Shopping Verona

A 10-minute walk from our flat along September 22 brought us to the Piazza Bra. Right of the Piazza is the beginning of the pedestrain shopping street, along the Liston and Via Mazzini. It is usually thronged with tourists.

I liked this skirt which looked like a burlap bag.

Synagogue in Verona

Directions to the Synagogue:
Leaving from Piazza Bra on the Liston, continue  toward the end of  Via Mazzini where the old Jewish ghetto once existed. Turn left at the corner just before the building with the Excelsior awning. On the right side, the street is named Via Portici and on the left side it is Vicolo Sanitana. The Synagogue is left at the next corner (second building).

Prior to the 1500's, Jews were not allowed to live in the city of Verona. They lived in villages around Verona, some of which still have their Jewish names. Jews were allowed to lend money or sell used clothes.  The tour book gave examples of a few identifiers; Jews had to wear yellow caps, merchants wore blue arm bands and prostitutes wore blue caps. 

The ghetto was founded  when Venice had to pay a ransom to the Emperor for Verona. To raise money they sold the right of settlement to the Jewish community.

At this time, the Synagogue is always guarded.

Piazza dei Signori Verona

Piazza dei Signori is a more serene environment with a statue of Dante.

Dante at Scalieri Palace and chapel Verona

Dante arrived in Verona in 1304, an exile from his home in Florence. Bartolomeo della Scala, the Lord of the city gave him space to write. (See Canto XVII of il Paradiso) He lived for a time in the palace and became good friends with Cangrande, Scala's younger brother. He engaged in some diplomatic missions for Scala and participated in the Verona palio horse race which he describes in the Comedia. 

           

Mastimo II had the horse statue commemorating his uncle, Cangrande, installed at the time of building his own monument. His son, Cansignori, took control of the city by assassinating his two brothers. The Arc of Cansignori in the corner is elaborate and quite a testament to his opinion of himself. Formed in a hexagon with six saints and six episodes from the Bible, the niches at the base have representations of the four cardinal virtues and two theological virtues (hope and charity). Cansignori himself represents the virtue of faith.

The Santa Maria parish cemetary (now called Santa Maria Antica), which had also been the chapel of the Scala family, was tranformed into a monument to the Scalieri family between 1200-1300. The first lords were entombed in red marble sarcophagi with peaked roofs. Bartolomeo and Cangrade are buried here. Mastimo II, a nephew, brought Cangrade's body back from Trevisio where he had died from poisoning. The sarcophogus has scenes depicting battles that Cangrande had won in Padua, Vicenza, Feltre and Belluno. 

       

Verona sights along Nazarra

From Piazza October 16 we have two routes to the river and the historic center. This is along Nazara.

 Guisti Gardens entrance is enticing. Plan on that for another day.

Directly across from the Guisit Gardens is a set of doorways with sculpures above each.

 The wysteria was in bloom all over town

Dropkick Murphys

Judy intoduced me to Drop Kick Murphy. Love the lyrics. These guys should come to the Irish festival in Butte.  Enter this in your browser to check them out.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dropkickmurphys/cruel.html

Casa Santa Toscana, Verona

Casa Santa Toscana

 

The one-bedroom, 3 flight walk up apartment overlooks Piazza October 16. Santa Toscana church, of the Order of Malta, is in the background.

Each Wednesday and Friday vendors set up in the square. The vans have electronic pop up awnings. There is a marketing technique currently in vogue, where "Made in Italy" is considered a good thing. I looked at a top with such a tag pinned to it.

I hear that clothes are shipped from China and the tags are sewn on in Italy for the higher end stores. Also stories about illegal southeast Asians brought in to sew clothes in Italy so that the label can be applied-same clothes sometimes but not always. The vendors work hard for what appears not a lot of business. Julie said they were very helpful to her when she was shopping.

Right to be Forgotten in Europe

Doing a web search  I was told some searches were blocked here in Europe. Here is the reason given:

FAQ

How are you implementing the recent Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) decision on the right to be forgotten?

The recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union has profound consequences for search engines in Europe. The court found that certain users have the right to ask search engines like Google to remove results for queries that include the person's name. To qualify, the results shown would need to be inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant, or excessive.

Since this ruling was published on 13 May 2014, we've been working round the clock to comply. This is a complicated process because we need to assess each individual request and balance the rights of the individual to control his or her personal data with public's right to know and distribute information.

If you have a removal request, please fill out this webform. You'll receive an automatic reply confirming that we have received your request. We will then assess your case—please note this may take some time because we have already received many such requests. In evaluating your request, we will look at whether the results include outdated information about your private life. We'll also look at whether there's a public interest in the information remaining in our search results—for example, if it relates to financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions or your public conduct as a government official (elected or unelected). These are difficult judgements and as a private organization, we may not be in a good position to decide on your case. If you disagree with our decision you can contact your local DPA.

We look forward to working closely with data protection authorities and others over the coming months as we refine our approach. The CJEU's ruling constitutes a significant change for search engines. While we are concerned about its impact, we also believe it's important to respect the Court's judgment and are working hard to devise a process that complies with the law.

When you search for a name, you may see a notice that says that results may have been modified in accordance with data protection law in Europe. We’re showing this notice in Europe when a user searches for most names, not just pages that have been affected by a removal.

How does Google protect my privacy and keep my information secure?

We know security and privacy are important to you – and they are important to us, too. We make it a priority to provide strong security and give you confidence that your information is safe and accessible when you need it.

We’re constantly working to ensure strong security, protect your privacy, and make Google even more effective and efficient for you. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on security, and employ world-renowned experts in data security to keep your information safe. We also built easy-to-use privacy and security tools like Google Dashboard, 2-step verification and Ads Settings. So when it comes to the information you share with Google, you’re in control.

You can learn more about safety and security online, including how to protect yourself and your family online on our Good to Know site.

How can I remove information about myself from Google's search results?

Google search results are a reflection of the content publicly available on the web. Search engines can't remove content directly from websites, so removing search results from Google wouldn't remove the content from the web. If you want to remove something from the web, you should contact the webmaster of the site the content is posted on and ask him or her to make a change. Additionally, if under European data protection law, you would like to request removal of certain information about you that appears in Google's search results, please click here. Once the content has been removed and Google has noted the update, the information will no longer appear in Google's search results. If you have an urgent removal request, you can also visit our help page for more information.

Are my search queries sent to websites when I click on Google Search results?

In some cases, yes. When you click on a search result in Google Search, your web browser also may send the Internet address, or URL, of the search results page to the destination webpage as the HTTP Referrer. The URL of the search results page may sometimes contain the search query you entered. If you are using SSL Search (Google’s encrypted search functionality), under most circumstances, your search terms will not be sent as part of the URL in the HTTP Referrer. There are some exceptions to this behavior, such as if you are using some less popular browsers. More information on SSL Search can be found here. Search queries or information contained in the HTTP Referrer may be available via Google Analytics or an application programming interface (API). In addition, advertisers may receive information relating to the exact keywords that triggered an ad click.

Giusti Gardens

I had a lovely day today. I wanted to scope out the Giusti Gardens and the church of Santa Maria Organo in preparation for visit from Judy and Julie. They called at 4:30 am their time to say they were soon to be on the way.

I wandered from the church up a few steep streets, thinking I would find the entrance to the gardens. For the second time, I found myself at some kind of retreat

place. I could see that the Gardens were just below it.

In my search I came across an antique store. The guy brought out a book to sell me, Shakespeare's King Lear with a depiction of Richard Burbage. Volume 150 (of a set) and published in Scotland, it was previously owned by one Winifred Warrington. The cover page has a quote from Milton, "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit."  It has a brief history of the author, with the usual "probably was," "it has been suggested that" and "may have." Some authors have said the time was so long ago, yet the history, say of Walter Ralegh, who lived at the same time is very robust.

Worked my way around and found the entrance, which was just a few doors from the pizzeria where I picked up my dinner last night!

I loved this garden, which Goethe visited in the late 1700s. It had by then been in place for two hundred years. When the mazes grow up in coming months, they will be really fun. Even though they were only waist high, I still spent time working my way to and from the entrance.

I started the dialogue for the Marlowe play while putzing around.

Transportation

On Sunday I learned that the bus lines 11, 12, 13 do not run on "festiva" days.

I left the flat early and took the first bus that came by which went to the Stadium, the #90. I wanted to see if there was a flea market there today. When we arrived I could see that there was no activity so I pressed the button to get off. The door did not open. I guy beside me yelled to the driver but he was already on his way. So I had to get off at the next stop and back track.

My goal was to go to Lidl, which is open on Sunday. I walked a short time until I saw a sign to the Lidl. Got a few things like milk and prosecco (cheap). The attendant said they were closing! It was 1 pm. While open on Sunday, the Lidl closes at 1.

Two buses come to this stop, the #11 and the #95. Everyone else got the #95 so I wondered. No bus for another 30 minutes. I thought maybe it was fewer buses on Sunday but a woman waiting in the other direction came over and told me that the #11 does not run on Sunday. So I took the next #95, transferred at the train station and got home later than planned.

Festiva days include Domenica=Sunday.

Verona arrival

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Verona+Italy+ITXX0087:1:IT

We are setttled in the apartment in Verona!

 

It is in the old town about a 10-minute walk to the Arena, which could hold 20,000 people in its day. You need a lot of ticket sales to support that size of a forum in a relatively small city.

 

Yesterday we went to an Osteria (trattoria) called Miss Istanbul. The  young Kurdish man spoke excellent English. He also speaks German, Kirdish, Arabic and Italian. We had a plate of food with lamb patties, grilled spicey chicken, rice with raisins and peas, salad of lettuce, tomato and cabbage. It was served with freshly made pita bread and two sauces-red pepper picante and a yogurt based tzatziki.


View from our patio looking onto Piazza October 16.

Mysterie

In Trapani there is a famous procession at Easter. Some of the twenty "floats" are hundreds of years old. They are wooden statues on wooden bases depicting the "Passion of Christ" (the time of Christ's trial and hanging by cross.) Each scene depicts a different stage of the progress and each is carried by a trade: salt workers, fishermen, etc. through the streets of old town Trapani for 24 hours. Besides the trades, each group is accompanied by a band and a group of youth who seems to function to clear the path for the float.