Beautiful villas and farmhouses abound in the
neighbourhood of this city. The favourite promenades are the _Corso_ and
the _Bra_. On the _Bra_ I saw a very brilliant display of carriages, and
some very pretty women in them. The theatre is by Palladio, is exquisitely
beautiful, and very tastefully fitted up. I assisted at the representation
of _La Gazza Ladra_, one of Rossini's best operas.
I should think Verona would be a very delightful sejour; everything is very
cheap; a fine country highly cultivated; a remarkably healthy climate; a
society which unites much urbanity and a love of amusement with a taste for
the fine arts and for the graver sciences, and a general appearance of
opulence and comfort. The shops in Verona appear very splendid, and the
_Bra_, when lighted up in the evening, is a very lively and animating
scene.
MANTUA, 15 June.
I could not go to Milan without stepping a little out of my road to visit
this ancient and redoubtable fortress, so celebrated in the early campaigns
of Buonaparte, besides the other claims it has on the traveller's attention
as the birth place of Virgil. This place is of immense strength, as a
military post; being situated on a small isthmus of land, separating two
lakes, and communicating with the rest of the country by an exceeding
narrow causeway.
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