It says something of how Verona captured my muse that I have overfilled a full page just for our three night visit to this town.

Verona is another cultured, refined northern Italian town. It is a walled town, with some incredible cathedrals and an old fortress. In deference, I kept my camera in its bag in the churches, although others seemed to be using iPads and iPhones with abandon.

That didn’t curb my style any. There is a Roman Arena, right next to the start of the old town. The main square, which dates to the Roman era, teemed with people. There is architecture galore. The old town is pretty much encircled by the river, with many nice walkways. The narrow winding streets are full of gorgeous buildings and pretty shops.

Like no other city, when the sun went down the people came out. The bars filled, then more people came, and the parties spilled out onto the street.

The Townscape

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The Nightlife

The pictures give the idea. At night, everyone comes to the old town. There is the broad open area around the Colliseum where people sit in open cates, and eat and drink and people watch. There is a very chic shopping area in the back streets. There is the Piazza Bra, with an open air Farmers’ Market and more gorgeous buildings. There are bars and restaurants where young people gather and mingle. Going bar hopping? Ride your bicycle….and bring your dog along.

And there are corners and streets where people just hang around. I walked around enthralled – what a wonderful part of one’s day.

Enoteca Orest

Meet Orest. He’s the proprietor of Enoteca Orest…..a cozy wine bar. His bar has exactly nine barstools. To take this photo, I had to stand in the street. Two glasses of Lugana wine cost us five Euros, two enormous hunks of tangy Parmesan cost another two Euros. There are free antipasti on the bar as well. A great place to sit for a spell on our evening tour.

And, of course…..Juliet

Shakespeare set the play Romeo and Juliet in Verona. There were in fact two famous families (at least) who were known to have disagreements with each other back in the day. Their actual stories are at least as colourful as Shakespeare’s tragedy, but you have to dig further to find out about these.

Nowadays, Verona has taken the fiction and turned it into a life story. There is a “Juliet’s House” where you can write your love letter on the wall, attach a lock to the grating, or cozy up to the statute of Juliet. It’s said to be good luck to rub her breast. Done, and done.

Arrivederci, Verona

On our last night, even after an exhausting day of exploring and walking the streets, I couldn’t leave the balcony of our hotel. I loved this place. I wondered why anyone would ever spend their student years at UWO (or Queens, or anywhere else in North America) when they could have studied here.