Back in the US from out there. The Sirmione ruins appear very much to be the super villa, five-star inn, and international shopping mall erected by later waves of the poet Catullus's mercantile extended family. There is a painting in its museum on a shard of a man clutching a scroll and looking important who some think represents the poet Catullus. It's also on the cover of Charles Martin's translation. However, to me the original looks like a much later imaginary portrait. There's some damage, but what looks to me like a beard is definitely anachronistic and dates it from at least 125 years later than the poet. Big place though. Ideally located to handle trade traffic from all of north Europe into Italy, as well as trade across north Italy from West to East and the other way. Even in the poet Catullus's day, the family had representatives in Spain, the Greek islands, and modern Turkey (among them the poet's brother). [See T.P. Wiseman's reappraisal of Catullus.] The name borne by the poet was common in the family over the years. There is even a modern F. Catullo in the Verona phone book. Who knows? I didn't ring him up. Parking at Sirmione is a challenge because everyone in Europe wants to visit the local spas. Send me an email and you can learn our parking secret! Maria Callas had her own little villa there. The views of the Dolomites to the north up the lake are good enough to eat.
The Hotel Torcolo in Verona is very well located, if you can drive a Fiat manual drive (vroom, vroom) Panda with a city turning radius of less than one centimeter. The Hotel needs a few more light bulbs and clothes hooks, but staff is capable and even funny. North Italian Autostradas are not like those in the middle: sane and moderate driving predominates. Vicenza and its much greater area is famous for Palladio's architecture, and that influenced everything from the Hermitage to Monticello and far, far beyond. Venice has it's own (secret) seriously leaning tower easily visible from the top deck of a fat ship. On the ground, things are too crowded for a good view. Mt Etna at 9200 feet (while looking up past the civilian barriers to the top craters while stalking around stark "flank" craters that steam) was worth the tight cable car and cramped monster 4x4 lava bus ride. Empedocles is still missing, and his second shoe too. And 'his' three-story "Torre del Filosofo" vulcanological observatory at 9000 feet got buried up the roof a few years ago. Other places like Kerkyra, Croatia…
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