It was a Saturday morning, and we were expecting to spend the whole day at home, waiting for our new couches from Ikea to be delivered. However, unexpectedly, our couches were delivered at 8 o'clock that morning, so we found ourselves with nothing to do for the rest of the day. Luckily we live in Italy, so it wasn't hard to find something to do. We decided to hop on the train and go to the city of Verona!
In forty minutes and six euros later, we were there in the beautiful town of Verona, the setting of Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet. Our first stop was the Roman Arena.
This arena is the third largest amphitheater in the Roman world, and it used to be 50% taller! It dates from the 1st century AD.
The arena is made of pink marble. I of course had to go in the middle of it and pretend that I was a champion gladiator!
Dal looking dapper and enjoying the view.
The view of the city from the top of the arena. I think there is a law or something in Verona that you have to paint your house a bright color. It's awesome.
The outside of the arena.
Our next stop in Verona was a visit to the Castelvecchio, which was built by the Scaligeri family in the 1300s as a residence and a fortress. I liked this place a lot. It houses some of Verona's finest art, but my favorite thing was just roaming around the castle. It was so fun!
The Castelvecchio
In the courtyard.
I found my room!
Beautiful view of Verona from the castle.
The Fortress Bridge.
Of course no town in the Veneto is complete without the Venetian lion.
The Torre dei Lamberti
Next we went to Porta Borsari. This was the main entrance to ancient Roman Verona, and this structure served as a toll booth to get into the city.
After walking through the Porta Borsari we continued on to the Piazza Erbe. This is the main market square in Verona.
During medeival times, the surrounding towers were inhabited by the city's nobles. They decorated the outside of their homes with elaborate paintings. The remnants of these paintings can be seen in this picture.
Of course no town in the Veneto is complete without the Venetian lion.
Because we just watched the movie, Letters to Juliet, I was excited for our next stop: the Casa de Giulietta. Usually this place is so crowded but we were lucky to go during the off season and there was hardly anyone there! The walls leading up to Juliet's house were insane! They were completely covered in scribbles written by lovers. I went inside Juliet's house and went out on the balcony and recited some lines to Dallin. I don't know if he appreciated or not, because he is a boy. Even though the truth of the legend of Romeo and Juliet is debatable, it was cool just to walk in the Casa de Giulietta because it was a real house of a Renaissance noble. Inside they also had memorabilia from Franco Zeffirelli's film, Romeo and Juliet, like Juliet's bed and costumes.
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet."
After coming out of the house, I just had to rub the breast of the Juliet statue. I can use all of the luck in my love life I can get! Just kidding, just kidding. But there were a few people who took the whole Juliet statue thing very seriously. There was one woman, who looked like she came to the statue everyday. She waited in line to rub the statue and looked very annoyed with all of the joking tourists in front of her. When it came to her turn, she rubbed the statue briefly and then went on her way. It was pretty funny.
Then we visited the Club di Giulietta. It is a real club that writes back to the letters to Juliet. You can go into the club's headquarters (above an embroidery shop) and read some particularly interesting letters. It was fun.
Next we decided to get some exercise and climb to the top of the Torre dei Lamberti for some Verona views. We climbed around 350 steps to get to the top. Whew!
The Torre dei Lamberti
Out of breath, but determined to earn some gelato.
Views from the top!
Me and Dal at the top. Unfortunately you can't see the amazing background.
With the remainder of our day in Verona we...
visited Dante, the poet in Piazza dei Signori...
Climbed the only surviving Renaissance staircase in Verona of the Palazzo della Ragione...
Walked through the colorful Church of Sant'Anastasia...
Walked along the river and over Ponte Pietra...
And explored the Roman Theater.
It was a great day in Verona! Much better than waiting all day for furniture to be delivered!
