12 Hours in Verona

While most people in my program spent the long weekend in Paris, I decided I wanted to take a day-trip to Verona, knowing nothing about it other than people telling me: “Go see Verona.” I mentioned it to a kid in my program I had met during a Superbowl party held at a pub in Milan owned by an American, and he decided to join. That’s one great thing about studying abroad: you want to see everywhere and you want to meet new people, so after knowing this person for about 15 minutes we decided, hey, no one else is around and we want to go somewhere, why not spend an entire day together in Verona? I’m sure in the back of both our minds, this decision was followed by, I hope we actually get along otherwise this is going to be a very long day, but hey- it’s all part of the experience. While waiting at the train station, we bumped into two other kids in our program who had just missed their train to Turin and decided, Forget Turin, why don’t we just join you in Verona? Good decision. It was so impromptu and the epitome of what studying abroad is all about, and it ended up being an INCREDIBLE day. (And luckily we all got along extremely well and even after spending 12 hours in Verona together, we came back to Milan and cooked a lavish dinner together at my friend's apartment. Spontaneity wins again.) 

It was a relatively foggy day, but that didn’t take away the beauty of the city. I feel as if Verona is overlooked destination point, but if you ever have the privilege to wander around Italy, stop in Verona. It’s absolutely beautiful. The city is pretty much the picture of quintessential Italy: it has a canal running through it with beautiful bridges, small winding stone streets, and tons of amazing places to visit. We spent 10 euro to buy a day long “Verona Card” which gives you bus privileges and gets you into 13 tourist destinations. We only managed to hit 3 of them, but GOOD GOD they were SPECTACULAR!

        

Juliet's House

So apparently I was the only one who was NOT aware that Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona. It just so happened that we went to Verona only days before Valentine’s Day, and there was a big festival to celebrate – perfect time to go. In the spirit of things, we went to Juliet’s house where there is a statue of her and apparently it is good luck to rub her left breast; so… when in Rome Verona. I’ve been extremely lucky and fortunate on this trip so far, so maybe this will further contribute. 

We started the day off at the Arena, which was like something straight out of the movie Gladiator. We walked around in the middle then climbed to the top for a beautiful view of the city. I heard some kids speaking English and promptly started conversation with them, and found out that they’re with a program in a small town not far from Venice and study biology at Bryan College in Tennessee. (I LOVE meeting random people on trips.) It’s crazy to think about how many students study in Italy!

After the Arena, we went to Museo di Castelvecchio which is in an old, beautiful castle. It had a mote and drawbridge and was on the water overlooking the city with tons of elevated brick walkways. It was absolutely beautiful. 

My absolute FAVORITE spot of the day was the Teatro Romano, which we spent quite a long time at. It was an ancient outdoor Roman theatre and was built into the side of a hill. It was set up like a miniature semi-circle coliseum and had courtyards above the seats. You could take a walk up to the top of the theatre which overlooked the entire city. I’m including tons of photos of it because my description can’t do it justice. It was by far my favorite part of Verona. (As a side note, I will include that we saw 3 Italian men reverse crab-walk up the ENTIRE pathway to the top where this view was taken. Reverse crab-walk meaning they were essentially in push-up position with their heads facing down the hill, so they used their arms and tippy toes to carry them up the hill. Now THAT’S impressive. My three friends and I applauded them when they reached the top.)

All in all, go to Verona. Buy the Verona Card. Go to the Teatro Romano. You won’t regret it.