Verona (Italy)

Walking around Verona in early June, there was a smell all over the city, not the smell of decaying rubbish as I experienced in my work trip to Naples, but the sweet smell of tree blossom, and Jasmine, even my hotel had Jasmine growing under the window!

I never really took to Shakespeare, at school I was more into war stories, and adventures, but Verona forever has the association with Romeo & Juliette, as you walk around the city, you will see plaques embedded in various walls with Shakespearean quotes.

*** Where is it? ***

Verona is in the Central Northern part of Italy
Built on a tight bend in the river Adige, it was easy to defend, as the water provided a natural barrier, also it was a natural crossing point. City walls were constructed to defend the rest of the city. The Romans had a major city here, complete with theatre & amphitheatre. The city goes back much further than the Romans though, and the oldest recorded settlement here was in the 2nd Centenary BC.
The city now follows the Roman street plan, so it is very easy to find your way around.

In the 1800's the Austrians constructed defensive walls were further out from the city centre, these walls still exist, and you can in fact walk on them right the way around Verona (it will take the best part of a day to do it though) I did most of it, and there are some amazing gates (Porta) to see

==*** How do you get there? ***==

I flew to Verona direct from Gatwick with British Airways, there are many other airlines which land here. The taxi from the Airport to my hotel was 30 Euro
You could get the train to Verona, from many parts of Europe. The city centre is a 20 minute walk from the station. There are busses to and from many varied destinations that arrive at the main bus station (next to the railway station)

*** What is there to see? ***

The first thing that strikes you about Verona, is how beautiful the place is. The streets are paved in pink marble; the whole place just has this feel of serenity about it. I would say it is one of the nicest places I have ever been to, quite a strong sentiment, but if you visit, you will see what I mean.
Verona is more than a city, If is an art & culture tour. Verona is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the people who live here are proud of that.

*** Museums ***

There are lot of museums around the city centre. They are all 3 - 4 Euro to go into.

My pick of them was the Museo Archeologico situated at the Teatro Romano, there are some fantastic mosaics, and general debris from Roman Verona, in the grounds of this museum, there is a large area with fantastic views over the whole of Verona.

Castlevecchio
Is a great museum, (Museo Civico) containing a lot of religious artefacts, the best feature about this museum, is being able to go inside the 14th Centaury castle, a fantastic structure, which was severely damaged during WW2, and has subsequently been rebuilt. The castle itself is located on a bend in the river, guarding a fantastic bridge called Ponte Scarligero (pedestrian & cycle only)

The Centro Internazionale di Fotografia SCAVI SCALIGERI di Verona is underneath the Palazzo Della Ragione and shows excavations from various ages in the history of Verona. This museum also contains a photographic gallery, when I visited, the space was full of photos of the industrial heritage of the area, again 4 Euro to go in. It is actually a nice place to visit on a hot day, as it is quite cool underground. You can see foundations of Roman buildings & road, medieval towers and so on.

*** Romans ***

In Italy, you cannot escape the Roman influence. The city of Verona still follows the Roman street plan (near the amphitheatre, there is a brass map of Roman Verona embedded into the pavement) A lot of the buildings around the Piazza are built from the debris from the amphitheatre.

*** Music ***

Verona is famous for its music, every summer in the Arena ,Opera is staged, the Opera has been running here since 1913, when they ran the Opera Aida.
One evening, I was sitting at a table in Piazza Bra, and saw people queuing to go in. I hadn't seen anything advertised, so I went along and asked one the girls on the gate what was happening, she explained it was a Gala Event to celebrate the start of the season, I asked how you got a ticket, she promptly told me she had some that had been handed back, did I want one? Now Opera is not my thing, but to sit in a 2000 year old Roman amphitheatre listening to music was too good an opportunity to miss. I would say that the atmosphere was magical, thinking of the events that have gone on here over time. So if every you get the chance to see an event here do. The Gala Event I saw was a mix of Classical Music (Verdi) Opera, Ballet, and a couple of popular Italian singers.
I slipped up in the timing of my trip, as Santana is playing here the week after I leave!

*** Theatre. ***

On the other side of the Adige from the main part of town, there is the Roman Theatre (Teatro Romano) as well as a fantastic museum, they also use the venue for plays, mainly Shakespeare. When I visited, 2 German girls arrived at the theatre at the same time as me, one went to the front, and started singing, the acoustics were fantastic! Again if Shakespeare is your thing, come and see a play here. The museum itself has a lift to get to it, or like me you can take the stairs!

*** Romeo & Juliet ***

You can wander to Casa di Giulietta (Juliette's house) just off of Via Cappello. Here you can look up at the balcony the fictional Juliet stood at. For the standard 4 Euro, you can go around Juliette's house, and actually stand on the balcony. In the court yard is a Bronze statue of Juliette, it is said you will be lucky in love if you rub her right breast!
There is a shop in the courtyard, sell the usual tourist things, post cards, books etc.
Completely randomly, there were a couple of street performers in the courtyard dressed as Laurel & Hardy! Look at the walls on the entrance to the courtyard, where various people have scribed words of love for each other.

You can go to Case di Romeo (House of Romeo), which is in Via Arche Scaligere (about a 5 minute walk away) there is not much to see here.
If you are really enamoured with the story, a short walk will take you to Via del Pontiere, where you can go into the Museo Delgi Affreschi The museum of Frescos and Juliet's Tomb, there is a crypt, here lies a sarcophagus, which purports to be Juliette's tomb - the real story is that the local town officials started the story to bring in more tourists!

*** Shopping ***

Yes Ladies, you can shop here, the main shopping street Mezzini just off Piazza Bra contains many fantastic shops such as Gucci, Louis Vouiton and the like. Don't just use this street though, there are many great little shops tucked away in little side streets.

*** People ***

The people of Verona are really friendly, try a bit of Italian, if they notice you are struggling, they will speak English.
Sitting in any of the squares with a coffee watching the world go by is great! See the tourists mix with the locals,

*** Eating ***

Yes you can eat well in Verona, in fact you can eat well in most of Italy! The majority of restaurants are around the 2 main squares, Piazza Bra - this is more geared to tourists, so the prices are quite high, or Piazza Erbe, this again is very tourist orientated, and expensive.

Walk slightly off the beaten track, and you will be rewarded with some fantastic places to eat. San Matteo Church, just near Porta dei Borsari on Via Postumia, is one such venue, an old church, it dates from around 800 AD, it fell into disuse around the time of Napoleon, and was used as a hospital, eventually it became derelict, and in the late 1990s was converted to a fantastic restaurant, price wise for Verona it wasn't too bad - the pizza was great.

You will find lots of shops selling Ice Cream, some fantastic flavours, and generally around 2 Euro for 2 scoops.

The coffee shops are plentiful, you can just sit with a coffee and watch the world go by.

I can also recommend the local red wine - far too nice, and I probably drank far too much of it too!

*** Days Out ***

Verona has a very large railway station, situated just outside Porta Nouva. From here you can get trains to most parts of Italy. The train fares are very reasonable, for instance I took the train to Venice (130km away) and the fare was 20 Euro return.

I also took the train to Peschiera Del Garda - which is the next stop, this is a fantastic old town on the Southern end of Largo Del Garda (Lake Garda) from here you can get boats across the lake.
There is also a "theme park" here called Gardaland (free bus from the station) - never went there, so cannot say if it is good or not.

One point to watch, I was reading a guide book, and it says to get to Peschiera Del Garda take any train heading for Milan, yes that is true, however there are different classes of train in Italy, if you get the wrong one you may get a 10-20 Euro fine for not having the correct ticket for that train!

*** Weather ***

I was here in June 08, and it was hot. There were a couple of days of rain, mainly any rain fell at night so it wasn't a problem. I did notice that the river was quite high and fast flowing, the people I was working with did say that in May they had a lot of rain, and this was now filtering down form the hills.

*** Points to Note ***

The people of Verona are very proud of their beautiful city, as such you will see blue signs with pictures telling what you can and can't do, take note of these, as there may well be a fine heading your way , there are things such as dropping rubbish, defacing public buildings or monuments etc. I saw a Japanese tourist being given a swift talking to by a bicycle riding Policeman for eating burger near the amphitheatre!

*** Final thoughts ***

I travel a lot with my job, most places I go are in the worst cases pretty dangerous. Verona is one of the nicest places I've ever been to. It is safe to walk around (even in the middle of the night), there is hardly any traffic, it is clean and there is a lot to do.
I always judge a place I go to on how it looks in the rain, and I must say Verona is fantastic.

When you go there, remember to look up, there are so many frescos adorning building, there is so much fine architecture, look down you will miss it.

Would I go back?

Yes, yes, yes!

On my way home, the plane took off, and had to fly over the city, one of the more spectacular sights I have had in a plane.

Thanks for reading this, and enjoy your visit.

Larry