Verona

Verona: it sounds familiar, doesn't it? Well, although Petruchio from The Taming of the Shrew is from Verona, that isn't actually the first Shakespearean play that comes to mind. Romeo & Juliet was set in this wonderful little town and now it attracts tourists from around the world to see Juliet's balcony, to write her a love letter and to rub her right breast for good luck. Yes, you heard me correctly, Juliet is manhandled by just about everyone who comes to visit.

Verona is in Veneto, the same region as the very touristy city of Venice. Although it is not visited as frequently as Venice, Verona has its own charms and tourist attractions to place it on the Italian map.

For instance, Verona has its own Roman arena, one significantly smaller than the Coliseum, but just as ancient and well-preserved. My friends and I paid the 4,50  euro reduced fee (6 euros for non-students) to enter the arena, though I wouldn't necessary say this is completely necessary. It was extravagant and all, but seeing it from the outside would suffice, in my opinion.

The most interesting sight inside the arena was the group of half-naked Italians taking down the stage and seating from a concert that was held there recently. Yup, unforgettable.

Anyhow, to continue on with the theme of romance, we next set out to find la Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's house) to see the famous wall of love letters!

It was such an incredible sight and also a little bit gross. People used anything from bandages to used pieces of gum in order to write the names of a loved one or an anniversary date.

The first thing you see is the door of the house, but then to your left, there is a tunnel and all of the walls inside are completely covered from top to bottom. This tunnel then leads you to a courtyard where you can see the famous balcony where Juliet first utters the iconic words, "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name..."

There is a fee to enter the house and stand in the balcony, something many tourists cannot get enough of! Of course, I was okay with merely seeing the balcony from Romeo's perspective. You know, when he first sees her standing there and says, "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun..." 

Being a pretty big Shakespeare fan myself, I had to follow the tradition (even if I do not believe in luck) and rubbed the Juliet statue's right breast! The statue is right under the balcony and the only thing more fun than rubbing the lucky boob and taking a picture of it is watching random people do the same.

It is actually pretty hilarious how much shinier her right breast is from the rest of her. Oh, poor Juliet.

The rest of the day trip was filled with regular Italian city touring. We visited the city's Duomo, il Castello San Pietro (climbing many steep steps, as usual) and stood for some time on a ponte (bridge), relaxing to the sound of flowing canal water. It was an incredibly beautiful little town.

Like Venice, Verona has a lot of water. This was a nice change from Bologna's lack of water and greenery. The most fascinating part was seeing how calm the water was at one end of the bridge and how all of sudden, there was a terrifyingly fierce current and many large rocks. One thing was for sure, that was not a canal for some leisure swimming. Of course, is any canal?

The day was long and exhausting, but it was an amazing trip. I definitely recommend this city when traveling through Italy.

What did I eat? It was actually really fascinating. A friend of mine had a friend that studied in Verona. She recommended we eat some incredible pizza in a church that was transformed into a restaurant! On Vicolo Guasto 4, San Matteo still looks like a church on the outside, but is completely transformed on the inside. I was actually a little disappointed that none of the original artwork was preserved  but I guess that would be considered blasphemous. I'm not sure, but it was still a great experience. Also, the pizza was delicious! 

In the evening, I got hungry again as we waited for the last hour to pass before our train arrived. We saw a sushi place right next door to a caffè where we had just had our much-needed cappuccini. It's called "I Sushi" and it was incredibly delicious! If you like sushi and you want a break from Italian food, definitely eat here! It was tasty and super fresh!

Overall, a fantastic trip! Here a few pictures of the city itself:

The view of Verona from il Castello San Pietro

Verona should be on your list! Ciao a tutti!