There were 2 bank holidays in May and I decided that enough was enough! Time to go to my dream country. So I booked tickets for myself to Verona and Venice hohohoho. I arrived in Verona bright and early as I caught the 5.40 AM!!!!!!! flight out of London. The day was beautiful but it wouldn't last. By the end of the day it was pelting down. Apparently Venice is known for being wet in Spring.. no one told me that!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway I took a bus from the airport and got the driver to let me off when I am near the Arena which is the top attraction in Verona. This was the square next to it, Piazza Bra. It kind of reminded me of Brussels.
The amphitheatre was completed around AD30 and is the third largest in the world, after Rome's Colosseum and the one at Capua. Visitors used to come from across the Veneto to watch mock battles and gladiatorial combats here. There were cages below the ground for lions, tigers and other wild animals as well as a maze of passages.
The walkway the wrapped around the amphitheater... it was dark and damp.
Pretty rooftop view from the top of the arena...
Note that the tiles have a pink tinge to them.
The charming alleyways around the arena.
There were these very bizarre street performers in Verona which were very annoying. Basically grown men dressed as babies hiding behind a facade, usually a pram or a box, and crying like a baby and talking like a baby. I so wanted to kick them.
First sighting of Venetian masks... it won't be my last.
Very weird wall bronze sculpture on the side of a building - humans suckling at the teats of a beast.
Next, I had to visit that other thing Verona is known for - or maybe the only thing Verona is known for. Juliet's house - Casa di Giulietta. It was packed with tourists all going crazy snapping photos of the balcony.
Every single person groped her when they take a photo with her. What is wrong with humans?
The surrounding walls were covered with love notes and chewing gum shaped like hearts. I guess it is the ultimate pilgrimage for lovers.
Wonder if Mattia still loves Francesca three years on? As for Bobo and Buba, I hope they haven't procreated. The world does not need a Bibi... or would it be Baboo?
A feature of locks is also a given obviously.
Romeo's view of the balcony... hehe
I bought the Verona card which got me into a few sights for free and one of them was Juliet's house which is a museum of sorts. I had nothing better to do so I dutifully went in to have a look and get my money's worth. It was five stories of nothing. A waste of space filled with rubbish basically.
Some art about Romeo and Juliet I guess.
I did get to venture onto the balcony.
Juliet's view of Romeo hehe.
Poor people that lived opposite this place.
Room full of boring art. I am so not an art person.
More paintings of the clandestine lovers.... ummm Juliet was a healthy girl heheheh.
A prop from some movie about them.
Next up, I went to Piazza Erbe where a daily market was held. It was very touristy and full of souvenir type wares. It was right next to Torre dei Lamberti which is 84 m high but more on that later.
Time for some grub and i tried to be good by getting a big pottle of fruit. I ate that sitting in the square, skyping Mum and Mei hehe.
The fountain that dates back to Roman times, a reminder that the market place has been in use for 2000 years.
First pistachio gelato of the trip - the best and most expensive one. So good.
I wandered down to the riverside and had a looksie at the opposite bank. It was pretty but I couldn't be bothered walking all the way over there. Besides, it was time for lunch...
I decided that I needed to burn some calories before lunch so I went and visited Torre dei Lamberti which was another of the attractions covered by the Verona Card.
The medieval tower is the highest tower in Verona and has four bells - the Marangona signals fires, work times and the hours of the day while the largest, Rengo, is used to call the population to arms or to invoke the city's councils. To reach the top of the tower, you can either pay 1 EUR to ride the escalator up or climb the 368 steps. Which option do you think i took?
I did get a good view of Verona and it killed about half an hour of my time there.
The bells....
After that exertion, it was time for lunch and I chose one of the restaurants that circled the piazza. It wasn't too expensive and the food was good. I was amused to see Sarawak pepper on the menu.
My drink and complimentary breadsticks... Darn breadsticks are always present at every table and i can't say no to white bread!
My spaghetti with clams aka spaghetti vongole. So good i still dream of it.
I also got a molten lava cake... except it was white chocolate and passionfruit inside. The outside was a bit burnt unfortunately.
It then started to rain quite heavily but I wasn't ready to give up so I walked twenty minutes in the rain to go check out my last attraction for the day - Juliet's tomb, Tomba di Giulietta. What was amusing was that they had a big sculpture of the Chinese Romeo and Juliet, aka the butterfly lovers 梁山伯與祝英台.
Entrance to the tomb
Sculpture of Shakespeare
Again the 'tomb' was quite pathetic with nothing much to see. It was lame basically. This was a pathetic garden within the complex.
There used to be a monastery on the site as well so there were some random religious art on display as well.
Bronze display of the story.
Steps leading down to the tomb
ta da........ the tomb!
[Some weird chamber full of these pots.
For some reason, this doorway reminds me of the computer game, Prince of Persia haha, no sharp knives cutting me in half as i tried to cross the treshold though.
That was it. It was raining and boring so I got on an earlier train bound for Venice.
