VENICE AND VERONA

VERONA: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12th

On our way back home from visiting Cinque Terre and Lake Como, we did a quick stop in Verona - the city of love.

Susan and Aunt Diane outside of the Roman Arena. 

Of course, we had to stop by Romeo and Juliet's balcony!

 Our next stop was the Piazza dell'Erbe. This is probably my favorite square in Italy.

This market is out all day, every day.

We walked beneath these arches to the Piazza dei Signori. 

We sat down for some drinks in the Piazza dei Signori. 

There was a buzz in the square. There was a group of students standing in a line behind Nick and Aunt Diane. A man sitting at a nearby table would yell something in Italian at them, and they would all repeat his words. It was bazaar! 

There was also a television or film crew sitting by us. They were watching a camera attached to a remote controlled helicopter flying around the square. It was a strange scene.

To make things even stranger, there was a very tall drag queen sitting near us. I pretended to take a photo of Susan, so I could get this shot of ...her. I feel like I'm describing an odd dream I had.

To add to the crazy trip through Verona, Susan and I ordered some strange sounding non-alcoholic drinks. Mine was a Gingerino. It was delicious! It reminded me of a soda I had in Scotland called Iron Bru. I've asked for them at just about every place I've been since then.

It was a quick, and in some ways odd trip, but we had a great time! Now back home to relax a little from our adventures!

VENICE: SATURDAY, JUNE 15th

3 days later, after recuperating, we headed down to Venice at Aunt Diane's request. We hopped off the train and jumped on a vaparetto to St. Mark's square.

Our first sighting of the Rialto Bridge!

St. Marks square and Doge's Palace

Aunt Diane lead us through the day because she hadn't visited Venice since she was in high school. After lunch, she directed us to an art exhibit in the Doge's Palace, which was one of the best decisions she could have made. There were crowds waiting to get into the main attractions, but no one was in line to see an art exhibit in a nice air conditioned palace on a hot day! 

I've been to Venice many times, and I've never been in the Doge's palace. I must say it is one of my favorite places in Venice.

This fountain has a twin and it's located at our small, liberal arts college in Illinois!! It was fun to see it in these surroundings. 

This is my all time favorite photo of the whole trip. :) It's Susan trying to explain to Aunt Diane how to get everything in the picture.

We were laughing hysterically! After several attempts, this was the best one!

Next we walked upstairs to see the view of St. Marks square from the Doge's Palace.

Nick and I took these pics even though we weren't supposed to. :)

One of my favorite moments on this trip was looking over at Aunt Diane and noticing that she had a perma-smile on her face the whole day! 

We had to stop for a quick scoop of gelato! The name of the gelateria was "Snack and Sweet!" It sounds like it belongs in Mt. Pleasant, IA, not in Venice, Italy! It was still delicious!

After a wild ride back on the vaparetto to the train station, we caught the train back to Sacile. We had a fun-filled day in Venice! It is one city I won't ever get tired of!