Verona (Day 3 - Opera + Parco De Cascada

Our original plan was to do a day hike at the Dollarmites but due to the distance and our lack of fitness from consuming copious amounts of wine, cheese, pizza and gelato the next best option was to go for a hike in a small national park famous for its waterfalls.

It was another scenic drive through the hills to get to the sleepy town of Milano. Trav and Jimmy had a tough time convincing the girls to take the 'black path' but after a few mins we realized that the park was an easy hike and we completed the loop under 2 hours. There were plenty of spots for photos and overall it wasn't too bad although it's getting harder to be impressed after everything we've seen in Chile and Vietnam. Ice creams all round as a reward for making it through then we headed back home to get ready for a night of culture.

The Arena (open air amphitheater) is very famous in Verona and is in excellent condition considering its 2000 years old! Similar in shape and architecture to the Colosseum we buy the cheap tickets to an Opera performance and are seated on the stone benches - Steph suggested we take cushions which was a lifesaver! The atmosphere was brilliant and the performance (although all in Italian) was quite good. The show 'Aida' is a very popular show and has been playing for many years - unfortunately it went for close to 3.5 hours so after the first 2 intermissions Trav and Suki kept dosing off and lost the plot.

A great night out and felling more sophisticated and quite tipsy from the backpack full of wine and beer we smuggled inside - we walk home.Read more