Oh Verona! What I thought would be a town of Shakespeare-crammed souvenirs was certainly not, and surpassed all expectations.
Arrival was a vibrant mix of pretty squares with fountains, cake shops and pretty flower stands.
It was just what you think of when you think of Italy, tall colourful building with pretty balconies, and cobbles streets lined with mopeds + vespa's
We found a couple of markets, one just inside the city entryway:
The other lining the walls and walkways of the Castelvecchio. (My Favourite!) Lots of little wooden products and hand made things for sale which was super cute.
Santa Anastasia:
We found large number of people walking up some stairs, so we climbed too, deciding they must know something we don't :)
We got fab views of the Roman Theatre part way up, and then continued for a climb that was unexpectedly long for an unexpected route.
The top was a gorgeous viewpoint, but did not lead anywhere.
SOOO we climbed back down to find the Giusti Gardens :)
And they were beautiful - although 8 euros entry, so really they should be.
This is the oldest roman wall in the city and lies within the garden grounds, and there are the lemon trees which was once the communes source of income. The entire place is on two levels, the second level can only be reached by the twisting stairwell in a small tower which is kinda quirky and quaint.
We had to stop to map read...
Because these signs were definitely more like Clues then real directions, only appearing occasionally.
We moved on to see the supposed highlight.
Juliet's house!
It was CRAMMED with people, and a shuffling walk to get in and out. Some were trying it with suitcases, but I think that is only for the brave!
The walls were covered with layer upon layer of love notes and declarations. Kinda gross, many people used chewing gum to stick stuff on - yuck. You can see the balcony though and imagine away (if you can shut out the noise).
By contrast, Romeo's house was deserted. Why does no-one care about Romeo? I know that his home was not featured in the play, but his name is in the title...
There was an opera going on in the amphitheater. I really want to try and catch one whilst we are in Italy. Verona is near to Treviso too, so fingers crossed!
They had a giant statue in pieces around the back - maybe props?
Google faithfully led us to a stunning little restaurant. What would we do without Google? We would actually have to be real travellers!
I think i prefer the little comforts of not getting too lost all the time :)
A few last photos, because I can't bear to forget the little things we saw :)
Much love!
xxx