great culture and restaurants.
The fact that Shakespeare chose to set his story of Romeo and Juliet (Romeo e Giulietta in Italian) in Verona leads to a large influx of tourists searching for inspiration and eternal love, and one of the places they look is near a balcony purported to be Juliet’s. Below the balcony is a statue of Juliet, and many people rub one of the statue’s breasts for luck (why, I don’t know).
Juliet’s (supposed) balcony, with her statue in the lower left corner
L’Arena is a large coliseum-type building dating from AD 30 in Roman times. The structure is remarkably well-preserved. The acoustics of Verona’s Arena are so good that the site now hosts a world-famous opera season providing a very unique opera-viewing experience. I’m not much of an opera fan, but I’ve seen two performances in the Arena and it is an incredible experience. The opera season is during the summer. If you want to see a performance, ticket prices for the stone seats are significantly cheaper than seats on the floor (and you can rent cushions). Candles are handed out and lit as the sun sets, so you are watching an opera in an ancient Roman Arena by candlelight. Pretty cool.
L‘Arena in Verona
Watching an opera by candlelight
The poet Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy, spent time in Verona after being exiled from his home in Florence, and there is a statue in Piazza Dante paying tribute to him.
Piazza Dante in Verona
Notice the V-shaped columns on the tops of the buildings. These can be found all over the city and are the hallmark of the Scaligeri (or della Scala) family, which ruled over Verona from the 1200s to the 1400s.
If you haven’t been to Verona before, I would definitely recommend going to see and learn about the great history this city has.
