Arrivederci Milan, Ciao Verona! I was ready for a change of scenery and going from the modern city of Milan to the historic village-looking town of Verona was a fun contrast. The two-hour bus ride was used for some much-needed sleep. However, I did wish I spent more time looking at the scenery on the way, as the Alps were visible! After checking into the hotel, we grabbed sandwiches from a local café and ate them on couches. The café had a chill atmosphere and we hung out there for a while. We spent the afternoon touring the city. Unfortunately, the weather was not good, cold and rainy, and it does not seem to be improving in the coming days.

Verona is so quaint! All of the roads are cobblestone and most of the buildings are colorful and have balconies. We toured the Arena in the center of town which was about one fourth the size of the colosseum, but awesome nonetheless. I learned that Shakespeare did not originally think of the idea of Romeo and Juliet, and the families in the story existed in real life with altered names. Juliet’s balcony was very crowded. There was a statue of Juliet and there is a superstition that rubbing her right breast brings good luck! So of course, we did that!

Later on, we visited a bridge over the river which was destroyed during one of the world wars and all of the bricks were salvaged from the river and it was rebuilt. The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent exploring the city, shopping, and eating. Although today was very relaxed and nothing too eventful happened, it was another great day.

Ciao!

P.S. The new wifi at our hotel in Verona hardly works so I cannot promise a consistent daily blog for as long as we are in this hotel!