In Fair Verona

Visiting Verona, I (of course) had Shakespeare on my mind. I had the urge to point at random people and shout "A plague on both your houses!" But refrained, because my mission this year was to portray Americans in a good light while overseas.

*ahem*

Anyway, Verona surprised me with it's loveliness. Similar to Rome with its look, I think that's why I grew to love Verona so much (because I'm still obsessed with Rome). I think you know what look I'm talking about: peeling paint, orangey-reddish rustic buildings, beautiful bridges and arches, and lots of Roman influence! (yes, Verona was also part of the Roman empire).

 Oh, and this...this is the supposed inspiration for the balcony in Romeo and Juliet. In fact, the Italians went as far as to say that there was an actual couple in history that Shakespeare based the play on, and that Juliet lived here. Not so sure I believe any of this as there are a lot of damn balconies in Verona. It would be easy to pick any balcony and say, "Juliet lived here!" But it's a nice little spot to visit and pretend, anyway. You could also pay to go inside the house and onto the balcony; but I'm really not hankering for Romeo that badly.

Now this is a recommendation for ya! A restaurant we haphazardly bumped into that had the most delicious wine I had in the whole of Italy (and supposedly the oldest wine bar in Verona). Whether that's true matters not when there's great wine to be had! 

My favorite thing about Verona was the river and the hills that surround it. I completely recommend walking up the steep, jagged staircase to reach the top of one of those hills...

Because there is an amazing view to be had there!!

I liked Verona a lot more than Venice. I'm not sure why that is exactly, except that Venice is sort of painstaking to walk through with its maze of alley ways. Verona doesn't have much of a maze, is easy to navigate, and is equally as beautiful! It can also be done in a day, and honestly, I wouldn't skip it.

Verona, you truly are fair! And gosh, your wine is divine!