Romantic Verona, Italy 意大利-维罗那

North of the Arena¹ , the old town streets lead inevitably² to the Piazza³ delle Erbe. Once the site of a Roman Forum⁴, the Piazza is still the city’s hub, a marketplace, gathering⁵ place and shopping mecca.

The snow and the cows north of here in the Dolomites started an important trend that thank goodness continues in Verona today--Gelato. While universally delicious, not all Italian Gelato is alike. Gelato in Northern Italy is milk and cream based ice-cream, while in Southern Italy the Gelato is water based and more like sorbet. A Verona delight is this mixture of Gelato, fresh fruit and cream. I think I’m in love.


Speaking of love, a short detour⁶ from the Piazza delle Erbe leads to the so-called House of Juliet, a fictitious⁷ shrine⁸ to the star-crossed heroine of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. While the Montague and Capulet families did exist, the rest is pure imagination. The shrine draws mainly tourists and lovelorn teens.

The Adige river encircles Verona’s old town, forming a kind of peninsula. As you approach the river the streets grow narrower and more mysterious. The Ponte Pietra at the tip of the old town peninsula is Verona’s oldest bridge with two of the arches dating from about 50 B.C.

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hub: the center part of a wheel, fan, or propeller⁹; center
mecca:a place that is regarded as the center of an activity or interest; center
sorbet: an ice containing milk
star-crossed :opposed by fate; ill-fated
heroine:the principal female character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation
lovelorn:unhappy in love or suffering from unrequited love
peninsula: piece of land that projects into a body of water and is connected with the mainland by an isthmus¹⁰.

1 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

2 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

3 piazza   

n.广场；走廊

参考例句：

• Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
• They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

7 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

8 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

9 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

10 isthmus   

n.地峡

参考例句：

• North America is connected with South America by the Isthmus of Panama.巴拿马海峡把北美同南美连接起来。
• The north and south of the island are linked by a narrow isthmus.岛的北部和南部由一条狭窄的地峡相连。