Verona’s city centre is filled with things to see: ancient ruins, cobblestone-walking paths, a high-end shopping strip and bridges over the Adige River.
The town square, home to their Roman Arena where combat and lions, and Olympic athletic events must have occurred in ancient times. The beautifully preserved artifact is a full size museum to the Roman life once lived.
From here we walked down the main walking street, windows displaying the latest fashion, people dressed up like live pop outs from these windows who walked along side us. Their dogs pooping in the streets to divert! Not my favourite French pass-time!
You can hear different languages on the breeze during this warm fall day. Look around and you might think it was the middle of summer, packed with lively tourists and the sun shining bright.
Verona is the backdrop for Shakespeare’s Play- Romeo and Juliet, with homes of each on display. We visited Juliet’s home, one I recognized from the movie, Letters to Juliet. People write their names on the wall or write letters to Shakespeare’s most famous heroine, Juilet to be answered. The phonomenon is documented in the non-fiction book “Letters to Juliet”, by Lise Friedman and Ceil Friedman, which the film was based on. Women that work there, answer the letters.
It is easy to imagine needing a place to answer love’s questions, when immersed in such a romantic medieval place like Verona. Shakespeare probably had real life experiences to draw from when writing his famous play, maybe baring witness to many broken hearts, and the agony of first love.
You can see young lovers on every corner of Verona. Romance and Italy go hand in hand. Must be the right combination of food, air, and views to stir the passion.
We went into one of the typical restaurants in the piazza. The hostess lady lured us in with her gypsy charm. We watched the travelers go by, sipping our beers, letting the kids scoot around the sidewalks until our food arrived.
Over priced for what you get, but worth the people watching spot! The lady heard us talking Hungarian, and sure enough she was from an outside Hungarian community in Romanian. She spoke; Hungarian, her mother tongue, Romanian, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and a little German and English. Impressive for this single mother living among the Italians who makes a good living in the tourist section. She happens to love her life. She said the Northern Italian people are gently and friendly, and have accepted her whole-heartedly. She gave out balloons to the children that passed by, and sure enough this restaurant was packed full while others had no one at all.
We took some restaurant bread sticks with us for a later snack. Angelina saw a homeless lady with 4 dogs under blankets sitting on the side of the road on our way back to the B&B. Angelina generously gave up our breadsticks for the hungry dogs. She made me very proud.
Our ideally located B&B was just okay. The breakfast just okay too. Would I visit this city again, yes! I would probably try to find accommodations outside the main area and spend an extra day in the town centre exploring each little store, church and ruin.
From here we are going to the Cinque Terre area. 5 towns on the coastal rocky cliffs!
That’s Hamori
That’s Hamori!
For more information on the Hamori family and how our adventure started, visit us at www.thatshamori.com
Romeo and Juliet's Verona
