This Is It: Verona

Picture taken from the top of L'Arena overlooking the fair.

I had heard a lot about the beauty of L'Arena in Verona, a huge stadium/amphitheater similar to the Colosseum, and it was only ~an hour drive from where I was living, so the Westman + Ricky crew hopped in my car and we made a road trip. Little did we know that the fair for Saint Lucy (Santa Lucia) was taking place right outside L'Arena. Jackpot!

Mamma checking out the goods.

La fiera di Santa Lucia takes place in Verona from December 10-13. Saint Lucy was born in Sicily, and is the patron saint of Syracuse, but she is also popular in Northern Italy where she acts as a sort of pre-Christmas Santa Claus. On the night of December 12, she brings good little girls and boys presents and dumps coal on the bad ones. Sound familiar? In Santa Claus's case, if you stay awake he'll skip your house. In Santa Lucia's, she'll throw ash in your eyes to blind you from seeing her. Hardcore. She also shows up with a plate carrying her eyeballs, which were removed when she was being tortured for being a Christian. Want to sit on her lap?

The lighting was magical. See the Arena in the background?

Ryley and Ricky bro-ing out.

SO MUCH FOOD!

Filling cannoli to order, the true Sicilian way!

We paid to enter L'Arena, and we had the inside to ourselves. Built around 30 A.D., it is still in great shape!

Neat shooting star sculpture coming out of the Arena.

View from the top.

A huge nativity display was showcasing underneath.

They now host concerts here. Mica had been there a few weeks before; I missed it!

The inspiration families from Romeo and Juliet are from Verona, so we took a detour to see "Juliet's balcony". This is actually where the Capulet's lived, and there is a balcony, so let your imagination run wild. Shakespeare's did ;)