Verona would've been a more or less ordinary town but for Juliet - and Juliet herself would've been a perfectly ordinary 13-year-old but for a tragic accident that robbed her of her physical life while securing her an eternal one in the collective memory of the human race. In other words, many wonders are, so-to-say, of humble origins - for instance, several relatively simple ingredients can create a country (as in “A man, a plan, a canal - Panama”, and this one is, in fact a double wonder). Likewise, an inconspicuous and not at all exciting object or structure can become a wonder if it finds itself in the right place at the right time - even a jail.To be precise, a jail alone might not suffice to provide for a wonder. Some accessories prove to be essential - a small wares shop selling weapons, among other goods; a couple of “Wanted” posters (likely, of those who bought some weapons); a gallows (for those of the “wanted” who have actually been found and apprehended); last but not least, a bar - after all, no cowboys movie set would look realistic without one. Of course, typically dusty cowboys settlements aren't necessarily that wonderful or even unusual - unless they are located not far from the Red Sea, and served as an hors oeuvre for a tourist menu. That particular movie set in the town of Eilat in Israel also sets the tone for the “main dish” - an hour-long camel ride.Cowboys are first and foremost just that, riders - and whoever wants to feel home in a cowboy village has to be able to follow suit or, at least willing to try. Many are, even though they might have previously seen even horses - let alone, camels - only through their car window. Encouraged by a light refreshment consisting of a somewhat salty scone and a cup of fresh tea, and inspired by the last rays of the setting sun painting the sky some indescribable combination of the rainbow and beyond, those brave hearts slowly approach their female mounts (the only male on set is too aggressive to be entrusted with newbies, while camel females are mostly indifferent, if not friendly, and rather docile). It takes some time to get used to the new “vehicle” but gradually the riders gain enough confidence to start believing they are in charge of the animal. In reality, the opposite is the case - the camels take the riders exactly where…the instructor wants them to, and they are slow enough to compete with snails and turtles! Of course, it's the tourists' fault - under experienced riders those "old ladies" suddenly turn into galloping racing steeds, and that's quite a show in its own right…&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Wild East

But for <a href="/blog/an-abode-of-love">Juliet's house</a>, Verona would have had to rely upon its <a href="/blog/under-the-stars">Arena</a> to support its claim to fame - and that claim would have been only partially successful. The concept of operas under the stars is indeed quite unique but, considering that the Roman Empire stretched in all directions throughout Europe and beyond, a Roman amphitheatre, as such, is somewhat more common. After all, in Italy alone, there are seven of those. Verona's abode of love has no such competition as there are precious few physical structures that exist in a gray area between reality and imagination. <a href="/blog/sherlock-holmes">Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street apartment</a> being the most obvious example, one might also recall Elsinore - the castle immortalized by Shakespeare's “Hamlet”. While the former proves logically and unequivocally that Sherlock Holmes could and must have existed, the latter starts playing mind games with its visitors even before they put their foot over its threshold.To start with, there is no such castle as Elsinore - in Denmark or anywhere. However, there is a city in Denmark called Helsingor, and it does have a castle. The castle stands right on Oresund - the strait connecting/dividing Denmark and Sweden. For centuries, the area has been hotly contested between the two countries, and the castle's name reflects that tension. It's called Kronborg, literally meaning “Crown's Fortress”. Is Kronborg in Helsingor the same as Elsinor? Hardly a visitor isn't curious to hear the answer, and the castle staff is extremely helpful: “Oh, it's just a beautiful fairy tale. We've had real kings and queens, and everybody knows their names. By the way, you should have seen ”Hamlet" staged right here, in the bailey - it was so authentic. Can you imagine, the creators of that famous movie shot it elsewhere?! Nobody even tried to negotiate with our management regarding shooting the movie in our castle, the real home of the Danish prince!" Talk about dichotomy between national pride and unwillingness to have anything to do with a kingdom where “something is rotten”…&nbsp;The specter of Elsinor haunts Kronborg and affects one's perception of every story told about it. A secret passage connecting the Queen's Chamber &nbsp;with the biggest dancing hall in Europe built in Kronborg in 1582 - so that Danish queen could take French leave whenever she felt like it… Danish kings sleeping in their bed in a seated position - so that angels, descending from Heaven to transfer yet another righteous royalty straight to Paradise, wouldn't have to fly too far… Holger the Warrior who singlehandedly defeated every enemy of the kingdom, then took a leave to travel the world and make friends. After years of traveling he became homesick but had no money to take a ship back home - so, he had to return on foot. It took some time and tired him just a bit. That's why upon returning to the barracks located in Kronborg's basement he took a nap and asked his fellow soldiers to wake him up if there was any threat to the country. Judging by the fact that he is still asleep, Denmark must have been safe for all those centuries, the WWII and such notwithstanding…&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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A Phantom Castle

<a href="/blog/under-the-stars">Arena di Verona</a> is a unique blend of recent past (operas written 200-300 years ago), distant past (a Roman amphitheatre), and the timeless star-studded sky. A much smaller structure, merely one kilometer away from the Arena, is a blend of a different but equally unique kind. A three-storey medieval house, belonging to a local nobleman, doesn't draw much attention - partly because of its side street entrance - but there are probably entire blocks and even some villages receiving less letters on any given day than that rather inconspicuous house. All those letters are addressed to “Juliet, in Verona”.&nbsp;Not even a real person but a character in a play, Shakespeare's Juliet had long transcended the boundaries of her own time and place and became a symbol of… In fact of everything most humans cherish and crave for: love, devotion, courage, perseverance. Almost singlehandedly (with Romeo, that is) she put her native town of Verona on the spiritual map of human hopes and aspirations. Hence the letters. Hence creative and even academic speculations as to what might have happened had Juliet refrained from killing herself. Hence the multitudes from all around the globe that crowd the side street entrance to find themselves in front of a little bronze statue. Polished with thousands of lips and fingers, the statue's right hand and breast shine brighter than gold (the legend goes that by paying homage to Juliet, one becomes lucky in love).People contemplate Juliet in silence for a while, then enter the house to wander aimlessly, stray to the famous balcony to “take a breath of fresh air”, quite literally. Then they leave. The house remains - and it's easy to imagine a slip of a girl in a lilac dress to glide-dance around the empty house as if looking for someone she hadn't seen among the visitors of her museum, a dreamy and somewhat sad smile on her face…

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An Abode of Love

Unlike the New World, where people came from elsewhere to settle down, and eventually built countries ruled by democratically elected representatives, European rulers emerged from the so-called “landed aristocracy”. As the wealthiest landowners became dukes and kings, they found it very tempting to consider themselves divinely ordained - and, therefore, entitled to the best their countries could offer. That attitude resulted in many European capitals renowned for their luxurious palaces, masterpieces of art, top quality entertainment and the like - and by far outshining the rest of their respective countries (Paris and London might be the best examples of that particular historical development). Rome wouldn't have been much different in that respect - but for the fact that when it comes to Italy, almost every town there was a capital!Medieval Italy was somewhat similar to ancient Greece: both geographical areas consisted of rival city-states populated by ethnically related people that shared the common language and…little else. Some of those cities - such as, for instance, Florence and Siena - remained sworn enemies for centuries! It is, therefore, hardly surprising that, rather than feeling restrained by the non-existing capital, each and every Italian city bent over backwards to outdo every other city, Rome included. “Rome is famous for its Colosseum? We need to build a better one!” Verona, along with six other Italian towns, did just that. &nbsp;Arena di Verona is the third largest Roman amphitheatre in Italy. It holds up to 25,000 spectators which is more than a quarter of the town's population! It goes without saying that the Arena is used for concerts and open-air performances. &nbsp;It's much less trivial that some of those performances are operas - and Arena di Verona is considered to be the most significant open-air opera “house” in the world. Deservedly so, as the experience any such opera provides is completely unique. The key to that uniqueness is in the very name of the “Verona opera project”, so-to-say - it's called “Under the Stars”.That name has several crucial implications: to start with, operas in Verona begin when operas (or any other stage shows) elsewhere are about to end - 10.30 pm or so. As the stars don't always appear on schedule, each spectator is provided with a candle - and up to 25,000 candles light the stage and the whole space around it. When the first star appears, the candles are put out, and the music wafts from the orchestra pit in the semi-darkness. Several minutes pass allowing the audience to fully soak up the atmosphere, and only then the 21st century technology announces its presence. The show begins but only the stage itself is lit artificially - the rest of the arena is still starlit, and stars keep arriving. &nbsp;By the time of the short intermission, they are strong enough to compete with stage lighting. After the curtain falls, the lights go off but the stars remain… &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Under The Stars

The world of Wonders is extremely diverse as they leave their mark on every aspect of human life - science, technology, arts, culture, entertainment…If there is anything almost all Wonders share is that they are created by design. Quite literally so: Nature (whatever the word might imply) or talented people at the height of their creative powers have a vision - and transform it into a material object (such as, for instance, a bridge, a waterfall, or a palace) or a &nbsp;spiritual experience (such as poetry or music). It's hard to imagine someone creating a Wonder despite their intentions rather than in accordance with them, and yet…In 1505 Michelangelo Buonarotti was commissioned to build a tomb for Pope Julius II. The artist needed exactly 40 years to complete the assignment - a fact that speaks volumes for the complexity and scope of the work - but by 1513 he was ready to start decorating the tomb. One of the sculptures (on the photo, by Yoerg Bittner Unna - own work) represented Moses as he had been returning to his people with the Tablets of the Law freshly received from the Higher Power.Upon completion, the tomb was exhibited in San-Pietro-in-Vincoli (traditionally translated as “St.Peter in Chains”). A vibrant name for a church, and yet those faithful who stumbled upon Michelangelo's Moses for the first time might have thought they had incidentally strayed into a Church of All Devils - seeing a great leader (not known as a cuckold either) with cute little horns attached to his head should have felt not just confusing but outright shocking. The 16th century not being known for either mass literacy or reliable Internet connections, that confusion was about to last for a long time.Lucky us in the 21st century who need mere minutes to establish that Michelangelo was, in fact, very loyal to the Bible description, as he knew it - and he knew it from the Latin translation literally mentioning horns on Moses head. Of course, that's not what the original meant. “Lost in translation” was the fact that the original Hebrew word “qeren” happened to be a homonym meaning both “horn” and "sunray" (as well as some other things!) - so inspired was Moses by the divine encounter that his face was shining, as if flooded with sunrays…Had the artist known the true meaning of the sentence, he would have created yet another impressive sculpture - one of so many. As it happened, a Wonder came to the world. A mistaken wonder, to be fair - but isn't it tempting to rather call it a “wonderful mistake”?!&nbsp;

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A Wonder by Mistake

All the <a href="/blog/a-28-century-old-city">buts </a>combined with the strong flavour of history do make Rome feel like a quirky city from the past and for the past. However, to do justice to the capital of Italy, one must say that, at least, some Roman wonders are quite “butless” - originated in the past, be it distant or recent, they kept developing and adjusting rather than getting stuck in that past. One such wonder is Villa Borghese.Pope Paul V's nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese had a small problem: he loved partying but didn't want his parties to disturb his household. Clearly, a party house was needed - so, Borghese started toying with the idea of turning his vineyard into a villa. The more he thought about that idea, the more he liked it - “a large country house of Roman times, having an estate and consisting of farm and residential buildings arranged around a courtyard” would not only provide ample space for partying but also prove a perfect home for Scipione's art collection that was becoming too big and unwieldy for his original residence. So, Borghese asked the architect Flaminio Ponzio to undertake the task. The rest is…well, history.Fast-forward to the 20th century - in 1960 the gardens surrounding the “house with a courtyard” became an Olympic venue hosting most equestrian competitions of the program. Even before that various buildings, scattered through the gardens, had been turned into art museums exhibiting, among other masterpieces, sculptures by Bernini and paintings by Titian, Raphael and Caravaggio. Finally, in 2003 - so, already in the current century - a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was added to the long list of Villa's attractions…All in all, not bad for a private villa! Tempting as it might be to call it absolutely unique, doing so would be an exaggeration: Villa Krupp in Essen (Germany) proves that money in the 20th century could achieve almost as much as high status AND money - in the 17th. Yet, being less than unique doesn't turn Scipione Borghese's property into less of a wonder. &nbsp;&nbsp;

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A Pope's Nephew

Both Venice, founded in 421 AD, and Milan that came to existence about two centuries later, have been around for quite a while but...both are mere teenagers in comparison with Rome rumoured to have been founded by Remus and Romulus, the sons of the most famous she-wolf in the human history, in 753 BC! One would think that a 28-centuries-old city has a lot to offer, and it does...but in a rather quirky way.Arguably, the most renowned structures in Rome are the Colosseum and the Forum. The former was built for the people by Emperor Titus (most beloved by the people and nicknamed "The People's Emperor"). For several centuries the Colosseum hosted the most cruel AND the most spectacular shows on Earth, including not only gladiators fights but also naval battles. After that it served as a quarry for about a millennium-and-a-half. The Forum, roughly translated as "a place for trading and socializing", had for many centuries been touted as "the most celebrated meeting place in the world in all history". The decline of the Roman Empire ended the celebration. Even nowadays both structures are very centrally located, popular tourist attractions but... both are essentially ruins!Another magnet for tourists is the Trevi Fountain. Once an important junction (hence its name, Trevi (a) = three roads), today it's quite literally a means to its own end because that's where tourists throw coins in order to return to Rome. Some of those tourists also seem to believe that their contribution entitles them to a small bonus, such as nude swimming in that very fountain.Finally, there is St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope's own cathedral, so-to-say, and therefore, arguably, the most important church on Earth. However, there is a "but" in this case, too: while located in the same city, the Basilica is in another country, as being the smallest country in the world doesn't make Vatican any less sovereign!As a result of all those buts, one might feel that visiting Rome is like taking a quirky holiday from normal life - or, in other words, like becoming a character in the famous 1953 movie "Roman Holiday".

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A 28-Century-Old City

<a href="/blog/kings-palace">Two wonders on the same square</a> is already an overkill. Three? That would be beyond description - so, it is fortunate that the famous La Scala opera house is located not on the Cathedral Square but rather 350 meters away from it, Victor Emmanuel galleria connecting the two. The connection is very much by design as it symbolizes the unity between the religious/spiritual soul of the city and the cultural/secular one.​There are not so many renowned opera houses in the world. Some (like Sydney's "ship with billowing sails") are celebrated for their unique architectural design, others - for their opulence of the interior or even scale of operations (the Metropolitan Opera in New-York has for decades presented 27 operas each year!). La Scala is in the league of its own when it comes to the reputation and quality of its performers because the who-is-who of the opera world has forever regarded being invited to sing there as the ultimate honour and recognition of their professional excellence. It's not by chance that one of the most sought after souvenirs one can buy in the La Scala shop is...a poster featuring that of another undisputed opera star. I said "poster" because that's what they formally are but "painting" might be a better word. On a personal note, one such refined and deeply psychological portrait of young Maria Callas has for decades been my most prized art-related possession.​All the above might explain why off-season tours in the building remain one of the hottest tickets in Milan. Rather inexpensive, they offer the visitors an opportunity to soak in the elusive magic of the place - to lounge in a sumptuous armchair and feast their eyes on the heavy curtain adorned with jewels, the ornate ceiling, the shining chandelier, and even more shining loges heavily decorated with gold... After a while, one realizes that the Guardian Angel of Arts keeps his vigil over the unique "Staircase" even in the off-season.

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La Scala

As if the Gothic Wonder wasn't enough to turn the Cathedral Square in <a href="/blog/milano-duomo">Milan</a> into one of the most remarkable places on Earth, a galleria was built right next to the cathedral in the third quarter of the 19th century. Named after Victor Emmanuel II (the first king of the unified Italy), and styled after several popular shopping arcades scattered throughout Europe, the galleria was to become yet another place of commerce - and one trying to benefit from the proximity to a major tourist attraction. While having indeed become a high-end shopping mall, the galleria owes to its prominent neighbour much more than a throng of customers it was hoping for.&nbsp; In other words, the cathedral did affect and even shape the galleria but in a much less predictable and more subtle (and even mysterious) way.​The galleria has haute couture, jewelry, paintings, rare books and many similar things - as well as expensive restaurants and hotels - on its collective offer but so do many other malls and individual stores where people come for no other reason but&nbsp; to buy whatever is sold there. However, there is at least one other reason to visit the "king's palace" - namely, to feast the eyes on its frescos and stained glass windows, multicoloured floor mosaic and golden pilasters, all that enhanced by perfect geometric shapes. Churches and cathedrals are also known as "temples of God" - building on that metaphor, one could say that the great cathedral shared with the neighbouring galleria its temple status, thus turning a mundane structure into a temple devoted to the god of beauty and perfection (if only there were one such in the Greek mythology). Equally remarkable, its creators managed to turn a famous Biblical story on its head by inviting merchants to the temple rather than chasing them from it!

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