Blogs from Verona, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 7

Day 29 Leave Gravedona after a final chat with our Irish friends and decided to head to the hills once again to visit Switzerland one more time. We pack the car and are greeted by the owners (remember the comment about the boss who looked over everything with his hands in his suit pockets) who bade us a fond farewell. Very nice people who help us with our bags and direct us out of the car park. A really nice hotel once again...... Into the alps to visit the cross border towns and a pretty trip up into the hills on quite good roads. Get to the border and stop where Stella tells us which happens to be right against the border gate (walking entry) while the road crossing is below us. The town we visit ... read more

After a poor nights sleep we headed out of Bella Italia to the reception area to pay for our nights stop. There were three cashiers, one serving a customer, another on the phone and the third not really doing anything. All I wanted was our passports back to pay and head off for our new site across the lake. Paying was a convoluted process, initially I had to get a little ticket and then move across to another cashier to pay. The cost was 17 euro 60 cents for the one night. Our arrival at Butterfly started the same way our departure at Bella Italia ended. A kiosk with two receptionists both dealing with customers and both on the phone at the same time. We booked in for six nights, planned to set Suzy up and ... read more

The first destination today was The Duomo, which I'm told means the main cathedral of the town. It is large, and filled with interesting sights and sounds, which unfortunately included a vacuum cleaner. I wish it had included the organs, because those things are enormous. Speaking of organs, I've had to look at a bunch of crucified Christs today, and noticed in a lot of them that the soldiers appeared to have speared him right in the gallbladder. I got some satisfaction thinking his last act may have been to spray his tormentors with hot bile, and I imagined it melting their skin like the Alien Queen's blood in Aliens. My mother does not think the gallbladder theory holds much water, and my career as an art historian ended as quickly as it began. After that ... read more

I am currently in Verona, Italy! It is so amazing. Allie and I spent the day eating pasta, wandering the streets, and seeing Juliet's balcony! We love it so much here! Our hostel is at a home stay and it is very cute. We even have a balcony. Tomorrow we head out to Venice!... read more

Verona I always said that we would get to Verona on this trip and we did even if it was just for the day. After dragging the kids out of bed and onto the train by 7am we arrived in Verona early to enjoy the day there. Verona is often described as a small Florence and you can see why. It has a cosmopolitan feel about it. By lunch the piazzas were full of people in the cafes, sitting in the sun sipping on Aperol spritzers, a local drink that could become one of my favourite afternoon drinks, really refreshing and tasty. It is a much quieter town that has its own mini colosseum, the Arena, which they still use for concerts. I would love to have had the opportunity to go to see any performance ... read more