Blogs from Verona, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 6

Saturday 30.1.210 day 108 Verona is we’re Shakespeare ‘Romeo and Juliet is set in winter We went to the pink marble Roman amphitheatre that was built in the 1st century AD and is still used today as Verona’s opera house. It is the third largest Roman amphitheatre in existence; it can seat 20,000 people and is remarkable well preserved. We also went to Casa di Glulietta (Juliet’s house). Although Romeo and Juliet is fictional you can go on Juliet’s balcony for a fee which we chose not to but you can see it for free and take photos and see the bronze statue of Juliet. It is said that if you rub her right breast for luck and a new lover. Those in love can add their mark on the lovers wall nearby were there are ... read more

Day Two Milano to Bergamo (Forgot to say in last blog that we saw much marble being cut in the mountains coming in from Switzerland.) This morning, we walked in the light rain to the Duomo. On the way we stopped coffee and a chocolate brioche in very modern café where I got locked in the bathroom! We arrived at the Duomo, where we paid to climb the 250 steps to the wet marble roof, where one can walk around and view the stonework up close and look over the city of Milan. We took a quick look inside the cathedral and visited one the oldest shopping arcades in the world, before taking the subway back to our hotel. Before picking up our bags we ate at a small restaurant with a set menu of 7euros ... read more

Verona, our first weekend trip of the semester, was incredible! We caught a 10:00 am train out of Venice and arrived in Verona a little after noon. It was our first train ride over here in Europe, and it actually went surprisingly well! Once in Verona, we grabbed some pizza (sadly, we were kind of craving true Italian food since mediocre cafeteria food is pretty much all we get) and set out to explore the city. The city is so beautiful and completely different than Venice. For one, it’s a more metropolitan city with a gorgeous, pedestrian only, historical center. It isn’t too touristy either, which is a complete 180 degree shift from living in Venice where tourists are more abundant than Venetians. The city is so romantic, with references to the Romeo and Juliet legend ... read more

Apologies for the lack of blogging, but work has been plenty and sleeping is consuming the majority of my free time. Anyway, this past weekend involved a journey north to see my first real opera, a performance of the Barber of Seville in Verona's Roman Theater. Best possible way to be introduced to opera. The adventure started off right with a stop at the Autogrill near Bologna for lunch. There are many Autogrills in Italy, but the one near Bologna is actually a huge bridge over the entire A1 that runs Rome-Milan. Inside said bridge are three floors of glory: a marketplace, a quick cafe, and a self-serve cafe. I went all-out to the self-serve cafe and ordered what I thought would be a half roasted chicken. What I got was an entire roasted chicken cut ... read more