Last day in Verona

Today was our last day in Verona and we actually managed to pack quite a bit in. We packed everything up and left it at the apartment while we went back to a few places that we had trouble seeing due to the number of tourists, so we were up and out pretty early.

The first place we went was to Castelvecchio just over the road as Lesley wanted to have a good look at some of the great statues they had in their grounds.

Thank goodness this one was so big otherwise it would have founds its way into one of our suitcases

I must say that I was very glad none of these were for sale, or were any smaller otherwise Lesley would have had them on the way back to Australia in no time!

We moved on and were quite surprised when we hit Piazza Bra to find it barely populated, no tourists, what was going on?

A very quiet Piazza Bra

Missing in action...the tourists!!

We seemed to have got up early enough to have beaten most of the tourists, so we pushed onto Juliet's balcony to see if we could get a clear photo there, guess what.....

A pretty clear photo of Juliet

We even managed to get an almost clear photo of Juliet! We had done well, so it was time to head back to the apartment, pick up our luggage and head to the train station and Venice.

A quiet Verona train station

We had booked our tickets on yet another regional train (you guessed it, 2nd class) to Venice. We got to the train station about 30 minutes before departure, things were looking good. Then about 10 minutes before the train arrived so did the other passengers, heaps of them. When the train arrived we just managed to get a seat for Lesley, I put all of our bags in the area that was made specifically for that purpose. Looking around I could see that all of the seats had gone, so had most of the standing room, so I made myself comfortable ... sitting on top of our baggage!

When the ticket inspector came, she checked my ticket, gave me a smile and went about her business.... I had found a good seat after all.

Very soon we were in Venice and about to start the next leg of our adventure.

Straight outside the rail station, the hustle and bustle of Venice's canals!

 

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The Verona Pub Crawl, well, not quite

A few days ago we came across a few bars and cafes near the Verona Duomo, so we decided that this evening we would go back and hit them around 6pm...happy hour. This is when you get the free bar food!!!

Great Cafe Garden

One of the first ones we went to was very picterescue, a scene from an Italian movie, it had a great garden seating area, so we started our night here.

One of our favourites was a little bar called Osteria Le Peire that appeared to be full of "twenty somethings", but it had a great feel and we felt quite at home. We decided this was the place to spend "happy hour", they had a great selection of foods to help yourself to, so we did!

Le Pierre's bar, full of free eats

We had to laugh at some of the young girls here who seemed to think this was their last chance to eat, ever! You have never seen so much food on each of their plates, we were lucky there was any left for us!

After a few drinks and a few plates of nibbles, we decided to eat here. So we ordered some Risotto's, some more drinks and settled in for a while.

Grubs Up!!

After a very enjoyable evening we said good night to the staff at Le Pierre and made our way back home.

Le Piere, a great little bar!

 

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Exploring Verona at night

Today we had an easy day not doing too much. But we had to go out at night to see the scenes of verona at night, and boy am I glad we did, it is spectacular!

Piazza Bra

The Piazza Bra is very big and has a lot going on, the highlight for me was sitting just outside of the Arena and listening to the Opera going on inside, tonight it was Guiseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore.

The Arena at night is great, especially when you can hear the opera inside.

Piazza Bra's fountain

After the Opera we walked over to Castelvecchio to take its nightlife.

Crossing the bridge

Night view of the Castle and Bridge

Then it was a very short walk back to the apartment.

Our apartment viewed from Castelvecchio's gate.

 

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Restaurant near Ponte Pietra

Yesterday I went walking by myself and found a few places that lesley would really like, so today we decided to visit those places. The main place I wanted to take her was through the old city (the shortest route) to Ponte Pietra and to eat at one of the restaurants nearby.

However, only a few hundred metres into our walk we came across a very Italian looking Kitchenware shop....Lesley was in her element. I can see we will be coming back here to make some purchases before we leave.

Kitchenware...Italian Style

Within a while, we made it to the river near the bridge, and made our way along a few narrow lane ways that had a number of cafes, bars, and restaurants, an old Osteria called Alcova del Frate won out with a really good local menu, no pizzas or standard everyday pasta, just regional foods, also the shade and breeze blowing through the lane helped our decision.

Osteria - Alcova del Frate

Starter - really tasty local Proscuitto

Alcova del Frate

After a very pleasant lunch, and feeling quite rested we went back to exploring. A short distance away we found the Verona Duomo and Piazza and quite a few little bars in the area.....we have to come back here it looks great!

Verona Duomo

Piazza Duomo

We made our way back to Castelvecchio and our apartment for another well earned rest. Another great day!

 

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The climb to Castel San Pedro

During our walk yesterday I had noticed a big old building beside the river that looked like it would have great views over Verona, and on further investigation I found that it was an old castle named Castel San Pedro that had one of the best viewing points over old Verona. When I mentioned that we could go there today, Lesley did not hesitate to tell me "...no way am I going, you go by yourself..". Have you noticed when there is a lot of climbing of hills or stairs I am sent off to do it by myself?

Even though walking through the old city centre was the shorter route, I opted for the more scenic and tree covered route along the river...a good idea with yet another hot day upon us.

Although it was hot, it was very nice walking under the shade of the trees, I am not sure if it was my imagination, but at times it felt like a very slight breeze whispering down the river, what a great day!

Trees and sights along the river

Looking back at Castelvecchio

Looking forward to Castel San Pedro and the famous Ponte Pietra

After a short while I arrived at the Castel and that famous bridge, Ponte Pietra, what a fantastic site, I am going to have to bring Lesley here she will love it.

Ponte Pietra

I sat for a while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful location, then just behind me I noticed the old Roman Theatre that was all setup for some concerts as well.

Looking up at the Roman Theatre

Inside the theatre (not one of my photos)

I found the base of the stairs that lead up to the castle and started my trek upwards.

The start of many stairs...

There were a few other people also journeying up the stairs, so I was not the only mad person! On the journey to the top I noticed a number of people stopping for a breather on the way, but I was a man (an unfit middle aged man) and I was going to do it non-stop!

I arrived at the top.....out of breathe and soaked with sweat....damn I have got to get fitter... and younger!

It was worth it, the views were fantastic!

Santa Anastasia Church and Torre de Lamberti

View down to Ponte Pietra

View across the old city

The trip back down the steps was considerably faster and easier than going up. On getting back to the bottom I decided to walk back through the old town and take in some more of the sights.

Crossing Ponte Pietra

Street scene behind Ponte Pietra Gate

Verona Catherdral

Behind Piazza Erbe

Getting "arty" at the Arena

Piazza Bra Clock Tower

After a while I made my way back to the apartment, and a nice cool shower!

 

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Exploring Castelvecchio and the River Adige

After a hectic day yesterday, we thought that we would take it easy and explore Castelvecchio just across the road from our apartment.

The castle was built between 1354 to 1376 by The Lord Cangrande II della Scala. It has seven towers, a super-elevated keep (or maschio) with four main buildings inside. The castle is surrounded by a ditch, now dry, which was once filled with waters from the nearby River Adige.... it's amazing what you can find on Wikipedia! The castle is now mainly used as a museum.

Part of the old moat system and the new museum

The beautiful grounds

Leaving the castle and approaching the bridge

We spent a few hours casually walking around and exploring the old castle and bridge that was also built by Cangrande at the same time.

On the bridge looking back at the castle

Castelvecchio bridge crossing the River Adige

We then wandered along the river taking in the views.

Looking back at the castle and bridge

After a short time we crossed the river and found ourselves back at the Piazza Erbe. This time I noticed something hanging from one of the arches, believe it or not, it is a whale bone (a rib to be precise) that is hanging from the underside of the arch (Arco della Costa). An old story has it that the whale rib will fall on the first “just” person who walks beneath it. Apparently it has never fallen, and to my surprise it even failed to fall when I walked under it!

Arco della Costa, and that whalebone

So we made our way back to the apartment after another great, but very hot day exploring Verona.

 

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