One of the great advantages of Verona is that you can fly there direct from Southampton, and so we found ourselves on the U1A a couple of weeks ago, on our way to that beautiful Italian city. It's always very exciting to find out about a new place, and all we knew about Verona was that Juliet had a balcony there, and two gentlemen came from it.
We spent the first day walking round the city getting our bearings, checking out where the main tourist hotspots were, and also seeing a great many statues. This one is quite unusual:
We spent the first day walking round the city getting our bearings, checking out where the main tourist hotspots were, and also seeing a great many statues. This one is quite unusual:
He is Cesare Lombroso - a criminologist whose theory was that criminality is inherited and that criminals can be identified by their physical defects. According to Wikipedia these theories do not have widespread support amongst scientists in Western countries.
Someone who has done a lot more for Verona is William Shakespeare, and he is commemorated in a number of ways - his bust is perhaps one of the more tasteful:
Someone who has done a lot more for Verona is William Shakespeare, and he is commemorated in a number of ways - his bust is perhaps one of the more tasteful:
They have delicious ice cream in Italy.
Of all the things to do in Verona, the busiest by far was Juliet's house and balcony. It is a very interesting place because of the way it is treated by the visitors. The entrance arch is coated in graffiti. There is so much graffiti that graffiti is piled on top of graffiti, and people also leave Juliet presents of sticking plasters and chewing gum. There are a number of gift shops to buy your Juliet memorabilia. We didn't linger.
Of all the things to do in Verona, the busiest by far was Juliet's house and balcony. It is a very interesting place because of the way it is treated by the visitors. The entrance arch is coated in graffiti. There is so much graffiti that graffiti is piled on top of graffiti, and people also leave Juliet presents of sticking plasters and chewing gum. There are a number of gift shops to buy your Juliet memorabilia. We didn't linger.
We decided to dip our toes in Venice, not literally, and just have a day there, because we might not like it. The view from Venice railway station was breath-taking, and we immediately caught the river bus to St Mark's Square.
Our journey was enlivened by a couple of Americans conversing loudly about their satnav apps and how much of Europe they could download. Although the day started cloudy, by the time we got to the square the weather was perfect, and of course we absolutely loved Venice. We used this first visit as a recce expedition, and we will definitely return.
So, back to Verona, and with Juliet's balcony done it was time to pay attention to the other amazing Veronese sights, and the one that dominates the city is the arena. This was built in AD 30 and is one of the largest in Italy. It is used as an opera venue, and there was a Sam Smith concert on our first night.
It was much less busy when we visited, although a group of school children did entertain us with some songs.
There is a lovely museum in the centre of Verona known in English as the Stone Museum. This is a collection of hundreds of epitaphs and inscriptions put together by Francesco Scipione in the early eighteenth century. It contains Etruscan, Greek and Roman artefacts that were commissioned by people from many different backgrounds. There is the last will and testament of a well to do Greek lady that has been chiselled out in close print on seven very large stone tablets; and also many charming memorials.
We travelled to Lucca for our final weekend, and met our friend Ally. Lucca is the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini and a concert in his honour is held every evening.
After the concert we had some refreshment of course, before we retired to rest prior to our day trip to Florence.
We caught the bus to Florence quite confidently. This confidence was brought up short when the bus stopped at Porta al Prato railway station and we were all told to get out. This was not the centre of Florence as expected. We had planned to get a taxi to the Stibbert Museum from the centre and then get a bus back, but the plan was put on hold for a while as we didn't know where we were. After asking in a shop we wandered off hopefully. The day was saved when we came across a hotel that very kindly called a taxi for us, and it got better as we were able to queue jump some Germans.
The Stibbert Museum was the only place in Florence that day that was not occupied by thousands and thousands of tourists. It is a villa a couple of miles from the centre, and it houses a fascinating collection of armour and weaponry. The collector, Frederick Stibbert, had ties with Southampton through his grandfather Giles, and we were gratified to see a portrait of Giles' horse painted in the grounds of Portswood house.
The Stibbert Museum was the only place in Florence that day that was not occupied by thousands and thousands of tourists. It is a villa a couple of miles from the centre, and it houses a fascinating collection of armour and weaponry. The collector, Frederick Stibbert, had ties with Southampton through his grandfather Giles, and we were gratified to see a portrait of Giles' horse painted in the grounds of Portswood house.
Frederick Stibbert had special dummies designed to show off his armour collection and they are certainly very striking.
When we returned to central Florence we realised why we had been dumped on the outskirts - it seemed as if almost every road was being dug up to lay tram lines. It will be brilliant when it's done, but it made navigating the city a bit tricky. Still we managed to find our way back to Porta al Prato relatively easily and caught the bus back to Lucca with the help of a bar waiter. He held up the bus for us before it could get round the corner and escape. It was touch and go - Christopher ran out of the bar after paying and went the wrong way; we were on the bus and called to him desperately. He hopped on just in time to be thrown all over the place as the bus finally went round the corner.
Back in Lucca we enjoyed a drink at the hotspot before retiring.
Back in Lucca we enjoyed a drink at the hotspot before retiring.
We spent our last day in Italy visiting Montecatini Terme, a spa town with a funicular. Montecatini Alta has absolutely stunning views of the surroundings, and is a very pleasant place for lunch.
When we returned to the lower half of the town we spent some time walking down Viale Giuseppe Verdi which commemorates the town's celebrity visitors by having embedded metal plaques with their names. So many people have visited including Eddie Merckx, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Trappatori and Lippi. And of course Giacomo Puccini.
A little further down the street we came across a rather larger memorial to the great man.
With just one morning left in Lucca we had time to look at a cardboard sculpture of a gorilla and some ostriches with their heads in the sand. These were beautifully framed by the ancient city walls.
Then it was time to make our way to Pisa airport and the flight to Gatwick. But we will definitely be back!