Verona

Verona provides a stopover only 2km from the city centre at the reasonable price of €10 for 24 hours. Arriving just before 10am we took the penultimate spot and set off on foot to see the sights. Although there were cycle tracks, we had so little distance to cover getting to and around the places of interest it was hardly worth getting the bike down.

Passing by the ornately castellated Castel Vecchio we came to the River Adige that curves round the historic centre. Taking a few minutes we looked out over the water and watched dull coloured Sand Martins darting adeptly over and under the bridge arches. Verona had signposted its sights well and a nearby notice invited us to look around the Chiesa di San Lorenzo. It made a nice change to see a church such as this that was well used, in contrast to some of the large cathedrals that have appeared preserved as museums.

While our Three data SIM works in Italy, it doesn't in Slovenia and as we have less than a week left here, we didn't top up when it ran out. We were therefore pleased that Verona provided a good free wifi zone in the centre of town and logged on to upload, download and catch up with correspondence.

Our next visit was to the Old Market courtyard standing at the base of the Lamberti tower and whose staircase, with its elegant stone pillared banister led up to the Gallery of Modern Art. Here we each bought a 24 hour Verona card for €18, allowing us entry to 8 different attractions, including the gallery. After the huge and heavy going Uffizi gallery in Florence, the relatively small collection was an enjoyable contrast. It displayed and told the stories of classic paintings from the 19th century through to contemporary abstract images, as well as containing an atmospherically decorated chapel.

Close by was the Lamberti tower. We needed to wait in a queue that snaked out onto and across the street, effectively blocking it. We left space for people to pass through and tried not to get frustrated when those queuing behind us insisted on squashing closely up against us, frequently bumping in to us. Once inside the 84m high tower it was far less crowded. We'd chosen to climb the metal stairs that were affixed to each of the 4 walls instead of taking the lift, as it seemed most people preferred to do. The view from the platform was good but we were disappointed that the spiral staircase that led past the huge bronze bells to the top of the tower was shut off.

Picking up some slices of pizza for lunch we braved it through the crush of city centre crowds to the Arena, a large Roman amphitheatre dating from the 1st Century AD. The outside had been damaged by an earthquake but the tiered seating within was very well intact and it was great to see that it was used regularly for opera performances, with a mix of ancient stone steps and new staging, lighting and metal seats. At this point we had an impromptu video call from Vicky's Dad. It was a real treat and we were very pleased the city wifi was up to the job.

Our last port of call was the 'Casa di Giulietta'. A house that had no link to Shakespeare's fictional character of Juliet but had been chosen to represent her residence. We'd been past a couple of times before but the tourist melee was so dense we'd chosen to return at a later time, hoping it would be less busy. It wasn't. The entrance was an archway that led into a little cobbled courtyard from where you could see a small first floor stone balcony. The inside of the archway was covered in graffiti declaring 'undying love'. This had been covered with plasters and post-its bearing the names or intitials of lovers or suitors. There seemed to be a system whereby visitors entered on the right and exited on the left side. We shuffled in with the majority while a few selfish people pushed past on the centre line. Once in the courtyard we couldn't face going into the house itself and so snapped a few photos of the balcony and took our leave on the opposite side. Some more selfish people had chosen to enter via this side and aggressively barged into us when they found there wasn't enough space. As you can imagine, we'd had enough of crowds at this point and retreated towards the safety of the van. Easter Monday was obviously a busy day and we found the density of people unpleasant around the tourist attractions, but you didn't have to go far to find a quiet street and our overall impression of Verona was a good one.Read more