Today’s final destination is in Pacengo at Lake Garda, a 100 mile drive. We woke up to rain - heavy at times, but by the time we left, it thankfully had ended.
As the sun started to shine we drove through a lot of vineyards. Rows of citrus trees were nurtured and pruned to grow into the shape of their neighboring grapevines along the road. We assumed this was for ease of harvesting.
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| , Try as I might to capture how awesome these mile of trees look trained on the vines, I could not for the life of me get a decent picture.It was particulary amazing when loaded with fruit. Most were harvested by this time. |
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| Piazza Bra ( the large square ) and the town's most remarkable sight, the Arena, a huge Roman amphitheater. It is currently used to entertain 30,000 people year round, but its high profile summer opera series attracts people from all over the world . |
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| The Arena of Verona was built in 30AD. The main part of the oval theater is well preserved, but the outer ringed wall is almost lost due to an earthquake in 1117. |
We were taken around the small town by the guide who told us of the history here. The last stop was to see the famous balcony which was referenced in a scene in the play. It was so packed with people, it was ridiculous; however, you could not possibly come to Verona without visiting it. Now I can say “been there-done that”.
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| The famous courtyard of Juliet's house. There were mobs of people here squeezing and pushing. I hate that! |
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| Internet photo of the original Juliet statue It supposed to bring good fortune to those unlucky in love, but the tradion of rubbing the right breast of this brass statue of Juliet has resulted in damage. This original statue was moved to a museum and a replica has replaced it in the courtyard. Many people stood inline to get a chance to have their picture taken, or perhaps to inprove thier prospects for love. |
There are many who do not share my sentiment, however. There is a Juliet Club ( www.julietclub.com ) that has volunteers that respond to countless letters from lovesick people writing to Juliet. They have gotten even busier since the movie “Letter to Juliet”, about a girl (Amanda Seyfried) who finds a letter while visiting the House of Juliet and travels through Italy to help reunite the author with her lost love.
On a more serious note, Verona is packed with history. Because it was a great place for travelers to rest before crossing the Alps, the city is filled with ruins dating back to the Roman Empire. The third largest amphitheater is here and is very well preserved. It dates from the first century A.D. and has most of its original stone. It still is used for modern plays and Verona’s popular summer opera festival, which takes advantage of its incredible acoustics.
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| Building of the 12th to 17th centuries are around the Piazza dei signori. None of the builders had any consideration for its adjoining neighbor. Each building is so lovely you could just stand and study each one in turn. |
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| Another look at the Piazza dei Signori. Buildings are so different. The guide explained how you could tell if the owners of the building were loyal to either the Emporor or the Pope by the roof-top adornment. Notice the "M" shape. |
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| Sidewalk cafes, along with outside smoking, were abundant all over Europe |
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| I am not sure this is "high" fashion but saw it in a shop window. |
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| This is a store my daughter, Jen would love to check out! |
We returned by taxi to our parking lot, and continued on, stopping to get the last few groceries before arriving at our next campsite on Lake Garda. This campsite (due to most of the nearby campgrounds being closed for the season) was packed! The facilities were lovely though our site was pretty uneven.
After our briefing and happy hour we sauteed breaded veal and had with it sauteed spinach and roasted lemon potatoes which were precooked. It was delicious!
