Fair Verona

I got back from Verona last Friday and thought you might like to see some pictures. I only went for four days but I have a loads of photos so I'm going to do a general post now and another one on food later! The food in Italy is absolutely lovely and their pastries make ours look like dog shit in comparison frankly. 

View away from Verona from Castel San Pietro

It was my 42nd birthday while I was away. I always go away for my birthday which takes the edge off getting older - something I'm not keen on even though it's inevitable of course. I highly recommend it. We went for a really great meal in the evening and had a table overlooking the Ponte Pietra and Adige river. The wine list was PAGES long and went right up to 350 euros a bottle! We didn't have one of those.

The weather was really good. It rained the first day but every other day was sunny and warm with dusky, hazy sunshine which made sitting outside café's on the piazza's really pleasant. We did quite a bit of that and had some lush coffees too which often came with free biscuits and wine which came with a bowl of complimentary salted crisps!

The highlight for me was the Arena. I do like an Amphitheatre and this is the third largest one in Italy. They host opera performances earlier in the year which look incredible. It was the one thing I really wanted to see and it was free to get in with the 'Verona Pass'. The pass costs 10 euros for a day or 15 euros for two days and got you into loads of places for free or provided a discount for some others. Most sights were six euros so it was definitely worth buying.

 I decided two things whilst I was away: 

1) This was the third time I've noticed that four days is a day too long when visiting a European city. So I should now start to act on this and stop going away for four days when three is enough! Three full days seems to be enough time to take in the main attractions and sights and to also chill out and just get a feel for a place by people watching and wandering.

2) I think I'm going to travel alone a lot more from now on. My friend was fine but, perhaps because she's 10 years younger than me, she's very preoccupied with her appearance, men and calories which I find quite dull. On the last day we were going to get the train to Venice and I decided I just fancied a day by myself so we did out own thing. And I loved that day! 

Being alone gave me a real one-to-one personal experience which 'cemented' Verona for me. I had woken up feeling a bit narky but as soon as we decided to spend the day apart, I felt fine. So I think from now on I may just travel by myself. You don't have the whole 'are you hungry, shall we eat now?', 'what do you want to do today?', 'shall we eat here or somewhere else?', 'are you ready to go now?' type of questions when you're by yourself - you can just do whatever takes your fancy and I like doing that more than I like having company.

Three days is definitely long enough to see Verona. It wasn't as picturesque as other Italian cities I've visited but it was still absolutely lovely and other Italian places spoil you with their attractiveness I think! My friend hadn't ever been to Italy and she thought it was beautiful. It's also very centralised and really easy to get your bearings, so after a day you kinda knew where things were and what direction to head in.

We went up the Torre Dei Lombardi which is a massive tower in the centre. There are 289 steps up to the top and I felt every one. There is a lift but we though we'd walk off our morning croissant with Nutella (Nutella is BIG in Italy!). The view was well worth the pain as you can see. 

Verona is of course famous for Romeo and Juliet and they do milk it somewhat. Funnily enough it was the only disappointing part of the trip - tourists go to Juliet's house (even though she wasn't real) and people (mainly men) queue up to cop a grope of the left boob of her statue "for luck" it's a tradition apparently. The house was just full of Romeo & Juliet images in literature and film but I was more interested in the origins of the 13th century house they'd acquired for the purpose. Neither me or my friend took one photo inside the house actually.

Nice pics huh? I know you can see them in my Instagram photo stream in the sidebar, but it's better to see them in their full glory I reckon. My next post will be some scrummy food ones - get ready for the dolci people!