Verona

Verona is a beautiful city with a wonderful surrounding area. After spending the day walking around in the most amazing December weather I must same I’m impressed. Verona has an arena that is more intact than the Coliseum, and provides a great view of all of Verona. You’ll also notice in the one of the pictures us in t-shirts. It was indeed that warm.

The house of Giullieta is a tourist trap and really uninteresting. Save yourself the time and crowd if you are ever in Verona and avoid it. As a side note, there are no records of a Capulet family living in Verona or the surrounding area. For that matter, her house was also more than likely a warehouse based on public records with the balcony being more than likely added sometime before 1928.

The cathedral in Verona is rather nice, and has the added benefit of being recently restored, i.e. finished in 2004. The pictures of the interior do not show well the craftsmanship used to merge the actual stonework to the surrounding frescoes that imitate the work. I have been in many decorative churches of many different periods, and I found it interesting, which for me was important. When you first come to Europe the first dozen churches are impressive, after that they all start looking the same.

This is unfortunately the wrong time of year for gardens, so we didn’t bother going to the Giardini Giustiza, but it is supposed to be impressive. It is near the old city wall on the hills across the river from the city to the East. Being one of the highest points in the area also makes it ideal for viewing the countryside. Next time.