Verona

After a hot train ride from Milan we arrived in Verona to the rumblings of thunder. We found the campground and set up camp. The campground is within the fortications of the Castel Saint Pietro and sits on a hill overlooking Verona.

We grabbed some supplies from the local market before setting up kitchen in the common area in the campground. While cooking dinner we got talking to Beat and Katerine from Switzerland, another cycle touring couple. We chatted for hours before finally dragging ourselves to bed on the promise that Cam would make them fresh coffee in the morning.

Wednesday

We woke up and had breaky with Beat and Katerine. We ended up chatting until around 11am when they decided that they really should hit the road as they had a distance of around 100km to cover today. Before they left we exchanged details and were offered a place to stay in Switzerland when we next visit Europe.

After bidding Beat and Katerine a farewell we wondered down into Verona and checked out the sites. The Castel of San Pietro, Ponte Pietra, Roman Threate, Roman Arena (small version of the collosseum), Juliet's balcony, the Duomo, Piazza Bra and Piazza Erbe.

We bought tickets for the opera La Boheme that was being held in the Roman Arena that night. I can't believe that we are going to the Opera!

We had an early dinner and wondered back down to the Roman Arena thinking that if we got there at 7.30pm for the 9.15pm start we would beat the crowds. Wrong! We arrived to a very long line up. Oh well we still got great seats - we sat on the marble benches above the VIP balcony.

The opera was awesome, we both totally loved it. We couldn't understand a word of it (well actually we understood Grazie but that was it) but we were still able to follow what was happening. This was helped by the guidebook which gave us an explanation of the storyline.

Thursday

We got up late as it was a pretty late night last night. We had some breaky and read our books for a while before putting on a load of washing and heading into town to see if we could get some tickets for the Ballet.

We came home without tickets but with the hope that we could purchase them at the door later in the evening.

The lazy day continued ..... we snoozed, we washed, we ate......

At around 7.30pm we headed down to the Ballet to see if we could get some tickets - still no luck. We grabed some dinner and then went back at 8.30pm. Finally, we purchased two front row tickets for the high price of €6.00 each. As with tradition in Italy, the Ballet started 45 mins late. It was awesome. Cam did not enjoy it as much as the Opera but I loved it as much or even more.

We wondered back up the hill to the campsite and had a bottle of wine overlooking the city lights and watched the moon disappear into the smog.

Friday

Again, we rose late and enjoyed a lazy breaky. We headed into town at around 11am and had a look at the Castel Vecchio before heading to an internet cafe to update our blog. The things we do for you guys!!

We then headed back to the campsite to pack up as we are heading to Venice tomorrow.

Click here to see the pics