Hi All,
We got to the train station after catching the metro and changing lines. It took a bit of searching on the map to figure out that MI LAM was not central station in Milan. We missed the train as the delay at the hotel cost us 10 minutes but it didn’t matter as the trains ran every hour so it wasn’t really a long wait in travel terms.
Got on the train and it was again the local town train with seating but no baggage storage but we found that we could shove our bags on a single seat just inside the carriage which worked quite nicely. Lovely train ride through the green fields, occasional castles and a background of snow capped mountains.
Helpful lady at the tourist information centre dumped way too much information in too short a timeframe which included numerous choices for accommodation none cheap but we got a few names to start and headed into the old town. We found a 1 star hotel which was asking for 90 euros for a room and we knew that it was going to be difficult to find cheap accommodation. We decided that it would be best to drop the big packs and then I would look for accommodation. So Vanessa was left on a bench looking into a popular Gelato shop while I was away. I finally found a B and B place with an enthusiastic old Italian woman who wouldn’t go any lower than 60 euros so I declined and went back and there was Vanessa with a family sitting next to her with big cones of gelato. It seemed almost everyone in Verona apart from us were willing to part with up to 5 euros for a gelato cone. Torture. We kept searching for accommodation and finally found another 1 star hotel well located in the old city but it was still 55 euros.
Was a good day to arrive in Verona as it was the first Sunday of the month and many of the exhibits were either free or significantly reduced in price. There are plenty of roman ruins in Verona and it is centred around the first century roman amphitheatre which is the third largest in existence with a seating capacity of 20000 so that was our first stop. It is well preserved but we have seen too many roman ruins recently so a quick lap around the top for the views then onto Casa di Giulietta (Juilet’s house) with plenty of window shopping in between and a side trip to piazze delle erbe which is lined with extravagant palazzo and market stall. The casa di giulietta is rather lame as Juliet is a fictional character in a Shakespeare play ,although Romeo and Juliet are thought to been based on real people, the balcony is one of the worst in Verona but yet plenty of people come to visit including us. Must be romantics at heart. Still in the area we ascended the torre del lamberti for superb views over the city. We wandered around to the river and followed it to the roman amphitheatre and bridge then followed it along to the castelvecchio former residence of the ruling family and now a museum with some wonderful artwork. Not enough for one day? No. we went back to the hotel for a snack and a rest in the room before heading out again for our first serious cultural experience which was a concert in the magnificently decorated san Giorgio (st george) church which contained some paintings more than five metres high and brilliant acoustics.
Still enjoying great warm weather and blue skies.
Tomorrow we head off to Venice…think we will sleep well after today.
Bye.
David and Vanessa
