*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 :)
No comments:
Post a Comment