Beautiful Verona

I am just back from a lovely 3 day trip to the stunning city of Verona which is great as a stand-alone city break but if you are cruising out of Venice it is about one hour 20 minutes away and can be a good alternative for a pre or post cruise stay!

Verona is famous for Casa di Giulietta & Juliet’s balcony – where the doomed lovers ‘Romeo and Juliet’ allegedly declared their undying love in one of three of Shakespeare’s novels to be based in the city – there is even a wall full of love-notes from single ladies hoping to catch their man!  My daughter’s and I love the film ‘Letters to Juliet’ which was filmed in the city and stunning surrounding countryside in the Tuscan hills.

If you get your timing right and travel to Verona in July or August time you could always take in an opera which is showing almost every night in the Roman Arena. To think it was originally built in AD30 and you are sat on the same steps the Romans used to sit on – it is incredible.  The acoustics are fantastic and you can hear every note and word from the huge stage without the aid of any microphones.    It can seat up to 15,000 people and  when you enter the Arena you are given a small candle which you are encouraged to light when the Opera or show commences and the lights are turned down, the atmosphere is incredible as there is a huge roar from the crowd – what an experience!

There are many churches and a huge Duomo that you can wonder around (even buying a pass which covers entry to them all).  The religious artifacts are well admired across Italy.

The daily market there is varied offering everything from food to furs and scarves to slippers, together with all of the tacky tourist souvenirs – but there are some bargains to be had with leather belts at a fraction of the normal cost and beautiful Murano glass pendants and ear-rings starting at less than 2 Euros each!

When you’re done with the market, there are the normal dose of designer shops that Italy offers, not to mention the huge selection of restaurants and Osterias which offer local specialities in pasta/pizzas as well as the local wines.

All in all Verona is well worth a visit – why don’t you try it?