Love is in the air (or in the wine): Verona

Foreboding clouds over Verona 

Valentine's Day is upon us. Hurrah, another holiday to encourage another sugar binge (maybe they just melt all the Halloween leftovers into tiny little hearts). So Happy Valentines Day everyone.  This got me to thinking about Verona IT - where a story based on two lovers took place. I am referring ofcourse to THE Verona in THE Romeo and Juliet. And for all its worth, Verona is a beautifully sad city - city partly because it was rainy the entire time I was there (giving everything a grey-ish tinge) and someone stole my umbrella. No I haven't gotten over that. Who steals an umbrella. That's Made in China.

Marbled street. Try walking on that during the rain.

I left Padua for Verona by train which isn't so far away via the cheaper Regionale trains (website is all Italian). I stayed in central Verona and so enjoyed the luxuries that the small vendor streets, cafes, and high-end boutiques had to offer. There is Juliet's Balcony. No its nothing like in Letters to Juliet. I cannot think of a time when the entrance to Juliet's is ever not clogged with tourists. The walls on the tunnel that leads into the courtyard is also full of messages from lovers. Enter the courtyard and its a floating mass of people eager to touch Juliet's boobs - and yes I DID and both but I forgot what luck its supposed to bring you. But like everything else Italian I wouldn't expect the luck to pass for atleast a few more weeks after.  There is also Romeo's 'residence' which was thankfully less frequented.

Locks of love awwww....

The markets are wonderful public spaces for wandering, gawking, shopping and just general loitering.  Thanks to my host, I enjoyed a nice aperatif made of Aperol, wine, and sparkling water to help me cool down on one of the more unusually warm days (I tried reproducing the same once but I've since learned to leave that to the professionals).  This is not to be mistaken with APERATIVO which is like the Italian equivalent of Happy Hour except with finger foods already included. This will generally be in the late afternoon to evening hours at a bar and patrons will pay a bit more for their alcoholic beverage whilst the finger foods are included in a buffet style display along the front of the bar.  I have eaten my share of bit sized cheese pizzas and more during such happy occasions.

Verona from above the castle

How Italians can manage to cross those all marble sidewalks and piazzas on their lovely leather loafers or stiletto heels is beyond me.  I managed well enough in my not so lovely and beaten down leather (-ish?) walking shoes.  Its a whole new ball game when the marble is wet with rain. Instead of running away into subterranean sewers, the water just pools up in small indentations in the marble sidewalk (although I think the idea is for the water to drain to the middle of the sidewalk and eventually follow the slope of the path away from the city centre).  I had much time to ponder this under a big yawning infront of Sephora (I had just recently lost my umbrella) waiting with a bunch of other rather loud HK tourists - lucky for the rain which dissipated some of the noise off the marble otherwise I'm sure the decibel levels coming from the group would have been less bearable.

Verona is like a city steeped in sepia tone. The buildings are a nice reddish-brown topped with roof tiles that are slightly rust red. Which is a lovely contrast as soon as the sky clears up and reveals a brilliant sky blue.  Everywhere I go there is love-themed graffiti proclaiming ''Ti amo'' to someone or other.  But for me, and maybe I wasn't looking, I didn't see many lovelorn couples moping around. Maybe a few errant tourists and their families though. For me, by the second day it was 'Ciao ciao' and off to the next extraordinary town.

I spy Istanbul. Shopping and Eating.

Stomach-friendly sweet

During my sojourn in Europe, I was quite set on seeing as much of the world (well that which was easily accessible from where I was...ahem cheaply) before it goes down the drain.  This thinking is a bit pessimistic yes but its all but practical.  If I am going to shit all over my child's future, I might as well do them the favour of having seen all of it presently and gloating about the past glory days in between their food security issues, land degradation, and climate changes.  Yes, I'd be a pretty damn good mother.

On this note and facing imminent visa default, I left Germany to travel to Istanbul, Turkey before my retreat back to Canadian soil.  It was a very learning experience - for myself, my wallet, my stomach, and my olfactory senses.  I started off the adventure flying via Basel Mulhouse Freiburg airport (which has shared borders in Switzerland, France, and Germany) direct to Istanbul.  As the name suggests, you should leave from the correct side of the exit or face stepping into the wrong country (sadly I made this mistake twice). Visas for Canadian citizens cost 40 USD. I am informed that BOTH British and American citizens pay much less.  Apparently Canada has managed to offend someone more.

You haven't lived until you've bought a fish kebab from a boat

My arrival to Istanbul was marked by a most unfortunate and gruesome sighting - a pack of dogs and ravens picking away the flesh of some other animal left out in the public park.  This would have seriously turned my conviction against vegetarianism if I weren't one already.  Yet, I think that this small carnivorous event is analogous to the Istanbul that I saw. Embattled by lack of resources (economic?), one necessarily becomes more opportunistic of the resources available to him.  I chose this explanation to describe what I have seen in the following days.

Young boy (8-12?) carrying garbage: better than the alternative

Never one to shy away from suspicious street food

I think the most boisterous markets and sales people must be in the city centre of Istanbul. OK it's also tourist mecca but I've never been cajoled so much by street vendors even in Morocco, Hong Kong, or Shanghai. I have unsavoury moments of vendors obstructing my path and insisting that they 'had something to tell me' or 'I just want to say something' or 'where are you from' before they would try to pull me into their store.  Shoving and undisguised annoyance was quickly adopted and remained so for the rest of the journey.

Bargaining at the Grand Bazaar

Strong Turkish coffee. Emphasis on strong.

The markets there are the most boisterous ones yet. Especially the Grand Bazaar where I must have spent a far bit of my time and money in :) The rule is bargain...hard...and then bargain again for half of that bargained price.  Oh sneaky buggers try to take pictures of you with their merchandise - to prove to other tourists that tourists like buying their stuff. If you happen to see a photo with a frowning tourist pushing away a lamp - that would be me.  I'm also convinced that shopkeepers communicate via fb updates if they are satisfied/unsatisfied about a shop patron. Its a feeling but I have no proof unfortunately.  The Grand Bazaar itself is one huge cavernous maze of shops in alleys specialising in specific goods (like tea, scarves, jewellery, turkish delight, etc.). And undoubtedly I got lost for as many hours as I spent shopping this was also compounded by the fact that I mistook the Turkish word for 'exit', çıkış, to be a unique naming of the exit gate.

I love trying new foods so you can bet I tried as many foods that I couldn't pronounce as possible.  It's an assignment that requires a strong stomach.  Luck for me is this carried me the entire length of the trip. Unluckily for me, I took the hit on the plane ride back home. Most miserable trip ever.  Unfortunately, taking the bill is another thing not to be taken for granted.  I can't tell you how many times I was charged a 'bread fee' where I had never taken any.  Most common response is ''oh but didn't you order bread?''

Efes and Raki are respectively the local beer and spirit. I enjoyed neither and yet somehow managed to take up my friend's share too. Kunefe is made with phyllo pastry and cheese and one of the best dessert dishes I had there. Ayran my favourite yoghurt drink and milk pudding my next favourite dessert.  Next up was Turkish coffee. When I saw it was strong I'm not exaggerating. It was like espresso but more bitter and more granular inside. Still today I cannot figure out if the coffee WAS supposed to be half liquid half coffee grains.  Interestingly, Turkish coffee can be ordered one of three ways - sweet, sweeter, and plain. Those in the know ask for sweet or sweeter.  And even with that coffee is still bitter. Its a taste I'll leave for someone else to acquire.

...

4 Things I hate about Toronto

Enjoying outdoor cinema: Byrant Park NYC

1) Decreasing affordability (also with proportionate decreasing of enjoyment of things I like - see previous post Jan 29). Its no joke. Toronto IS becoming more expensive. This is good news for the rich who can still ride on this wave but bad for the middle class and worse for the poor.  $20 used to carry me a long way were I going out - but now, if I wanted to travel around more than just to and from home I'd spend atleast half of that on the TTC and then probably the rest for a low-budget meal.

Enjoying a public concert: Padua IT

2) Diversity. What? I love diversity actually. Multiculturalism is what makes Toronto Toronto. What I do not like are the xenophobic reactions that follow any conspicuous in-migration of visible minorities to the neighbourhood. It gets worse further from the city centre when, thanks to chain migration, whole communities can isolate themselves into homogeneous ethnic cliques (or ethnic enclaves).  Unfamiliarity can easily breed ignorance and so on. Toronto sure seems to resemble more like tile patchwork than a mosaic.

Marketplace: Padua, Italy

3) Public space. Again something that I love. Except what Toronto considers public space is quite contrary to what I have in mind. New York City has Central Park - a huge green oasis that residents and tourists alike can enjoy year round. In Toronto - well there is the Toronto Music Garden (easily 1/10th of Central Parks size), the Toronto Islands (enjoyment is seasonal at best), Dundas Square, Mel Lastman Square (concrete oasis)... BUT none of the aforementioned are more useful then for a spot to eat before you dash to your next location. I'm better off relaxing in the city's many cemeteries. Atleast I get my peace and quiet there.

4)  The TTC. Delays. Poor service. Increasing fares. People not doing their work.  Weak connection of metro stops to bus stops. The TTC is just digging their own grave.