Blogs from Verona, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 4

This morning it was time to pack our bags again after two nights in the very well located, but very small Ca 'dei Dogi. Definitely one of the smallest rooms we have ever stayed in with only about a metre of space on one side of the bed (the other side of the bed being right against the wall) and maybe only about 60 centimetres at the foot of the bed. The shower was amazing though with two shower heads to choose from and body jets!! Getting out of the shower without scraping against the basin or the bidet was a challenge though. It's a public holiday again today in Italy, this time for May Day which is equivalent to our Labor Day. The holiday doesn't seem to have made any difference to the vaporetto timetable ... read more

We stepped out of the Carnevale madness for a day last week and took a quick trip to Verona. Verona is lovely. Perched on the Adige River, Verona is anchored by a huge public square (Piazza Bra) and Roman arena (the largest outside of Rome). A UNESCO world heritage site, Verona is layered with history quite literally: Roman ruins sit side-by-side with structures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and in some cases these structures are built one atop another. Much of the city, including that arena, is built with pink limestone from the area, giving it a rosy hue. Winding narrow streets with pastel-colored buildings, flower pots on balconies, and cobblestone pavement make this a postcard-worthy place. Each time I turned a corner, I wanted to take another photo. Verona, like many cities in ... read more

We started out our first full day in Verona with a delicious breakfast spread made for us by our host Rosanna. There was fresh fruit, eggs, yogurt, cured meats, cheeses, fresh biscuits, croissants and lots of Nutella :) After breakfast we figured out the bus system without struggling too much (taxis are extremely expensive in Verona) and headed to the city center. The bus dropped us off right outside Castelvecchio. This "old castle" was built in the 13th century during the rule of the Scaliger dynasty and was a very important military hub. As you wander around inside the walls of the still very sturdy Castelvecchio, it really does make you wonder about all of the things that went on when people actually lived there. We crossed the bridge of Castelvecchio over the Adige river and ... read more

After a good breakfast, we set out to find bus tickets so we could get into Verona. We ended up walking about half way to the city before we found anywhere but caught the bus anyway. The city centre of Verona is actually quite small like most of the older cities. This means it is really easy to walk around the whole city and take in all the sights on foot. We began at Piazza Bra which is a lovely piazza with lots of big trees and shaded seats. It is the centre of the city and there are dozens of cafes and restaurants that line the perimeter of the piazza. On the northern side, the Verona Arena dominates the view. It is basically like a smaller and much better preserved version of the coliseum in ... read more

One last feed of the cows for Em then it was time to pack up. After cleaning up and saying our farewells, a taxi picked us up to take us to our rental car which was in Zell am See on the far side of the mountains about an hour’s drive away. We got the car with no problems but then realised that it had no satellite navigation system. As we like to stay off the motorways when we can, this is a pretty big issue for us. Their advice was go to another Europcar store to see if they had any handheld devices. Where is that? Innsbruck. 2 hours away. How do we get there? They produced a map of Austria and told us it was the best they could do. No detail even how ... read more