When you think about it, the more you know, the more there is to know. I’m in Verona, to shadow the Bromley Youth Concert Band on their concert tour of the area. I’ve been doing this for a couple of years now: attending enough concerts to offer our support to the band and yet not so many to cramp their style. It’s an opportunity to get away and see places that might not be full holiday destinations in themselves but are usually packed full of beautiful old buildings and flower-filled balconies. Soaking up the atmosphere is an important theme of these little breaks, and it’s a great chance to re-connect with Europe, where I feel so completely at home despite currently feeling so alienated from such a large slice of my own countrymen and women. Indeed, arriving at Verona airport this afternoon, we were filtered into two lanes: Citizens of the EU/EEA/CH and All Passports. “I want to be a European Citizen,” I wailed and a small, hot tear tricked down my small, hot cheek. I want to know all about Verona now: the Soave and Valpolicella; the nearby rice fields; the path of the river Adige; the Duomo. I want to know all about the Scaligere family and why they were so devoted to dogs that their first names had canine connections. I want to know all about the statue of Dante and the Piazza del Signori with its swallow tail battlements. Why were they shaped like that? There is far too knowledge in the world for anyone to absorb who also is part of the modern world. I’ve always said so. Who has the time to sit down and read for hours and hours between cleaning and ironing, and taking out the dogs and making supper? If only there were some sort of knowledge injection that you could just buy online and take down to a local clinic and have someone expert spritz, say, a history of the Etruscans or a quick rundown of the post-reunification economy of Italy straight into your arm and then you’d have all the knowledge you’d need. You could have boosters every couple of years as updates emerged. Were these available, I’d have ordered a comprehensive guide to photography and the ability to speak Italian years ago, and a How to Sing my current set of solo performance songs would be up there too. Imagine if an economic and social history of Europe had been available as a compulsory ampoule just before the Europe Referendum. Anyway, here are some photos of Verona. (Please accept my sincere apologies for the total mess in which this blog has found itself over the last couple of weeks. Elegant Themes are releasing new modules in a piecemeal manner, and I was adding them as and when, which resulted in a total dogs dinner of a layout so I’ve reverted to this form for my blog. I’m still finding it really difficult to get my head around it, not being a web designer, but I hope this will come together eventually.)