Day 9 - Verona

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Another hazy start to another balmy day. Roy and I decided to take a push bike into town - such fun - it had been a large number of years since I had ridden a bike. It may have been a bad hair day but nothing could have ruined the wonderful day of the Hop On Hop Off and then back street walking experiences we had - Church of San Fermo, Castle Vecchio and bridge, Juliet's (Giulietta) balcony and house (where Roy wrote our names on the wall - aw, romantic). He also followed the tradition of fondling Juliet's right breast. Also visited the 'probable' house where Romeo 'probably' lived, and saw so much more. We went into the hills for what could have been (without the haze) spectacular views from Santuario Madonna di Lourdes. We even experienced a student protest, with heaps of armed Polizia - those that were not with the Carabinieri and armed forces protecting members of a Forum meeting. Toilets - well, here's the thing. You pay EVERYWHERE for a public toilet so you need to decide whether to just pay to use the toiletta or find a ristorante with a toiletta and have a red wine. Hmmmm, a difficult choice! Needless to say we drank plenty of red wine and aperol spritz - and needed the loo a lot. Paying for the toiletta doesn't necessarily mean you will get a clean one or one with a seat. We have now been to our 'favourite' ristorante, with toiletta (and we tried a number of different ristorantes doing a pizza reconnaissance) three times, which may seem crazy when there are heaps to choose from. But this restaurant, the staff, the service will definitely be one for Trip Advisor - Caffe al Teatro. It amazes me that you can stand in a Piazza (square) with The Arena (older and better kept than the Colosseum and still in use, especially for the opera) and to the left of that is Louis Vuitton and all the other modern shops of any city. Again, I have been strong and resisted the beautiful leather goods.

I had an emotional moment sitting in the piazza near The Arena, when a band/singer played all my Dad's old favourites, mainly around the Glen Miller era (my brother Phil would also have been lovin it). There we were, red wine, checked tablecloths, pizza, music, setting sun - Roy and I danced in the square!

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