Last breakfast at our Malcesine hotel, little mini Easter eggs scattered on everyone’s breakfast table, a lovely idea, especially for a chocoholic like me! Said goodbye, handshakes all round with the lovely staff then headed off just before 9am.Verona was on the cards today, around a 75 min drive away on fairly quiet roads.
Google took us easily to Parcheggio Olimipia where I had researched free parking, followed by a short bus ride into the centre.Never easy negotiating a car in cities plus it gets expensive to park, so this seemed the best option.
We arrived beside a large sports stadium , in a workaday residential area and to be honest, I worried if it was safe enough to leave the vehicle. Luckily, I spotted a Police car with two Carabinieri in it ( the scarier Italian police) so , despite Chris being dubious, I strolled over and asked them if parking here was a good idea.The young officer (with sub machine gun )was very friendly and helpful and spoke good English.Yes no problem, he said and pointed out where the bus stop was.Excellent.Very odd though, chatting to someone carrying such a weapon!
Waited for 20 mins for the No 90 bus to take us in to Piazza Bra .Like the ferries , the bus timetables were not reliable and three buses advertised as due, didn’t show up.Of course, this was a public holiday so things were a bit up in the air.Quite a queue when the 90 finally appeared.Only one euro each to travel in and thankfully no need to buy a ticket in some obscure shop as the bus had a card machine.A big change from years ago when there was always that last minute scrabble around to find the right shop.
15 mins later we arrived in the busy, central piazza of Verona and joined the Easter crowds exploring this truly beautiful city.It’s so handsome , almost every street lined with immaculate, pastel coloured buildings and of course the impressive Amphitheatre itself. There was an enormous queue to get in and we had seen it before but it seemed a shame not to revisit.
First things first and a cafe stop was required before we faced the queue as we’d been on the go for quite a while.Tea and a Chocolate Croissant for me and a latte for Chris let us slow down for a bit, relax and feel a renewed sense of energy to enjoy this beautiful place.
Luckily, a board offered a QR code that allowed us to order online tickets while we queued and after 5 mins of slightly complicated punching in of info and the setting up of an online account, we were able to skip the queue and head straight in.Clambered up to the top steps for a view over it all and the city.
It’s interior is very restored as used for opera and events in summer so perhaps doesn’t have the atmosphere of other ancient amphitheatres we have seen in Europe.About 12m of height has been taken away too, the stone used in medieval times to build the city walls.So to me, it’s the exterior that is most impressive, built of a beautiful pinkish stone.However, the sheer scale of the corridors are quite a sight and I was also interested in the very scary gladiator mask, only the eyes displayed.
After that, we headed down the via Mazzeti, with its incredibly smart, upmarket shops, to Ponte Pietri and the fast flowing Adige river.
Then the Cattedrale do Santa Maria Matricolare which was very impressive inside.Mass was underway however so we only had a brief look and of course, didn’t take photos.The Duomo was also impressive, with Easter Mass going on there also.
Checked out a couple of places for lunch and was surprised at the number of places offering Donkey Ragu and Horse meat. We were in the mood for something plain and simple and probably with chips!
Verona is a joy to stroll through even when busy and soon we were back in lovely Piazza Signoria then Piazza Erbe.
Stunning buildings were everywhere. We wandered down to see ‘Juliet’s balcony’ ( apparently added to the building’s facade in the 20th century) but we’d viewed it up close previously and there was an enormous queue to see it up close.It’s very pretty but not genuine in terms of bearing any real relationship to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; the great man never visited the city.
Soon, we found ourselves back at Piazza Bra and the same café of earlier.It had a great view of the Amphitheatre and the menu looked ok,(and pretty much the same as every other cafe here) so when a pavement table became free, we sat ourselves down and perused the enormous menu.I know that places which show photos of food are usually somewhere to avoid but we really just wanted to sit down and eat…basic was fine!
I had breaded veal with grilled veg, Chris had veal with ham and a buttery sauce and EXCELLENT chips.Both of us really enjoyed our food, tasty! Watched the world go by and admired the Arena.
Amazingly, we found another Grom ice cream shop, so same two flavours for me again and Pistachio and Salted Caramel scoops for Chris.
Time to saunter down to ‘Juliet’s tomb’ within the St Francesco church.
I wasn’t expecting much as it’s a small, stone sarcophagus and Juliet (a fictional character ) was not buried here.However, it is symbolic of ever lasting love. Ladies in past times used to wear a little coffin necklace, based on the sarcophagus and given its symbolism.
In fact, the church itself turned out to be a highlight of our city visit as the museum had outstanding frescoes dating from 900AD up to the 15/16th centuries. They were superb.
They were retrieved from some of the ancient palazzos of Verona and some were part of a building’s exterior decoration which must have looked quite amazing.
What on earth happened in our modern world that so much that is built or even painted now, is ugly and lacking in any artistic quality?!
A 10 min walk found us back at Piazza Bra again and on the bus to the parking area.A further 1 hr 10 mins drive brought us to Stezzano and a rather gloomy Airbnb apartment near Bergamo for our last night.Not somewhere we’d book again but it was clean, if dark and cramped and only a 10 min drive to the airport next morning.
A great trip all in, Italy is a fantastic country with superb sights.Weather could have been better but this was northern Italy after all, not the far south where we had travelled in March 2023 and had such gorgeous sunshine the whole time.Arrivederci Italy – we will be back!
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