In Fair Verona
Verona!
September 10th, 2022 (G)
We had thoroughly enjoyed our time in Lake Orta but the time had arrived for us to leave the quaint town behind. A cool wind blew as we boarded the train once more to head south and east. We spent the next few hours in transit. Jumping from one train to the next in Milan and finally arriving in Verona late in the day. In the sun's twilight hour we wandered past the magnificently preserved roman arena and into the maze of tight warm colored streets of old Verona.
As things grew dark we found the entrance to our accommodations located in a small nook on a side street. We had been provided with a code to allow us to enter through the large dark brown doors. Then up a few flights of stairs to the next door, through a common area to another door that lead into a hallway, and finally to the door of our room. The room itself was a lovely little spot, decked out in Rococo it was perched above the street and the windows looked out to a bookstore.
After getting our things settled and changing clothes we ventured forth into the lively streets of Verona. Even at night, there was a buzz of people both tourists and locals out for dinner or to meet with friends. We moved through the well-lit streets with ease and after a few failed attempts found a small wineshop that also served dinner. Italy generally eats dinner late, so the fact that it was now just past 9 in the evening made no difference to the kitchen. We enjoyed our evening there and took a few recommendations from our waitress for our activities the following morning.
September 11th, 2022
We arose to a beautiful, clear day and opted to skip breakfast and trade the time spent eating for exploration in the light of day. We first wanted to find the Torre di Ponte Pietra which was a tower that guarded the ancient Roman bridge of via Ponte Pietra. This bridge is the oldest and only remaining Roman bridge which crosses the Adige river in the city. We had some fun trying to take a photo of ourselves in the bright sunlight. After crossing the river we headed straight up the hill across it to the Piazzale Castel San Pietro which was recommended to us by our waitress and provided stunning views of the city below.
After enjoying the view for a bit, we headed back down across the bridge to find Juliet's balcony, never mind that it was built well after the play was written. We found the balcony but it was quite crowded, so after a brief look we returned to our room, packed our things, and began the walk back to the train station. On the way, we paused to enjoy the Roman Arena which is impressively still in use as of this writing. Before long we were once again onboard a train. This time we were bound for Venice.