Travel Blog Continues
I've had a couple of busy nights so I lost my momentum a bit. No matter, back to the posting.
After our touristing around Florence, we caught the... train I think? up to Verona, where we were picked up by one of Giffy's family friends. When the links are this tenuous (she was actually one of Giffy's dad's friend from kindergarten's little sister's daughter), the catch all of family friend is usefully ambiguous.
It's always awesome to meet up with locals who can show you a bit of the local scene as well as advice you about the touristy stuff. However, our stay with this particular friend was exceptionally good. She picked us up from the station, drove us back to her place where she made us dinner (which was small but very tasty) plied us with great wine (she was a bit of a connoisseur) and had a bed for us to sleep in.
The next morning she drove us into Verona and to us to see the sights - they've got a pretty colourful Roman Arena and then all of the Shakespeare/Romeo and Juliet stuff which was pretty cool. The Montague and Capulet houses were interesting, especially the balcony that has been placed in the Capulet house so that people can go and stand on Juliet's balcony. Apparently the balcony is from the correct period, but was moved from another 16th century building to the Capulet home during Mussolini's reign as it was felt to be a good Italian story and good propaganda for the state. We saw a lot of amazing (but quite different) churches and did a lot of walking, getting some fantastic views around the city.
Along with our obligatory sight seeing, we also had some amazing food. Our hostess is a gourmet and took us to great places for food, drink and atmosphere. She also invited us out with a lot of her friends to make sure that we felt welcome (as if her own excellent conversation wasn't enough).
Apart from sight seeing in Verona and eating excellent food around the region, we also spent a day up at Lake Garda, which is the second biggest lake in Europe (after Lake Geneva). The weather (and food) up here was beautiful and we spent a lot of time walking around the lake and just hanging out on the beaches. A really nice and relax day in amongst all our frantic travelling.
That wasn't so long this time - barely needed a cut. Getting through it slowly. Only Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Trier, Paris, Leon, Bern, Zurich, Munich, Berlin, Lolland, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Belfast, Derry, Dublin, Cork, LA and SoCal to go.... *sigh*
After our touristing around Florence, we caught the... train I think? up to Verona, where we were picked up by one of Giffy's family friends. When the links are this tenuous (she was actually one of Giffy's dad's friend from kindergarten's little sister's daughter), the catch all of family friend is usefully ambiguous.
It's always awesome to meet up with locals who can show you a bit of the local scene as well as advice you about the touristy stuff. However, our stay with this particular friend was exceptionally good. She picked us up from the station, drove us back to her place where she made us dinner (which was small but very tasty) plied us with great wine (she was a bit of a connoisseur) and had a bed for us to sleep in.
The next morning she drove us into Verona and to us to see the sights - they've got a pretty colourful Roman Arena and then all of the Shakespeare/Romeo and Juliet stuff which was pretty cool. The Montague and Capulet houses were interesting, especially the balcony that has been placed in the Capulet house so that people can go and stand on Juliet's balcony. Apparently the balcony is from the correct period, but was moved from another 16th century building to the Capulet home during Mussolini's reign as it was felt to be a good Italian story and good propaganda for the state. We saw a lot of amazing (but quite different) churches and did a lot of walking, getting some fantastic views around the city.
Along with our obligatory sight seeing, we also had some amazing food. Our hostess is a gourmet and took us to great places for food, drink and atmosphere. She also invited us out with a lot of her friends to make sure that we felt welcome (as if her own excellent conversation wasn't enough).
Apart from sight seeing in Verona and eating excellent food around the region, we also spent a day up at Lake Garda, which is the second biggest lake in Europe (after Lake Geneva). The weather (and food) up here was beautiful and we spent a lot of time walking around the lake and just hanging out on the beaches. A really nice and relax day in amongst all our frantic travelling.
That wasn't so long this time - barely needed a cut. Getting through it slowly. Only Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Trier, Paris, Leon, Bern, Zurich, Munich, Berlin, Lolland, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Belfast, Derry, Dublin, Cork, LA and SoCal to go.... *sigh*