Paige and I left Padova Sunday morning (late, which was sooooo nice, check out at the hotel was not until Noon so we slept in for I think the first time since getting to Europe!). Took an Italian taxi to the train station (what an experience!) and settled onto the train to Verona. We got to town, called our friend Laura and linked up with her at her parent’s house. It was a nice visit with the Grant family and Berto and Lisa (Laura’s parents who we have met numerous times when they visit the Grant’s at their home in Columbus, Georgia). Laura and her sister drove us to our hotel (very near by) and Paige and I checked in and turned right around and hit the pavement!
We headed to the city center, and here they really mean city center as the old city is still ringed by a Roman (mostly intact) wall! We went to Castlevecchio which was amazing. It was incredible to tour the castle and see how the inside was set up and still see the actual paint and relief work on the walls and archways. Paige filled the memory card on the camera with this outing!
Once we were done, on the way out, we ended up behind an Italian wedding party that was taking pictures there, very cool to witness. The entire street congratulated them and people began singing to the couple! Needless to say, Paige LOVED the bride’s dress.
We headed down the main shopping street and ended up in the middle of a regional food festival that had about 100 vendors from around Italy with everything from meats, cheeses, pastries, gelatos, candies, snacks, and specialty dishes. Each one of them wanted to give samples and it was wonderful! We succumbed to the Sicilian olive vendors (the green olives seemed like they had just been picked!), fresh strawberries (again, Paige swore they are the best she’s ever eaten) and some kind of Sicilian fried rice ball with meat and cheese inside.
Monday morning stared with an awesome breakfast at the hotel (boy they know how to treat foreigners here!) and then walked to the Arena to meet up with Laura and the kids. We toured the Arena (amazing, the cages they kept the lions in are still intact) and then went to the famous home of Juliet (tucked in between two shops in the old city center and complete with balcony) and then on to the Capulet’s home also (not much to see there but with our awesome “local” tour guide, it was easy to find in Piazza Dante.
We saw some gorgeous famous churches and were most impressed by the lovely small, very old church that the Grant’s were married in. We then headed back to Laura’s parents for lunch and needless to say Paige and I will be skipping dinner tonight. We ate so much I am amazed we made it home! Lunch was penne with homemade sauce courtesy of Laura’s dad, cold meats, cheeses, fruit, salad, bread and lots of wonderful socializing. It was probably the best part of Verona!
We finally headed back to the hotel via the shopping district, the Arena and the castle to get one last look before we head out tomorrow morning for Milan. See you from the big city!
Castlevecchio in Verona
Paige on the ramparts of the castle, we walked the whole way around
Paige and I at the garden at the top of the castle
The view of Verona from the castle keep
Juliet's balcony
An awesome day!
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