Ahhhh….fair Verona, where we laid out backpacks. Indeed, Shakespeare chose quite the alluring set for his tragic love saga of “Romeo & Juliet.” Funnily, we learned on our free walking tour that in fact, Shakespeare had never even visited fair Verona. Ah well, guess he got lucky. And so did we.
What would follow during our three days in Verona, as well as two in Bergamo would begin to morph our jaded and not too positive memories of Italy. In these places, the Old World charm of Italy became a bit more inviting and a bit more enticing…somewhere we definitely wanted to return…
What was supposed to be a two-hour slow train ride east from Milan ended up being a one hour train ride and 1.5 hour bus ride fun combo package due to construction on the tracks. Thanks to widespread English speakers this was easy to figure out although nothing was marked to make this clear in the train station itself. We noticed that although the overall organization is European, it’s certainly got a dose of Italian in its delivery.
We arrived to fair Verona and the weather was indeed fair. Cloudy, but no drizzly bits. We grabbed some local transport tickets, and after a quick bite of Chinese, hopped on a bus to check in with our Couchsurfing hosts for two nights, who lived in a pristine location right on the river.
After a friendly welcome and quick chat with our host Tommaso, we wandered into the main square, Piazza delle Erbe just as the last moments of daylight faded.
The Castelvecchio is an utterly poetic and iconic-looking castle, especially by sparkling lights.
The Romans overtook the city in 89 BC, which makes the city over 2,000 years old. Therefore throughout the city, you can find ruins sprinkled about, but none more notable than the Arena, a massive colosseum, which holds 25,000 people and hosts opera during the summer months. It’s the third largest in Italy after Rome and Pompeii.
The UNESCO city of Verona is a walker’s paradise, by day or night. The entire historic center is pedestrians-only. Just the way we like it! This photo is in Piazza Bra. No, sorry gentlemen, it doesn’t mean flaunting tatas.
Though there is lots of color and beauty to look at, its name actually comes from the word “braida” which means “large” in the Lombardic language. Lombardy is the region of Italy where we spent our time.
And this is one reason why we’ve avoid Italy for so long.🤣 SO many crowds. Even in November. Thankfully, it seemed most of these were locals who mostly disappeared after the weekend passed.
We don’t know the significance of this statue on a pole overlooking the arena but found it very interesting.
Verona, like Milan is no stranger to high fashion. A sampling of the window displays we saw… Most were as expected, but its a bit horrifying to see what happens when you crossbreed Gucci and Adidas 🫣
In other things we can look at but never touch, we discovered an event for the 2023 McClaren Milano. You can get this bad banana starting at $301,500. If that’s too cheap for your tastes, Italy also offers the Pagani Zonda Barchetta, currently the most expensive car in the world at 17.5 million. The owner of this platform also evidently drives a Pagani, but a different model which is a mere $3 million.
We instead chose to splurge 3.50€ on this gelato and its cafe sit down fee (wait…what?!) Yes, word of warning, they may charge you to sit in Italy. Ah, now we know how the Italians stay so thin!! 🤨
Ahh, some cozy, quiet alleys as we headed back to our place.
Stopping to grab a bottle of wine for our hosts; we did a brief happy dance to see they were similarly priced to France and Portugal. Yes, starting at 1.89€ but on average around 3. And yes, it’s good. At least the 3€ one was.
And to go along with that wine, 24/7 pharmacies with a wide selection of your birth control, or lady pleasure needs. Ha. Can you imagine one of these in Egypt?! 🤣 (For curious minds, the vibrator was 28€)
The stunning view walking home.
When we got home, Anya and Tommaso provided us with beers and the world’s fluffiest pizza. Greg downed more than his usual dose of gluten enzyme pills for this one
On the other night, we made them a dinner of Shushuka. We had a fantastic time getting to know them and our conversation was animated and interesting. Tommaso is a philosophy professor, local to Verona, and his girlfriend, Anya, is a Russian Bioinformatics student.
Believe it or not, this was the first time we’ve done Couchsurfing as a couple although we dabbled with it independently before we met. (This was before it was a fancy app, of course!) Couchsurfing isn’t totally free like it used to be, but since COVID, it’s now a reasonable $1.99/month to use the platform, which of course is well worth it for the local experience and free accommodation!
For the record, Couchsurfing also doesn’t always mean sleeping on a couch. We had our own private and quiet room, which included a horrendous view. 😏
Exploring the Beauty of Verona
Free Walking Tour with Guru Walks
As with any city, we love taking free walking tours (unless there is a freer-free tour available-aka Rick Steves). So, Verona was no exception. We often sign up for these tours through the app GuruWalk, and a tip is expected! Along with about 20 other people, we start in the main piazza at the statue of Berto Barbarani, one of the greatest Italian poets of the 20th century. He may be ogling the lady in red for inspiration.
There were a lot of these medieval statues on pillars. We’d never see anything like them.
Construction began on the Lamberti Tower in 1172 and it still remains the tallest landmark in Verona. Unlike most Euro towers, there is an elevator to the top which offers 360 degree views. We learned there are two bells inside, the Rengo and the Marangona, marked the public life of the city. Rengo marked the meetings of the City Council and called the citizens to arms in case of attacks. The other, Marangona, marked the beginning and the end of the working day for the artisans. Legend has it that a noblewoman, having killed her rival in love, was condemned by her confessor to pay for the fusion of the bell that, with its tolling, reminded her every day of her crime. (Veronissima.com)
The house of Montague. While the tragedy of course if fictional, the two families (Montague and Capulet) really existed, and they were two affluent families in 15th Century Verona.
What a wholesome boy he was!
The Della Scala family ruled Verona from the 13th century to the 14th century, and they brought the city to a period of wealth. They built many sumptuous monuments in the town, that you can recognize by the ladder emblem, symbol of the family. Here is some of their tombs.
The church of St. Anastasia is a fine example of Italian Gothic architecture, which we quickly leaned…is kind of all over the place and seemingly reminiscent of an art gallery. Normally you have to pay to go in, but our guide timed it perfectly with mass ending so we were able to visit for free (she earned her tip!)
There are two peculiar sculptures at the entrance who serve as interesting holy water stoups. Our guide indicated their tattered clothes represent the common man of the time when it was built, but an article online said they were there because hunchbacks represent good luck. Either way, these dudes look miserable.
Another view of the nave.
A teeny tiny Mary and teeny tiny Jesus on a golden throne. She’s tell him he’ll grow into it one day. By the way, is it just us, or is porcelain Baby Jesus is a little creepy?
The floor dates from 1444 and is made up of 3 colours.
The outside of the church was never finished! The wealthy patron who paid for the church is buried in the sarcophagus at top left. So the architect gave him a front row seat.
As we soaked in the scenes of Christmas being set up, our guide pointed out you might also notice that some structures in Verona are topped with dove tail shaped castle walls and others are squares. Throughout history, this indicated whether an establishment was for or against the sovereign rule of the pope.
This little man hole was once a snitches’ dream. If you saw your neighbor doing something unsightly or even criminal, you could slide a note into a secret complaint box.
Italian architecture is so random. You truly never know what to expect.
A whale bone has mysteriously been hanging under the Arco della Costa since the 1700’s, and no one knows how it got there. Legend says it will fall when a true honest man walks underneath. Guess humanity is officially screwed. 🤣
Speaking of, nearby you could find leftover shackles chained to the city square.
The Piazza delle Erbe. Erbe conveniently means herb. We didn’t see any though
The Statua Civilta Itálica represents the freedom will of the citizen. It was erected after WW I.
After our walking tour, the rest of our time in Verona was mostly occupied traipsing the quixotic streets, which were much more inviting and vacant after the weekend, indulging on treats and deciding whether or not we needed to touch Juliet’s supple breast. According to legend, if you do this, you’ll be “lucky in love.” (There is unfortunately no Romeo statue for the same purpose.) Although Mandy gave full authorization for Greg to cop a feel, Greg said he was already lucky in love, and therefore, it wouldn’t be necessary. Also, Juliet is offering “luck in love?” Really?!
Sprinkled with a layer of dreamy tourist fairy dust (developed by a marketing genius) one finds the busiest balcony in Verona. Ah yes, the fantasy perch on which dear Juliet received Romeo’s proclamation of love. Of course, Juliet was not a real person, and the house is unrelated to the story, but this doesn’t stop starry-eyed people gravitating here from far and wide.
The gothic house WAS once inhabited by the Cappello family—a name similar to the Italian version’s Capelletti—Capulet—and dates back to the 13th century, though the famous balcony wasn’t added until 1936. (Culture Trip) Also, two Veronese families, the Montecchi and the Cappelletti, did have a long-standing feud like the Montagues and Capulets in the play. It is free to see the balcony, but if you need to stand on it for some Instagram gold, that’ll cost 6€.
Don’t worry. We’ve black-boxed the face of this perpetrator. Seriously, dude. She’s 13.
If you’re not interested in the souvenir store which looks like someone upchucked Valentine’s Day, you might wanna check out the manly Romeo sports jerseys for sale in the main square. Or, aprons…naturally for the Juliet’s. 🤨
We chose to spend our money on this loot instead. A small sampling of pastries from Patisseria Scapini, including Mandy’s requested cannoli, for 6€. You may notice a theme with our splurge purchases 🤣
Walking it off…winter pictures are so much more challenging than summer ones because of the light!
Mmmm….handmade pasta.
Is it us, or does she have a defeated Statue of Liberty vibe? Maybe she’s today’s version…
Just delightful!
Now we understand why everyone’s carrying their coffee cups…
The entrance to Castelvecchio.
Mandy positions herself on the castle wall. As mentioned, the dove tail markings of the castle walls state that this establishment was not in favor of sovereign rule of the pope. Can you imagine if we marked our houses with such obvious political statements? Oh…wait…
What a fantastic foot bridge.
Classic Italian architecture. Random yet cohesive at the same time. So interesting…
We weren’t sure who this grumpy-looking guy in the park was, until we read Cesar Lombroso on the plaque. Evidently, he represents the “father of modern criminology.” Well, no wonder he’s grumpy…
Slurping down our first Italian Campari Spritz, for what should have been 4€ at Pizzeria Bar Delle Nazioni where we went for lunch. At this time we didn’t know the difference between a Campari and Aperol Spritz. This one is bitter and bubbly, mixing Campari, a popular aperitif, with sparkling wine and soda water.
Pasta…finally. It was a delicious meal which we had calculated to be about 18€. However, when we got to the register we were very perplexed to see 27€. Turns out, we got charged for gratuity (on) 2 camparis (not ok) and 3€ for 3 slices of bread, which evidently gets charged per PERSON and not per table (really not ok.) While we’ve been in many countries where there is a charge for things like bread, we’ve never been charged per person. Absurd. In short, watch your bills closely in the land of Italia. It seemed to be a running theme so far…
After two nights of Couchsurfing, we needed to curl into our introvertness, so we got a room for the final night in Verona at the B&B Vicolo. It had no frills and included a separate bathroom for $55. Ouch. We were grateful our next two nights in Bergamo would be free again!
