VERONA, ITALY

Friday, March 22, 2013

Friday morning I headed to the train station in Sacile to buy tickets to Verona with my friends Sarah and Emily. The price of the tickets was a little steep (60+ Euro/person), so we decided to drive. We had to grab a quick coffee and brioche, and we were off! Not only was it twice as fast as taking the train, but it was also a third of the cost! The autostrada is pretty simple and straight forward, and it was a straight shot from the autostrada to the parking garage just outside the city walls. It was my first time driving around to a new city, so I was pretty proud of myself! :)

The day could not have been more beautiful! It was 70 and clear blue skies. We first walked under the old walls of the city, and entered the Piazza Bra. (Bra means big, open space.)

 This fountain in the middle of Piazza Bra is called "The Alps." It was a gift from Verona's sister city, Munich.

 This Roman arena is just off of Piazza Bra. It was built in the first century AD. 

 

 The market around the square had booths with tons of flowers and sweets. One of the booths had cannolli! (My favorite!...I couldn't resist getting one!)

 We decided to take a peek inside the Roman arena.

A cute home just beyond the walls of the arena. Can you imagine having an ancient Roman arena just outside your front window?

We ate at the cute cafe with the red chairs just outside the arena. 

 I just can't get enough pizza!

 There were street performers everywhere on the main street leading from Piazza Bra to Piazza Erbe. Just try and figure out how they pulled off this trick.

 Looking straight up from Piazza Erbe you can see part of Torre dei Lamberti and a whale's rib suspended under an arch. The rib was likely a souvenir brought home by a traveling merchant, reminding townspeople that there was a big world out there.

 Piazza Erbe

 Verona is known as one of the most painted cities in Italy. It's walls were covered with frescos at one time.

House of Juliet

 The House of Juliet was packed with people. It was almost more amusing to watch the tourists than to see the place where supposedly Juliet lived.

 The walls and fences are covered in locks, letters, and gum with messages to Juliet.

 A few tourists hoping for love waited their turn to polish the statue of Juliet's breast. It's the probably the most groped statue in the world. I got a kick out of seeing this group of boys all have their turn. When they left they turned to the statue and said, "Ciao, bella!"

 From Piazza Erbe we walked under the whale rib to Piazza dei Signori...

 Here's Sarah in Piazza dei Signori under the statue of Dante Alighieri. He was a poet that was banned from Florence because the pope didn't like his writing.

 Torre dei Lamberti...(we climbed this at the end of our tour)

 This one of the tombs of the Scaligeri family. Back when they ran Verona, no one was allowed to be buried in the city limits except for them. They built their tombs up high so that they would be looked up to even in death.

 Church of Sant'Anastasia

 Castello San Pietro

 A view from the Roman Bridge, Ponte Pietra.

 Walking away from Ponte Pietra

 The tower of the Duomo

 Duomo

 Walking up the 368 steps to the top of Torre dei Lamberti

 The Roman arena from the tower.

 Piazza Erbe

 It's hard to tell, but that little speck is Emily sitting in the Palazzo Ragione

Looking up at Torre dei Lamberti from Palazzo Ragione.

The three of us had such an amazing day! The weather couldn't have been more perfect! I really loved Verona even though I hadn't heard many great things about it. I can't wait to go back and explore more!

Ciao, Bella!!