It turns out Michael has wanted to go to Verona ever since he first tasted Starbucks Verona coffee back in 2002. The coffee is not made or even blended in Verona but is supposed to be a ‘love blend’ and therefore named after the city where the most famous lovers, Romeo and Juliet, were supposed to have come from. Finally his wish came true.
On arrival in Verona we found somewhere to park and, after trying to get a ticket, realized we did not have to pay on Sunday – result!
First we headed for Castelvecchio, a spectacular 14th century castle, which is now a museum.
We decided not to actually go into the museum, choosing instead to walk across Ponte Scaligero to get some great views of the castle and the River Adige.
We also got a great view back towards Castelvecchio.
We followed our guidebook’s recommendation and headed next to Piazza Bra and the Arena. Verona has an opera festival in the Arena every year but the amphitheatre was originally completed in around AD 30 and was the third largest in the world. It was used for mock battles and gladiatorial combats but in more recent times it has also been used for public executions, fairs, theatre performances, bull fighting and bingo. It is currently set up for the opera season so the staging and seating is in place. It did not make it any less amazing, thinking about when it was built and how it has survived.
The view from the Arena onto Piazza Bra was also great.
As we looked round Piazza Bra we spotted all the scenery and props for the opera season. See if you can work out which operas are showing this year.
Our next stop was the ‘must see’ Juliet’s house and the famous balcony. This was the only place all day that was really busy and actually pretty underwhelming.
Bethany was most upset about everyone grabbing the breast on Juliet’s statue.
The rest of Verona was very beautiful.
On our way back to the car we managed to find a quiet cafe with tables in a courtyard where we could enjoy an ice cream each.
We then drove back to Negrar. While Michael and Bethany headed to the pool, I went for a run among the vines. It made for an interesting track and meant I was at least running in the shade in 30C instead of in the sun.
I then joined the others in the pool to cool down.
For dinner the owners of the agriturismo had recommended a restaurant in a nearby village. It specialized in its homemade thin tagliatelle pasta with freshly made sauces. It was also up in the hills with stunning views.
We had to ask the waiter to translate the menu as it was only in Italian and Google translate couldn’t cope either. We all decided to have the ham and cheese starter including ham from Montagnana, where we plan to go later in the week. For main course I chose tortelli filled with cheese, Bethany chose the speciality pasta with ragu and Michael chose the beef cooked in Valpolicella wine.
I chose a bottle of local wine to have with it.
For dessert Bethany and Michael both had apricot cheesecake and I had amaretto semifreddo.
It was starting to get dark when we left and we had heard thunder around us as we were eating.
Between us leaving the terrace where we had been eating and walking through the restaurant to the exit, it started to rain and were treated to a spectacular lightning show on the drive back. We had hung all our swimwear and towels out to dry before going out for dinner. They were a bit damp so we decided to leave them out to dry again – wrong decision! About five minutes later the heavens really opened and everything got really soaked. Looking at the weather forecast for the next day it wouldn’t be an issue to get them dry again.
Crouch Family On Tour 