Verona - Where Copping a Feel from Juliet brings Luck ;)

Gardens

The train ride to Verona was only about an hour. We stayed in the nicest Bed and Breakfast right next to the entrance to Old Town. That afternoon we walked all around the Old Town of Verona. Our first stop was Giardino Giusti which was a beautiful garden dating back to the Roman Empire. It was so green and lush with fountains and hedge mazes. It is situated on a hill so at the top we had amazing views over the city. We completed the hedge maze. I got to the center first. Well, first without cheating. Elizabeth and Katie decided to create a few doors of their own. Once in the center, Elizabeth announced that she felt like Cedric Diggory from the fourth Harry Potter book. This led to a Harry Potter inspired photo shoot in the center of the hedge maze. We're pretty cool like that :)

After the gardens we visited some famous dead Italian's tombs and then Juliet's House from Romeo and Juliet. The arched entrance to the courtyard of Juliet's is covered in love messages. It was really cool and sweet to see. There was the balcony from the famous scene and a golden statue of Juliet. The legend is that touching Juliet's right boob will bring good luck in love. It's really funny because Juliet's right boob is really worn down while here left is perky and new. Of course we all wanted luck in love so I admit to copping a feel...or two. You can never have too much luck when it comes to love! We then saw the Lamberti Tower and some more old churches. That night we ate dinner at a great pizza place. It was tasty. Later we found this cool nautical bar where we stopped for some girly cocktails.

 

Graffiti at Juliet's



Here's to Luck!



We were spoiled at breakfast the next morning. The owner made us fresh cappuccinos. There was a variety of pastries and cereal and eggs and meats and cheeses and fresh fruit. It was delicious. Our train back to Vienna was a night train leaving at 10:50 and getting into Vienna the next morning at 8 am. The owner was really nice and allowed us to leave our bags until we left for our train. Unfortunately it was raining, but we didn't let that stop us. We were prepared with umbrellas. We set out that morning to the Castelvecchio Museum. This is an old castle and bridge from the Romans. It was all red brick; very different from the stone castles back in Austria. Next we saw the Roman Amphitheatre. Though not nearly as big as the one in Rome, it was still very impressive. We got quite the workout hiking up and down the seats. We also saw the Roman Theatre Ruins. There is something very beautiful about crumbling walls covered in moss. Right next to the Roman Amphitheatre is the Palazzo Della Gran Guardia. This is a palace that use to house the King of Verona. A very grand building. A little walk away was the Palazzo Della Ragione which is a grand plaza. Market vendors are set all around and we decided it was the perfect time for a little snack. Everyone needs an afternoon cannoli break of course.

Castelvicchio

Roman Amphitheatre

The rain got worse as the day wore on. Since we had seen all of the main sights that we wanted to see, we thought the best way to stay out of the rain was by doing some shopping. One street in Verona was just designer store after store. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel. Way out of my price range but fun to look never the less. After our fantasy shopping, we found some outlets and little boutiques more our style. It found the cutest and warmest pair of boots. They're really fuzzy inside. They make my toes really happy :) We had a late relaxing dinner and then swung by our B&B for our bags.

The Italian Lumberjack

This was my second time on an overnight train, my first time being in China five years ago. We had quite the adventure on the train. It was us three girls in a sleeping car with an older Slovakian man. This guy was interesting to say the least. He had way too short and too tight boxer shorts on with a way too tight and too short T-shirt. He also blasted this Turkish horn music so loud that we could all sing along. Also, he snored soooooo loud! Even with our Ipods on full volume we could still hear him. The snores went on all night, so we got sporadic sleep. We all stayed in a good mood though because we bonded over our misery and laughed it off. His stop was a few before ours in lower Austria so we had about the last hour of the trip to ourselves. We took full advantage of it too. We had bought a bottle of champagne in Verona before we left in order to toast our last morning together with mimosas. So we popped the bottle and celebrated an excellent trip to Italy. Unfortunately I have to go back to class this afternoon, but next weekend I'll be in Amsterdam and Paris with my best friends from DU, so I guess I can handle a few classes until then.