Blogs from Verona, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 2

15 June - Our group traveled by bus to Verona, setting of Romeo & Juliet. The city is divided by an S-shaped River, Adige, crossed by several bridges, the most striking of which is Ponte di Castelvecchio. Like so many Italian cities, there are remains dating back to Roman times visible in random archeological digs spread around the town. Verona was a strategic location along trading routes going both east-west and north-south, so it changed hands several times, from Romans to northern Barbarians to an independent city-state , to Venetian control, to Austrian takeover, to Italy today. So there is a lot of German/Austrian influence in the culture and food here in Northern Italy. On this Friday the city was quite crowded, but our group managed to follow a local guide through the cobblestone streets and ... read more

June 7, 2018 (I apologize for the delay in posting. I tried to post 3 days of events from Verona but the Internet was not cooperating at all. I couldn't upload photos and the Internet was on/off/on/off. I finally quit. So, I'm home now getting caught up.) Today we left beautiful but busy Florence. What I mean is that it is not easy to walk around Florence: narrow streets, people to dodge around, cars, scooters, motorcycles, buses, etc. Walking in a straight line is impossible. The walking exhausted me. Before we left Florence we had one last stop: The Academy Gallery where Michelangelo's original David is kept. Getting into the gallery was the typical hurry up and wait routine, and we only had time to see David- which is spectacular. There are also many unfinished sculptures ... read more

Vérone est une très ancienne ville italienne, dans la région de Vénétie (plaine du Pô), sur les rives de l'Adige, à proximité du lac de Garde. Fondée au ier siècle av. J.-C., la ville historique de Vérone a connu des périodes d'expansion aux xiiie et xive siècles et sous la République de Venise. Un nombre remarquable de monuments de l'Antiquité, de l'url=ht... read more

What a fabulous day. We left Milano for Verona where we saw the “Juliet balcony” and the learned the fact and fiction of Romeo and Juliet and walked through the city of Verona looking at gothic and renaissance architecture and the “best” Colosseum in Italy - because it is still used today - for pop concerts, operas and all in between. The highlight for us was a quick add on to visit the Jewish Ghetto and Synagogue where we received an impromptu brief from a delightful young Rabbi. Unfortunately time did not allow us to ask all those unanswered questions from Bible Study!! There are approximately 100 Jews remaining in Verona. We then moved onto the Serego Alighieri winery which has been in operation since the 13th century where we learned about their wines and had ... read more

One week later....... No luggage. What we know.... The suitcase left Nanjing and arrived in Guangzhou. Then it went on to France. From there we aren't too sure.... But, the suitcase is not in Venice. So where is it? Vacationing in Paris without me? Back to the suitcase. So I more or less decided to put all of my most important things into my luggage, so when I arrive I have everything that I need. A cross stitch to keep me occupied over the next few weeks. Clothing. Shoes. Makeup. Paperwork. Bits a pieces to start making jewelry and bags. Sheets for the bed. My YETI. Everything that I wanted with me is in that suitcase. Everything that would make my next few weeks easier to make the transition into Italian life easy. Everything else is ... read more