On the way to Venice

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Today we went to 2 fantastic places on our way to Venice! The first of these was Sirmione which is a lovely medieval town by the side of Lake Garda. The main feature of Sirmione is the castle which is the first one we’ve seen with a proper moat! We had a lovely romantic stroll along the lake and then enjoyed wandering through the streets and looking in the boutiques. We had a nice lunch and gelato of course!

The next stop was Verona where 2 star crossed lovers met their fate! They say that this story may not be true however Shakespeare thought that Verona was the perfect setting for Romeo and Juliet’s story - we agree (and still like to believe that it did actually happen here)! We went to the famous Juliet’s balcony where we now have a love note to add to all the others on the wall. It’s actually not that romantic when you see they’re all stuck up there with chewing gum! There is a statue of Juliet here and lots of people rub the right boob for good luck but we didn’t partake as our guide book says it will bring you a new lover! Richie snuck off and got a cute heart embroidered with our names - very sweet! We did a short walking tour of Verona and saw some of other places where key scenes in the story are set. It was a rainy afternoon but still good to visit! One fascinating thing was the face in the wall where in the past you could put a note through the mouth. The anonymous note could tell a secret about someone and possibly lead to their public execution! You wouldn’t have wanted to get on anyone’s bad side! There is also a roman amphitheatre built in 30 AD where Alicia Keys was playing the night we were there. It would have been awesome to go, but unfortunately we were on a schedule.

We spent the night (and the following one) in a hotel outside of Venice. It was nice but the pollution laws in Italy state that you can’t use airconditioning until later in the year so the room was like a sauna! We have come across this a few times in our travels and and have sometimes been tempted to sleep in the hallway which isn’t as stuffy! Opening the windows only gives some relief! Luckily we still felt alert in the morning and ready for our day in Venice... !

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Photos

Sirmine
Us and lake Garda

Vernoa
Roman amphitheatre

Statue of Juliet
Notice how shiny her right boob looks?

Tunnel near Juliet's balcony
See all the love notes in the background!