Italy Travel Diaries: One Day in Verona…

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After just a single night in Milan, it’s time for another one night stand. This time, it’s 24 hours in Verona. Or technically, an afternoon and a morning.

After our public transport success in Milan, we are confident about getting from Verona Porta Nuova train station to the centre of town.  We’ll get the bus – numbers and bus stop noted.  Except the ticket machines seem to be in some sort of foreign language.  And not Italian.  None of the destinations are familiar.  A bus comes and goes and we’re still looking confusedly at the ticket machine.  Another bus comes.  We’ve been reliably informed (by Google) that you can purchase tickets on board. We’ve been in Verona for an hour and we’ve only seen it’s train and bus stations.

We lug our suitcases up the steps of a particularly busy bus. The grumpy driver grunts and indicates the on-board ticket machine.  Except this isn’t working.  The couple in front of us are frantically pressing buttons and patting the machine on its head, trying to coax out the appropriate ticket.  We inform the driver, who grunts and points to some sort of ticket purchasing hotline to call.  We are already halfway to our destination, my phone is somewhere at the bottom of my handbag and my Italian is limited to ordering a bottle of wine and a panino. I’m not up for arguing with Italian transport hotline operators. 

So we do what every decent, honest, responsible citizen does.  We make a run for it as soon as we reach Piazza Bra.  Not easy on a packed bus, when you have to manoeuvre two full-sized suitcases to the middle exit door, but eventually we are off the bus, suitcases in tow, waving goodbye to our grumpy driver friend

(If anyone from the Verona transport system is reading this, please note that we tried to pay.  We WANTED to pay.  But no-one would let us pay.  We over-tipped everyone in Verona from then on to make up for our free (but slightly stressful) bus ride.)

We don’t have very far to go to our hotel.  The Hotel Bologna is most perfectly located, almost directly on the beautiful Piazza Bra and a hop, skip and a salto from the Arena.  If there had been a performance, we’d have probably been able to hear it from our hotel room.  No free drinks or free slippers, but we do have a very green bathroom with an eerie green glow from the shower. 

You’ll never forget your first Aperol Spritz

It’s another one night stand with Verona, so we unpack the bare minimum. We do a quick freshen up and head out.  It’s time for me to sample my first Aperol Spritz at a little outdoor café on Via Roma.  Hmm, I could acquire quite a taste for this orange-coloured aperitif. I have a feeling this will not be my final Aperol Spritz on this trip. Mr Fletche and I share a plate of cold cuts for lunch and we’re ready to explore Verona further.

I discovered such a love for Aperol Spritz that I eventually went on and wrote a whole blog post dedicated to the subject.

We head down Via Roma towards Castelvecchio, and cross its fortified bridge over the River Adige.  We follow the riverbank for a while before crossing over and walking the tree-lined street of Lungadige Panvino, glancing up at the beautiful balconies and window boxes.  The mid-afternoon sun is beating down. Two days non-stop travel is starting to take its toll so we stop for a gelato at Gelateria Pampanin. We decide to make our way back to the hotel for the obligatory afternoon snooze.

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Fully refreshed (and with brand new plasters pre-empting blisters from yet another new pair of shoes) we head back out into the early evening sunshine.  We make our way up via Mazzini; designer stores nestling next to chain stores and local fashion outlets. Our destination is Piazza delle Erbe with its market stalls selling a mixture of souvenirs and fresh produce.  The frescoes on the surrounding buildings are stunning; this is indeed the beating heart of Verona.

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Verona for the romantics

Talking of beating hearts, it would be remiss of me not to mention Romeo and Juliet.  Strangely enough, there are very few mentions of Shakespeare’s other two plays set in Verona (The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentleman of Verona). And one may be surprised to learn that Shakespeare never even set foot in Verona.  But yes, this is where two star-cross’d lovers, met, fell in love, pissed off their families and died tragically.  People trek far and wide to pay pilgrimage, stand under a balcony, post letters to their loved one on a wall and rub Juliet’s breast for luck and love. This old romantic buys into the frenzy by purchasing a Romeo and Juliet fridge magnet.

We escape the zoo of Casa di Giulietta and head back towards Piazza Bra. It’s dinnertime, so we opt for dinner at Olivo on the square.  The misters are very welcome on this warm evening!  Octopus salad for me, pizza for Mr Fletche.  After all of these years being a card-carrying member of the “I HATE PIZZA” club I have to confess that Italian pizza is tasty.  This isn’t Pizza Hut or Domino’s.  I have a sneaking suspicion that more melted cheese, tomato and dough combos will pass my lips before this holiday is through. Maybe I will learn to love pizza.

We take a post-dinner walk, retracing our steps along the riverside.  We eventually find ourselves at Lui e Lei Gelateria, where they are offering 3€ Aperol Spritz. It would be rude not to sample their wares at such at a bargain price.  Fuelled by our new favourite drink, we amble back to Piazza Bra.  We debate having another spritz somewhere but eschew the alcohol for a granita and people-watching in the square.  We could do this for hours.  But tomorrow, like Romeo, we will be banished from these city walls. “There is no world without Verona walls, But purgatory, torture, hell itself.” Venice awaits.

Next morning…

Our sleep has not been interrupted by the green bathroom glow. Our train to Venice is not until 1pm, so we plan our final couple of hours in this fair city. 

A quick Google tells us that Torre dei Lamberti is open at 8:30am. We partake of breakfast in the restaurant attached to the hotel and then decide to take an early morning walk to take in the views over the Verona rooftops.  Except it is not open at 8:30.  Signs on the ticket office tell us that today, for one day only, it is opening at 10am. We curse the smug ticket office staff lurking behind the glass doors, laughing at us tourists huddled outside, awaiting the first sign of opening.  They open the doors on the very stroke of 10am.  Luckily this means we are among the very first in there. 

With days of climbing towers ahead of us ahead we opt for the elevator which takes us two thirds of the way. This leaves just 120 steps to the bell tower.  The 360 degree views from the top are wonderful, with the classic terracotta rooftops spreading around us in every direction.  We make the sensible decision to descend before the bells ring on the half-hour, fearing for our aural faculties.

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We return to the hotel to check out; they kindly lock away our luggage whilst we go for a final walk, a final gelato (in Verona anyway) and a final opportunity for people-watching in Piazza Bra.  Eager to avoid a repeat of the bus-stress of the incoming journey, we leave Verona in style in a taxi-cab. More expensive, but less hassle.  We pick up panini at the station for lunch, and head off on our next adventure…