Verona

3:11:00 PM Out And About Global 1 Comments

We'd been told that Verona was a pleasant place to visit, so we put it on our list and when the girls had a long weekend we headed south. Only 4.5 hours from of Munich (unless you hit traffic, which we did) it makes for an easy weekend away. There is nothing spectacular or world famous, unless Juliet's balcony counts, but the architecture and bridges make it quite charming. The city was once a Roman settlement and boasts the third largest coliseum in the world. Other ruins dot the city, but largely what you see if from the medieval time period when Verona was at its high point.

The Details

Accommodation: Residence All'adige Via Magellano 28 37138

We stayed in an apartment about a 20 minute walk from the city center. I paid €50 less by booking directly with them and they offered free parking. Internet was €3/24hrs.
Transportation: There are busses, but we chose to walk, the city is very manageable.
What To Do: Buy the Verona Card-- €15/adults & children over 14. We were admitted into all the churches, Juliet's House, The Tower, the Coliseum, Castle, & Roman Hillside.
Tip: Do not buy the card for children over 14. They are admitted into churches for free and the cost at other sites is generally not more than €2 so it's not worth the cost.

As you will see, Verona has no shortage of towers. We climbed the highest one for arial views of the city.

Billed as Juliet's house, it's not really, but judging by the number of tourists there you would have thought otherwise. Love notes stuck with gum litter the brick walls and and locks with the names of star crossed lovers promise forever love. For a bit of good luck, Bob and I climbed the stairs to her balcony--unfortunately with so many tourists behind us there was no time to declare our dying love to one another.

Like so many Italian cities there a plenty of views like these; peeling paint, worn plaster and colorful shutters. I love the old world charm of decaying beauty.

Like so many old churches this one was built over a much older one. In the picture on the top right you can see mosaic from the church dating back to Roman times.

No coliseum can compare with the one in Rome, but this one, though smaller is really well preserved.

Back to visit more churches...Having studied cathedrals for a while now I can say the Italian churches really have their own look. The wooden ceilings they favored are not to be found anywhere else (at least that I've seen).

I had to take a picture of this scene from a baptismal font. What a vivid relief of Harod's extermination of the babies--Notice the bowels falling out of the one near the ground and the children hiding behind the mothers cloak.

I swear you see the strangest things with religious art.

The tower below offered us the arial views above. I must confess, as we walked the 250 steps up I kept thinking, how can I possibly be breathing so hard? I think I am in shape until something like this tells me otherwise.

Eden could not resist spending her money on this mask.

View from the Roman Hill

I believe this is the oldest bridge in Verona.

Anything strike you as odd about this Butcher's sign?

Museo di Castelvecchio--covered by the Verona Card, we throughly enjoyed it. The castle houses an art museum, but the architecture itself is the most interesting.

Complete with a draw bridge over a mote.

There was a small market set up crossing the bridge. We bought bread, cheese and ham, and had ourselves a lovely snack on the other side overlooking the river.