melaus

The second leg of our Italy trip took us (minus Tyra, she'd join us again soon in Milan) to Verona. Our AirBnB host was fantastic and provided us with lots of info about what they'd recommend us to see, and where to eat and drink.

We arrived in the late afternoon and decided to take it easy. So, we stayed in and cooked a lovely meal of pasta with a cherry tomatoes, garlic and aubergine sauce. After some sort of drama (we'll leave it there!), we went out for a couple glasses of wine.

X-T3 35/1.4 – Arena di Verona (Verona Arena) is now used as a concert venue. They run an outdoor opera festival here every summer – much like the Proms but outdoors

Verona is perhaps best known for being the town where Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on. Appropirately (or not), there's a balcony known as the Juliet Balcony in Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House) and a statue portraying a "Juliet" of sort. We all know that it's fiction but there we go. Everyone was keen to get pictures of the balcony and the statue. I felt oblidged to do the same...!

X-T3 35/1.4 – People taking photos with "Juliet"

X-T3 35/1.4 – "Juliet"'s balcony...

Strolling through the centre, there are lots of statues and old town streets. I'm a big fan of the old town feel. It brought me back to Bath and Edinbrugh, which are both cities I love.

X-T3 50-140/1.4 – Statue of Dante Alighieri in Piazza del Signori

X-T3 35/1.4 – A lovely cobble street

X-T3 35/1.4 – A little patch showing the old town remains

We then walked along the river and crossed the bridge. It provided a picturesque view of the other side of Verona. Our goal was the hill top on the other side.

X-T3 50-140/2.8 – Even the duck was enjoying the lovely view

X-T3 35/1.4 – View of Verona across the river

X-T3 35/1.4 – Me and the view

The hill top gave a panoramic view of the whole of Verona, where you can see many bell towers towards the horizon. The three of us got some lovely photos up there.

X-T3 50-140/2.8 – Look at the city

X-T3 35/1.4 – Beautiful view and beautiful me

X-T3 35/1.4 – Beautiful view and beautiful Amy

X-T3 35/1.4 – Beautiful view and beautiful Danielle

Then we went to the Palazzo (Palace) and Giardino (Garden) of Giusti. It's a lovely garden and house that is owned by the same family since it's built in the 16th century! It was relaxing and a good bit of clean air before we headed to the busier cities later in the trip.

X-T3 35/1.4 – These turtles are enjoying the weather in an interesting pose

X-T3 35/1.4 – Statue welcoming us to the gardens

X-T3 50-140/2.8 – All these statues have been standing here for centuries

X-T3 50-140/2.8 – Danielle was a bit confused by this simple maze. To be fair, the website did describe it as "small-size but difficult"...

X-T3 50-140/2.8 – Fancy dinner gear in the palace

I don't know how it took us this long, but first pizza in Italy! It was delicious! Hangry Alan sorted.

Pixel 2XL – First pizza in Italy!!! Tasty tasty!

Verona is a hidden gem with lots of character, and much buzzier than I thought it would be. It is a nice destination for a little relaxing escape with a small town vibe. It would be cool to see an opera in the Arena, I bet it would be great!

To Milan we go!

Pixel 2XL – Selfie time

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