Taking it easy in Verona!

This past weekend was all about relaxation. My travel buddies and I decided that we wanted to stray away from the busy weekend routine we have all become so accustomed to. This routine follows one basic rule… you’re always catching some form of transportation, whether it’s a plane, train, or automobile. See what I did there?

On Friday night, the ladies headed on over to the pizzeria that’s just a couple minute walk from campus. This was my first time… so to celebrate we ordered a bottle of wine to share among the table, an eggplant pizza, a diavola pizza, and a chef’s choice pizza which consists of ten random ingredients chosen by the chef. All three of them were absolutely delicious… but the eggplant was definitely my favorite. Mmmm!

The next morning, we hopped on a high-speed train to Verona, Italy. Verona is tiny town tucked into Italy that I hadn’t heard much about. I did know that this is where Romeo called to Juliet on her balcony. No wonder Verona is called the City of Love! Once we got there we bought these passes that allowed us free entry into all of the sights in town…. and I accidentally ripped a twenty euro right in half trying to get my money out. Nothing a little tape can’t fix right? Our first definition, after food of course, was the Arena di Verona. This arena was built in the first century and because of that, I kept imagining all of the people that had walked in the exact places I was so many years before. After the arena, we headed over to the Castelvecchio. This beautiful castle was filled with galleries and galleries of art. This means that the inner nerd in me was absolutely delighted. After exploring the castle, we went over the Castelvecchio Bridge that was full of vendors selling everything from food to jewelry. After we did some shopping, we quickly found the nearest gelato shop. I’ve learned that gelato is a perfect way to relax between running around from sight to sight.

Our next feat was the Torre dei Lamberti, where we climbed up 238 stairs to the top. This gave us the most beautiful panoramic view of the entire town of Verona. From here we were able to see the Castelvecchio, from where we had just come from, and everything else we were planning on seeing that day. Once we got down from the tower, our next destination was Juliet’s balcony! We knew we were getting close because of the big crowd that was surrounding the tunnel into her courtyard. As we shuffled our way through, my eyes lingered on the walls that were full of love notes written by the many visitors that had already passed through. The entire wall was covered from bottom to top in signatures and notes left by previous visitors. While we were in the courtyard, we snapped pictures, read some notes written to Juliet, and took our turns going up onto her balcony. I also left my love lock there in the courtyard, dropped off my love note, and touched Juliet’s boob for good luck! Despite how crowded the area was, being in the courtyard where Romeo called to Juliet was pretty amazing.

After seeing the balcony, we continued to stop at a few churches, and then settled down for a delicious meal of lasagna, pizza, pasta, and wine. Absolutely delicious! Sitting by the river and enjoying our real Italian dinner was the perfect way to wind down from the day.

Verona was such a fun little city to explore and I definitely hope to be back some day soon.

Ciao,
Natalie