Verona, Italy

Colosseum

Streets of Verona

We woke up very early the next morning because we had a 9:05am train to catch to Verona. We showered quickly, got dressed, packed, and headed with our suitcases, back to Hotel Fenice. After dropping off our luggage, we felt a little bit better about our trip and knew that we would have a great time in Verona. We would have a great meal, drink some wine, take some pictures, and write a letter to Juliet. What could be better?

The train ride was fine, nothing new. When we arrived in Verona, we realized that we would have to take a bus to get to the city center, which was okay, but we had envisioned walking. Oh well. 

Juliet's Balcony

City Center Square

We got off the bus, took some pictures and began walking around. There is a small Colosseum where they now hold concerts that leads your way into the old town area. The streets are very narrow, seemingly more so than many of the other places that we had visited. It was almost hard to walk as there were people everywhere, tours, families, locals...it was a madhouse. SO we saw the major sites, Juliet’s Balcony, the arena, etc...and headed away from the madness. We walked around most of the city, sweating and looking for a place to eat. Juliet's balcony was crowded. It's in a small courtyard down a small street, somewhat hard to find at first. Then you find all of the people. Holy cow, you can barely get in and getting a good angle for a picture was almost impossible. The walls in the courtyard are covered in graffiti and gum. People just write on the walls and keep going. I guess that's their answer to leaving letters these days. Makes your realize that the movies really do romanticize some of these places!

The main square in Verona has a market and many restaurants. It was also very crowded, but the architecture is beautiful. Big buildings all around built out of old stone. If there had just been a few less people, the pictures may have been better...but it was good people watching! Walking outside of the main town area, we were able to see the real Verona. Vineyards on hillsides, churches, gardens, bridges over the river...beautiful, peaceful.

We had a nice lunch in Verona, with a fabulous glass of wine. We walked around a little more and grabbed some gellato. Ice cream always helps! We walked back to the train station, which really wasn't that far, as we had been told...but it was warm and the weather was beautiful, so there was no reason to not walk.

Verona is a nice city, some place that I was glad to have visited. Having more time to walk around and visit some of the surrounding towns would have been nice...but for a day trip from Milan, it was perfect.