Monday, 18th September
Worrying news for expat British pensioners - at present their pension payments could cease at the point of Brexit. Nicky Morgan, Chair of the Treasury Select Committee wrote to the Chancellor Philip Hammond, asking whether the problem would be discussed during the first phase of the UKs negotiations with the EU. Neither the UK or the EU have issued position papers on how pensions and insurance agreements, which will otherwise end on Brexit day, will be resolved for the 900,000 UK expats and 3 million EU citizens in the UK. Future pawns in the coming negotiations perhaps.
Prime Minister Theresa May, en route to Canada, distances herself from Boris Johnson article and claim of recouping £350m per week from from EU, merely stating "Boris is Boris". More serious is the move of the to official for the Brexit negotiations, Oliver Robbins, from the Department for Exiting the European Union to No. 10. Apparently there had been friction between the accomplished negotiator and Brexit Secretary David Davis. According to the BBC's Laura Kuensberg, this was also part of the prime minister exerting more influence on the negotiations as Robbins will still be working as a 'Sherpa' to Davis.
President Trump had a positive reception at the UN when pointing out it had a bureaucracy problem. Ex Speaker for the president, Sean Spicer, gained both positive and negative reaction to his polarising cameo appearance at the Emmys. He entered wheeling in a podium to announce that "This is the largest audience to witness the Emmys, period! Both in person and around the world", parodying his claim for the President's inauguration.
We traveled first class on the regional train to Verona as it was still half the price of second class tickets on a fast train, and because we're worth it! Our first stop was the Castelvecchio, a castle fortress which we viewed from the outside and then went on to enjoy the views and crossing of the Castelvecchio bridge. We wandered along the West bank of the river Adige to the Ponta della Vittoria, flanked by large status at either end. Now on the East bank, we kept close to the river as we moved North until we could reach Verona's Cathedral, the Duomo or Cattedrale Santa Maria Matricolare and the incorporated church of Sant'Elena.
Whilst the Cathedral was experiencing renovation work on the interior ceiling, the side altars with decorations from floor to ceiling and some of the fragmentary wall paintings were fascinating and worth the visit. From the Cathedral, we meandered into the city, ending up for a lunch in the impressive Piazza dei Signori. A quick look at the exterior of the monuments at the Arche Scaligere, a walk past Romeo's mansion, and we arrived at Juliet's house.
We entered the tunnel arch, which was covered in notes and messages written in all sorts of media. From post-its, plasters, even a sanitary towel, and of course in pen on the wall itself, (despite the admonition on a sign not to do so). We emerged into the courtyard where a succession of Juliets appeared on the balcony to greet the crowds below. Apparently, the balcony is a late 1930's addition to the house.
In another corner stood a bronze statue of Juliet. Her breasts were burnished by the caressing or clasping hands of a procession of women, men and children. This was done in the belief that stroking her right breast would help that person's fortunes in love. This is now a replica of the original, the latter was removed in 2014 due to getting the worse for wear, used to cast an exact replica for Euro 20,000, before being placed in the museum within the house. Thousands of letters are sent to Juliet, Verona, and volunteers from the Juliet Club reply to them.
By then the anticipated rain arrived, so we began our walk back to the station. We stopped to enter the Arena on a Euro 10 ticket The arena is a legacy from the Roman past that is still used for concerts and it has an Opera tradition. Whilst the size was impressive, this was the most disappointing part of the visit .
Back in Desenzano, we finished the evening with a thick hot chocolate and piece of cake. One slice was of a regional speciality, Torta delle Rose. The original derives its name from the appearance of a rose flower. Our version was also infused with Rose spirit. I will be attempting to recreate the original sometime as the recipe is fairly straightforward (http://cucinadelsole.typepad.com/the_sunny_kitchen/2011/04/roses-cake-torta-delle-rose.html).
