I had a somewhat contradictory Christmas Eve. My first thoughts were to just relax and not really do anything much and just enjoy the day. Being me, I ended up going for a run along the river instead of just luxuriating in doing nothing.

The run was fun but somewhat nerve wracking as those who know me from will know that I am somewhat klutzy and will face plant on the flattest surface. Running in Verona means running on hundred year old cobbled streets, rough hewn stone side walks, slick marble stones and other surfaces. Amazingly, I did not fall and actually had a fairly good pace for the run. Another part of the adventures is the Italians seem to walk in groups and do not have a very good sense of space or movement. They do not readily move out of the way even in tight spaces (walking or running). In the end, it was a beautiful day, the course I ran along the Adige was beautiful and filled with lovely sights. All in all a good run!

After the run, I wandered around enjoying everyone being out and about on a beautiful Christmas Eve and found a place to have lunch. I indulged in my first Spritz (Aperol) which is the universal Apertivo in Verona. I also had a cheese and charcuterie board which was delicious in this tiny cafe in the Piazza Erbe.

I came back to my room and read for a while and just enjoyed relaxing.

For dinner, I decide to splurge and not wander to find some where to eat. I ate in the hotel dining room. At first I felt a little weird as I was the only person in the dining room but eventually two large families came in and joined me.

The meal was very elegant and fantastic. This was when I realized how bad I am at social media because I realized I should have been taking pictures the whole time but did not until I was half way through the primi piatti.

Dinner started with a glass of Prosecco accompanied by three Amuse Bunche – a lovely fish ball, a cannoli filled with goat cheese and a quail drumstick with foie gras sauce. (No pictures of this which is sad as they were each served on a round marble dish). 

Primi Piatti was scallops with roasted porcini mushrooms with black truffle shavings with parmesan sauce. This I think was the best dish of the meal.

Secondi Piatti was medallions of lamb with artichoke and an jus.

For dessert, I had Raspberries with white chocolate and cocoa. The dessert include raspberries molded out of chocolate.

The final treat was three pieces of lovely chocolate.

I accompanied the whole thing with a glass of Amarone.

After the lovely dinner, I walked across the Piazza in front of the hotel to the Basilica of Santa Anastasia for Christmas Eve mass. The church was lit up and beautifully decorated. Of course, the service was in Italian but I could comprehend most of it and even understood much of the sermon. I think it helped that Catholic Mass and Episcopal services are much the same. Also, the fact that the readings were the traditional readings helped. The sermon was a little more complicated but I was able to follow the gist of it. It touched on the war in Gaza and Ukraine and the need for peace.

They had a lovely choir and orchestra that played beautiful music for the service. They performed Handel’s Hallelujah chorus which is always magnificent. The one oddity, and I am not super musical so I could be wrong but after the service I think they played, I Am Dreaming of a White Christmas.

One big difference that I notices was that in most Christmas services I have been to, the people dress up in mostly Christmas fancy. Here most people were dressed very casually, I was probably the most dressed with my suit and Christmas tie.

Overall, it was a lovely Christmas Eve!