By yesterday afternoon, we had finished most of what we hoped to accomplish in the Bologna ceramic fair. There were a couple of meetings left, but not enough to fill a day, so we were able to wrap them up and catch a train to Verona, where the annual stone show is held.

I noticed immediately the difference in the feel of the two audiences. In Bologna, I felt underdressed. In Verona, overdressed. Maybe because stone so often arrives in a less than finished state such as slab, or even full blocks out of which slab is cut, the folks here to see it have their sleeves rolled up. It was a welcome change.

We also had a chance to see some of the massive equipment they use to mine and mill the stuff. Quite impressive. We stood under a saw that cuts 10-12 slab at a time from the blocks, which measure about five feet by five feet by ten feet.

But enough about the show, Verona itself merits the most attention. Normally, when I travel, I spend quite a bit of time researching the place beforehand. Since I knew that I would be following Susan and Tom’s lead on this trip, I didn’t honestly do much reading about where we would be. Which is why I was so surprised by Verona. We hear more about Rome, Venice and Milan, and these secondary cities don’t pop up in discussion. In fact, Verona was the surprise of the trip for me. It wasn’t until we stepped out of the taxi tonight on our way to dinner that I realized I was in for a treat.

Across the plaza, the 2000 year old Arena stood against the backdrop of the pastels of the “contemporary” buildings. (And by contemporary, I mean less than five hundred years old.) The four of us walked down a winding street full of window shoppers to Bottega de Vini–where we met Andrea. Andrea is a young-ish Veronese man who represents a line of stone that we buy from the region. His greatest trait, for me at least, is that he loves Seattle. He loves our weather, he loves the culture of the people, and most of all, he loves our music. As in past encounters, he and I talked music for quite a while.

A great day all around, and tomorrow off to Venice!