Furred and Feathered Holocausts

With its fast-rushing river, picturesque old bridge, great castle, waving cypresses, and prospect so delightful and so cheerful! Pleasant Verona!

Pictures from Italy, Charles Dickens

In winter Verona’s fast-rushing river freezes over; in winter it is all the more delightful. Lying between the foothills of the Alps and the great plains of the river Po, it attracts all good things — mountain butter, a great variety of cheeses, Garda salmon trout and lavarelli, Venetian calamari, eels and mullet; black truffles of Norcia, white truffles from Alba, fat poultry, game, the products of the pig; the best of Italian wines besides its own Valpolicella and nearby Lugana, Lazize, and Bardolino (chiarorosso) and the dark slightly sparkling Lambrusco di Sorbara, near Modena.