Travel: VERONA, ITALY

 

*check out my previous travel blogs here!*

 

“Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.”

 

If a city is worthy of inspiring one of the greatest love stories of all time, it’s probably somewhere I ought to visit. I arrived at Verona Porta Nuova station one sunny afternoon and headed straight for my hotel – Hotel Sanmicheli. Now, a hotel wouldn’t usually be my first choice for a budget trip, but this was a holiday weekend, and I was pretty sure Sanmicheli had the only available room left in the city, so needs must. My room was fairly tiny, but I didn’t plan on being there for long anyway.

 

First stop – food. I’d passed an unassuming pasta bar en route to my hotel which I thought was worth a try, and boy, was I right! Amido had a simple menu – choose from a few types of pasta, pick your sauce, and any toppings you might like. I opted for a pasta that I hadn’t heard of before – bigoli, and topped it with Norma sauce (tomato and aubergine) and Grana Padano cheese. I kid you not when I say it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. 10/10 in my books, and perfect to fill me up for the day’s activities.

 

I made my way to the incredibly busy centre of town to search for inspiration at the Tourist Office. Thanks to the free wifi there, within minutes, I’d booked myself a ticket to the Arena – the Roman Amphitheatre slap bang in the middle of the city. Scooting past the queue waiting to buy tickets, I waltzed right in. Due to renovations, much of the Arena was closed off, but you could still walk around inside, read the informational posters, and then head out into the arena itself.

 

If you’ve got enough stamina, you can walk up and down the stands as much as you want to see the vistas across the city and see what its citizens are up to. It was time for me to join them shortly after, and I set off into the fray, along the river towards the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore. The church was closed at the time I visited, but that didn’t stop me from admiring the architecture from the outside.

 

I wandered back through the city streets at my leisure, into the busy Piazza delle Erbe and then down a side street where I came across a long queue. It turned out to be leading towards my destination: Casa di Giulietta, aka Juliet’s House, said to have inspired the famous balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

 

I was once again pleased to have booked in advance as it meant I was able to skip the inordinately long queue. I found myself in a courtyard full of people and a large bronze statue of Juliet herself, with a certain body part tarnished a burning gold from being rubbed for luck.

 

Inside the house, I expected… more. You walk up some nondescript stairs, and join another queue to get your picture taken on the famous balcony. Would you be able to tell that this is an important balcony from the photos? Absolutely not. Continue up another set of stairs to be greeted by four props from one of the older movie adaptations of the play, and that’s pretty much all there is in the whole house. Was it worth 8Euro to stand on a balcony? Absolutely not. Save your money and spend it on Amido pasta instead.

 

As the night was drawing to a close, I walked back along the river, admiring the reflections of the lights on the water, and decided there was only one thing that it made sense to do on a chilly night like that. Get hot chocolate. And when I say hot chocolate, I don’t mean Nesquik and hot milk, I mean practically melted chocolate in a cup. La Bottega definitely delivered with its liquid chocolate that you could have with a variety of different toppings – strawberry was a good choice.

 

The next day started with a complimentary breakfast in the hotel – breads and pastries, yogurts and spreads, and a selection of hot drinks. Then it was time to explore. I passed by a few pretty churches before heading up to Castle San Pietro. I wasn’t there to visit the castle, but to admire the view, and what a view it was. The clear blue river flanked by red-roofed buildings, bridges spanning the water and the occasional church spire rising above. The water shallowed as it approached the bridges, giving the impression of waves. One of the best views I’ve seen in a while.

 

From there, I walked across to the Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes, a large yellow painted church high on the hill, again offering great views of Verona. I was just in time for a church service to start, and how nice it was to hear the Italian hymns ringing out of the church doors as I admired the vista.

 

I followed a sketchy looking path labelled ‘Verona’ on the way back, but it did take me back to the city, and via the imposing Forte Sofia no less. From here, I could see back up to the Santuario and across to the Castle, and found myself impressed by just how far I’d walked in a few hours!

 

My walking wasn’t quite over yet, as I had to navigate my way back across Verona to the train station. I thought ‘why not take the scenic route?’ and wove my way towards Castelvecchio, taking careful steps to walk across the high path on the bridge, again offering lovely views of the city. I haven’t visited all too many Italian cities (yet) but Verona will go down as one of the most beautiful in my book.

 

Tips for visiting Verona:

-        Save your money on Casa di Giulietta and go to Amido instead – definitely more worth it!  

-        Make sure at least part of your itinerary involves a viewpoint (I recommend Castel San Pietro) – Verona has a really beautiful skyline that’s well worth appreciating from higher up

I hope you enjoyed today's travel blog! Keep up to date with all my travel adventures on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and let me know where you're off to next! Thanks so much for reading :)

 

 

Best of Music: November 2021

 *check out my last music round-up here!*

I'll never quite forgive Spotify for making October 31st the cut-off for Spotify Wrapped (the ranking of your most listened to songs throughout the year) because anything I listen to afterwards isn't even considered, meaning all of the great music I've found this month won't make the list. Nonetheless, it certainly makes my monthly list, and November certainly delivered on great new music. You can check out my full Nov 21 playlist here, and read on for the best of the best - enjoy! 

Message In A Bottle - Taylor Swift

The biggest musical event of the year is obviously when Ms Music Industry herself, Taylor Swift, releases an album. I've been a fan since the Fearless days, so without a doubt the thing that gets me most excited about her re-records (aside from the fact that she now gets to own her own music) are the Vault tracks. Mr Perfectly Fine absolutely delivered as a Fearless Vault track, so I had high hopes for the Red Vault, particularly as this album was really Taylor's last country album before she veered off into pop. I knew we'd be getting Better Man and Babe (the originals of which are definitely worth checking out too), but there was one track which stood out to me above all others - Message In A Bottle. Picture an early 2000s rom-com makeover scene, and you've got the perfect soundtrack song for it. It's teen pop turned up to eleven, with the cutest lyrics to boot: "You could be the one that I love, I could be the one that you dream of. Message in a bottle is all I can do, standin' here, hopin' it gets to you. You could be the one that I keep, and I can be the reason you can't sleep at night." I want that kind of love.
Taylor-Swift-Red-.jpeg (1440×1440) (gingergeneration.it)

24 - Johnny Dailey 

"Why do you like country music, Ciara?" It has been, and always will be, because of the lyrics. I'm all for good melodies and talented vocals, but you give me some words that make me think and feel something, and I'm sold. Upon first listening to this track whilst multi-tasking, it was the melody and vocals that drew me in, but it was those subsequent listens that I thought 'there's more to this'. Country newcomer Johnny sings: "Time is borrowed so if tomorrow heaven came knocking on my door, I’d pull you closer, hold you tighter, kiss you slower, while the world’s on fire. No time wasting, just me making good on forever till my final hour... If I only had one more, I’d give you my last twenty-four." It's not a song that reveals itself to you immediately, but I like that. An artist to watch for sure.
Warner Chappell Music Nashville Signs Johnny Dailey - MusicRow.com

Madness - Maddie & Tae

It's not every day I stop in my tracks when listening to a song, but it happened with this one. As with many songs that come my way, Madness shuffled its way onto one of my recommended Spotify playlists that I listen to when working, and it blew me away. I hadn't even finished listening to the song before I Tweeted about it to say I'd fallen in love. Maddie & Tae are special with whatever songs they write, but this one is next level. Both married, the duo wrote this song about their husbands, and you can feel the love throughout - it starts: "You're my north star, you're my hideaway, you're my lighthouse shinin' in a hurricane. You're my best friend, you're my favorite thing, changed my mind, change my heart, change my last name." This is a song about loving someone no matter what: "Come what may, babe, hell or high, if those stars fall from that sky, let it all come crashin', I'll be runnin' to you the fastest. If these streets go up in flames, if everybody goes insane, I'll reach for you, you'll keep me safe, cause baby, whatever happens, if the world goes mad, if it all goes bad... I'll love you through the madness." It's a strange world we're living in, but this is a song that'll really let your partner know you love them.

Maddie & Tae Dedicate Emotional ‘Madness’ To Their Husbands (tasteofcountry.com)

Teddy Robb - Cigarettes'll Kill Ya 

You know how there are things that remind you of people from your past? Mine are songs and places, and for Teddy Robb, it's the smell of cigarette smoke. Not a smell that would get me thinking about love, but I can relate to the nostalgia that certain things can trigger. This song, sung in Teddy's signature dulcet tones, tells the story of a guy in a bar (where all good stories start, really) being reminded of a past love by a woman smoking across from him. She doesn't know the memories she's stirring and how much they hurt him: "That second-hand smoke from the red and black cloves. Same ones we used to burn when we get a little loaded up on Friday, buzzing the night away. Damn you were one in a million, now I'm sitting right here in a missing you haze. Hurts a little more with every drag she's taking, baby, I'm dying just to be with you, yeah, cigarettes'll kill ya." A phrase that’s true for more reason than one.

TEDDY ROBB DISCLAIMER: “CIGARETTES’LL KILL YA” - Monument Records (monument-records.com)

Neon Cowgirl – Raelynn

There’s not a part of me that understands why Raelynn isn’t up there with Kelsea, Carly, and Gabby. Her music has grown so much within the past few years, and I really think there’s something refreshing about her no-nonsense attitude to the topics she sings about, whether that be meeting the one, getting drunk, or knowing your worth. Neon Cowgirl falls into the last category, about a girl sitting at a bar ‘waitin’ on a cowboy to rope her heart’ when in reality, no-one who walks through that door will be anywhere near good enough for you. Raelynn tells us: “Girl, you need to saddle your horse up and get the hell outta here, all of them Wranglers and whiskey and smoke is all smoke and mirrors. You're shinin' like a diamond in your denim and pearls, but don't you go losin' your light in the neon, cowgirl.” I love the imagery of denim and pearls, the positive message behind the lyrics, the Wild West backing track, and Raelynn’s totally underrated vocals. Like last month’s favourite Get That All The Time, she has a way of making any song fun and extremely listenable.

Spotify – Neon Cowgirl - song by RaeLynn

Follow Your Heart - Logan Mize 

Someone else who definitely needs to break into the big time is Logan Mize. I first saw him perform at Nashville Meets London in 2016 (read my review of his set, and my interview with Logan here), and the fact that he still hasn’t yet had a big hit is a crime. Follow Your Heart is a song about wanting someone to do just that – go out and follow their dreams, and hey, if that path leads them back to you, that’d be okay too. “Follow the highway signs, follow the long line of memories. Follow that little voice inside that’s telling you right where you oughta be. Follow your heart, follow your heart right back to me.” It’s simple and noto verdone, allowing Logan to project on the lyrics and make it sound effortless. We all know the famous saying that if you love something, let it go, and if it was meant to be, they’ll come back to you – this is a song that I have no doubt will come back to me again and again.  

Follow Your Heart - Logan Mize - Testo | Testi e Traduzioni

If I Was A Cowboy - Miranda Lambert

I can’t believe there was ever a time when I didn’t love Miranda Lambert. I will go to my grave claiming that The Weight Of These Wings is one of the best country albums to date, Bluebird was the song that got me through four months of manual labour on an Australian farm, and Track Record is the backing track for my official radio promo (every Friday, 5-8pm UK on www.ukcountryradio.com!). I think I can probably call myself a pretty big RanFan, and it’s songs like If I Was A Cowboy that make that incredibly easy to understand. It’s not a song that any artist could make their own, but Miranda has that authenticity that truly make you believe that she lives by each and every lyric in this song. They’re clever too: “If I was a cowboy, I’d be wild and free, rollin’ around these towns like tumbleweeds. I’d be a legend at loving and leaving, nipping on a whiskey and numbing up my feelings. You thought the West was wild, but you ain’t saddled up with me, if I was a cowboy, I’d be the queen.” It’s powerful and nostalgic and real, and I can only hope that she’ll never stop making music just like this.

If I Was a Cowboy - Miranda Lambert - Testo | Testi e Traduzioni

Changed Everything - Austin Burke 

Versatility is in Austin Burke’s nature. He can go from sweet duets like Far Boy with Leah Marie Mason, to euphemistic parodies like Wet Dream, to want-you-back songs like Changed Everything. Here’s a man who can appreciate when he needs to make an effort: “Baby, I changed for the better, got my s--- together like you always wanted me to. I’m a little less screw up, a little more grew up since I messed it up with you. I can’t take back your last goodbye and the good Lord knows I’ve tried, cause baby, I’ve changed everything but your mind.” It’s a sad song that doesn’t feel sad, and one that allows you to appreciate what a great songwriter and singer Austin is. I can definitely see him as being one of the artists to come up alongside the likes of Parker McCollum, Roman Alexander, and Matt Stell – he certainly has the voice and talent for it.

Austin Burke – Changed Everything Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

I hope you enjoyed reading my November favourites – you can check out all of my favourite songs throughout the year right here: Ciara's Country Spotify, and I’d love to know what songs you’ve been loving recently! Drop me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and make sure to join me every Friday GMT 5-8pm on www.ukcountryradio.com for three hours of great country music just like this. Thanks so much for reading!

Travel: DURBUY, BELGIUM - the smallest city in the world! (Eurotrip)

*check out my last Eurotrip adventure to Luxembourg here!* 

 

Belgium was the last destination on our Euro roadtrip, and the fifth country we visited during this trip – not bad for a short trip around the continent! We considered stopping in some of the larger towns like Liege or Brussels, but decided to do the complete opposite and visit the smallest city in the world – Durbuy.

 

We parked up on the far end of the town, and then walked about thirty seconds to reach the centre. The smallest city in the world does indeed have a tourist office, which meant we could pick up a map for a walking tour that would apparently take us around an hour – not bad for such a tiny town!

 

I’d say whoever’s in charge of tourism in Durbuy certainly took their liberties with this tour, as it did take us quite an abstract route, but it was a good way to pass the day nonetheless. We started down by a large koi pond flanked by a huge limestone anticlinal, which looked very cool with its alternating layers.

Our tour led us through the winding, narrow streets, past old convents, a topiary garden, along the river, and by many quaint shops that I’m sure take full advantage of the numerous tourists who arrive in the summer. One of the highlights was the castle, right at the edge of the small city that looked like it had been plucked straight from an Addams Family movie.  

Being a tourist town, there were a few options for places for coffee, but we opted for La Vieille Demeure due to its setting in a large cross-hatched townhouse. The reviews had warned us that the staff weren’t necessarily the friendliest towards guests (why choose a job in the service industry then?), but it was a nice enough place to stay and watch the world go by in this busy little town.

I’d say Durbuy is a bit more of a gimmick than somewhere to stay – a place that is worth the trip if it’s on your way (as it was ours), but probably not if you’re looking for something more. If you like historical towns, walks along the river, and small but imposing castles; or if you’re pressed for time, then this is the place for you. And hey, how many times can you truly say that you’ve been to and seen every part of a city? 

 

Thank you so much for joining me on my Eurotrip adventures! You can read all previous instalments (Heidelberg, Lake Constance, Liechtenstein, Strasbourg, & Luxembourg) already up on the blog, and I will have even more exciting travel blogs to post very soon! Stay tuned on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and let me know where your favourite places in Europe are. Thanks so much for reading!