My first encounter with Verona was on a day trip with my parents. We lived nearby and the town was the usual destination during Summer time. We spent our time walking to and from Piazza Bra, Piazza delle Erbe and Juliet’s balcony.
I moved to Verona when I started to attend the city college. I was 19 and had a flat situated just after Ponte Navi, halfway between the river Adige and Saint Peter’s hill. Those where both places where I used to take refuge and seek inspiration. The river crossing the town was like a balm over my thoughts: I could look at it flowing fast and deft for hours, leaning on the bridge – ponte, in Italian – free from any desire to move myself. Every town should have its own river, there should be a law for that.
Saint Peter’s Castel, on the hilltop, was our meeting point to… ponder on the Chief World Systems, and in the meanwhile we could embrace the whole town from the view point. Such a prize was even more charming after the 169 step staircase, and to promise a breathtaking dawn has always been a good hook with the foreign girls.
Even nowadays, if I have to think about a town which really belongs to me – or which I belong to – Verona is my first choice, if not the obvious one. I never spent enough time in the same place to blur with the people and their habits, but the stones, the buildings, the gardens and any alleys of this town have become part of my persona. So it is just astounding it took me so long to get out with camera and catch the first sun rays of the day from Saint Peter’s Castle…
A degree in journalism and a professional limbo ranging from press offices to newspapers, magazines and finally the web. I lived in Verona, Zurich, London, Cape Town, Mumbai and Casablanca. I hate flying and I love jodel music. And when I grow up I wanna be a cosmonaut.