As you might have guessed from the title, today was a little bit cloudy and rainy. That didn’t stop us from enjoying Verona though. We had a free morning to explore the city, so I went out with a few friends and climbed the 365 steps of the Lombardi tower. It offered a beautiful 360° view from one of the highest points in the city. After that, we headed over to the castle which overlooks Verona. It was, once again, a lot of stairs, but a remarkable view from the top. Both vantage points made me really appreciate the size of Verona. I was expecting a small, quaint town, but I got a full fledged city, and some of the best views in Italy.
Once we met back up with the main group we all boarded a bus to take to our site visit for the day at the Verona Consortium. It was a short trip to the factory where we were introduced with a power point that explained what the company was and how it operated. We then got to tour the factory and look around their shop. The tour was very interesting and shared some of the same elements as the Mantero factory that we visited while still in Milan. We learned that the consortium offers a space for designers, both well-known and just starting out, to come to work in and make prototypes and samples of their products. They also serve as a way to network between designers and manufacturers. They focus on producing unique, high quality products rather than mass produced, widely available products. This means that for their products to succeed, they must demonstrate the importance of quality over cost, since the price of a unique item could never compare to what can be found in the fast fashion industry. After touring the factory, we had a dinner provided for us by the company in an adjacent building. We had some very good sandwiches, pizza, fries, lasagna, and chocolate cake. It appeared as if all the workers would come together to eat at the end of the day before heading home. This really emphasized the familial bond within Italian businesses. It also distinguishes Italian industry form the much colder industry in America.
After dinner, we returned to our hotel and had the rest of the night to ourselves. I took another walk and, thanks too Russel, ended up at a very authentic castle. It was made of old brick and had elaborate towers, bridges, and gates. It was even surrounded by a dry moat. It was very interesting to see an actual medieval castle, and to get to walk through a small part of it. Seeing the castle was a great way to end a great day, even with a little rain.
