Verona Photos - Part 2

I love being able to see the Alps off on the horizon.  :)

Verona is a few hours east of Milan by train, tickets are about €10 each way... perfect for a day trip if you're willing to get up early and get home late!  There is a group of exchange students who I have grown to love,  we have so much fun traveling together and goofing around.  We were very lucky to have a perfect sunny day in Verona, and yes, I really did take 300 pictures.  =)

A photo overload awaits you, just click below to begin your tour of fair Verona ....





I was particularly excited to see Verona, because I am ever so slightly obsessed with Shakespeare, particularly Romeo & Juliet. This might be my very favorite bit of Romeo and Juliet, from the prologue.
    

    Two households, both alike in dignity,
    In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
    From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
    Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
    From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
    A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
    Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
    Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.
    The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
    And the continuance of their parents' rage,
    Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
    Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
    The which if you with patient ears attend,
    What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

It's just so juicy and foreboding!

Okay.  Back to the photos...

When we got to the train station, we were still sleepy from the trip.  We crossed a bridge, still not really knowing what to expect from Verona, and we came upon a park that had this statue.  I suggested that hypothetically, it would be amusing to re-enact the statue pose and take a photo... probably too silly for sleep deprived people at 9am... but no!  They agreed, insisted in fact!  So we tracked down a kindly French lady who was walking her dog, and she took this photo for us.  Not a bad start to the day.  :)

Walking from the statue, we encountered this cute little park.

It was in the middle of a square, and there was an adorable

old couple, sitting on a bench just watching the world go by. 

A slightly further walk, and we came upon the city center.

Towns like this remind me of how young the United States is.  

Verona has so much history... just look at those arches!

I love the way that old buildings look. 

I especially love all of the yellow paint that is typical
of Italian buildings, it's just so cheerful.  :)

And I love the looping arches of stone that are in all of the streets.

We walked past a book store that reminded me of Ollivander's Wand Shop from Harry Potter...

( wand shop .... aren't they simular? )

 

I just love the colors of buildings in Italy.

All of the streets have so much character.

We decided to stop for a late breakfast/early lunch snack.  :)

Yum.

This is Pichamon.... she was patiently waiting for her delicious Italian snack.  Yum.

I took this video of the area outside the castle in Verona; it was so sunny and beautiful and we were all munching our delicious sandwiches, I couldn't decide what to take a photo of! The panorama was just so beautiful, I didn't want to miss anything.. so this is the resulting video from my attempt to capture everything.  :)  It's a little strange and hurried, but it's better than the photos would have been, I promise!

The street outside the castle.

The castle wall, view from inside. :)

 

More castle.  (Can you imagine if this was your home??)

 

 

There was a bridge connecting the castle to the other side 

of the city,  it had the most beautiful view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Alps.   :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pichamon, Me, Casey, & Larissa.  :)

 

 

 

View of the city center.  Such a pretty day!

 

There were a few Roman Soldier actors roaming around,

looking for tourist photo opps.

 

We decided to grab a quick gelato snack, 

and enjoy the sun outside the Roman Arena.

 

 

The gelato in Italy makes American ice cream taste like saw dust. So delicious!

Enjoying copious amounts of gelato.

 

Trying to figure out where to go next.

 

Antonio and Casey.

 

 

SCIENTOLOGISTS.   D:

 

This was pretty cool.  

There is a "balcony of Juliet," which is just a balcony 

and has nothing to do with Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

but there is a bronze statue of Juliet, 

and people leave wishes and love notes

in the hallway outside of her balcony,

hoping to find their true loves.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

It is supposed to be good luck to touch her right breast, 

the bronze on that side is shiny compared to the rest of the statue, from everyone touching it.

This is a pretty weird tradition, I admit... but when in Rome..

 

 

This is hello kitty, re-enacting Juliet's balcony scene.

It's just a giant pink hello kitty on a balcony in Verona.

 

 

More snack breaks.  :)

 

 

Another video..... it didn't turn out like I had hoped, but you do get a feel for the courtyard in central Verona..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to climb a giant hill on the edge of town, 

it was a long hike, but the view was amazing....

 

 

 

 

We had to stop and rest half way!

 

But the view was worth it... so amazing!

 

 

 

What a beautiful part of the world... I feel so lucky to be studying here.

 

 

The end!

I saved some photos from the Roman Arena, because I took a bunch there and it would have been too much to post at once... so I will post those shortly.  :)  Hope you're all having a wonderful Easter weekend!

XOXO,

Beth