up bright and early, we hitched a ride from the depot with vicki (one of the guides) to the north! she was off to do some work for an upcoming trip and we were just lucky she was ok with putting up with us for a 3 hour car ride :) it was a really pretty ride...lots of mountains. and the ever informational vicki had lots of historical stories to tell us as we passed through certain areas.
when we got into verona, vicki went off to do her own thing (work beckoned) so chris and i set off exploring - what we like to do best! it seems like the norm in europe is to have extremely beautiful architecture and display all the ruins...they don't hide their history, they show it off proudly. we love it!
it was a long day of wandering around but we saw some great things (as you'll see below). and when we met up with vicki, we ended up going to a coastal town called Bardolino (which we went back to the next day) for dinner (very pretty!). we stayed in the cutest hotel outside verona and slept VERY well that night. our heads hit the pillows and that was that...we needed our rest for the next busy day!
when we got into verona, vicki went off to do her own thing (work beckoned) so chris and i set off exploring - what we like to do best! it seems like the norm in europe is to have extremely beautiful architecture and display all the ruins...they don't hide their history, they show it off proudly. we love it!
it was a long day of wandering around but we saw some great things (as you'll see below). and when we met up with vicki, we ended up going to a coastal town called Bardolino (which we went back to the next day) for dinner (very pretty!). we stayed in the cutest hotel outside verona and slept VERY well that night. our heads hit the pillows and that was that...we needed our rest for the next busy day!
some of the old walls of Verona
the arena - an ancient roman coliseum where the opera shows
thirsty boy
olive trees in the middle of the cafes
hanging out in the piazza
one of the main piazzas in verona...so many beautiful statues, especially the ones on top of the buildings. angels to guard everything
i make him do all these touristy shots! hhahaha, poor guy! that's what he gets for letting me take most of the pictures
the market
we had lunch and watched half of the italian soccer game in the restaurant in the background..in the foreground, ancient roman roads they dug up as they made the moderns roadways
more beautiful churches
how could anyone NOT want to live here?
i didn't have a pen to write juliet a letter but it was pretty cool to see what everyone had left for her
there it is! THE BALCONY!
people write their names on these locks and put them everywhere. we didn't, but i did find one with my name on it...see it? the gold one!
Giulietta. it goes to say that if you rub her right breast, it will bring you luck to find a new lover. i asked chris if he was going to do it, he said "should i upgrade?" and this guy beside him looked over shocked and said "wow, you're sleeping on the couch tonight"! HHAHAHAH
more beauty
this is how people watch soccer games...you could hear them from everyone in the piazza
love in verona!
we walked around the park...even found some goats!
and we found these old ruins
chris even found a rock for his collection
DAVE - they gave us POPCORN!!! like bar code!
chris enjoys his wine...especially when it's pink and was supposed to be red :)