Day 3: The sights of Verona

I'm writing this post from Santuario NS. Signora di Lourdes, a church sitting at the top of a hill on the edge of the city of Verona. It was a steep, but short (about 20 minutes) hike to this spot and it was worth each step. From the courtyard of the church, you can see the entire city of Verona. From the airport to the arena, Piazza Erbe to the Ponte Pietra, Verona is spread out before us as if a photograph, a city frozen in time. This city captures a beauty that I have never before seen.  The old and the new blending together slowly, but the old ways always win. I have only seen one person looking down at a cell phone on the street, but I have yet to seen a person talking on the phone. The people here value relationships, not through technology, but through speaking with you and learning your history... I was just interrupted by a gentleman, Alessandro, and his nephew, Nicola. Alessandro asked where we were from and what we studied at university. His niece studied in Athens, Ga. for two years during her time in university. Now if that constitute a "small world" reaction, I don't know what would. 

So let's talk about how we got to Signora di Lourdes. We woke up early this morning to pack in as much as we could. Following a walking guide book, we hit the arena and The Alps fountain again, then traveled along to the Porta Borsari which was the tollbooth and main entrance to Roman Verona. You could tell by the pillars and worn cobblestone under the port, that many feet have crossed through here. 

Piazza Erbe, a town square and market, was just through the port and is where merchants sell any- and everything--think mall kiosks on steroids. Though the square is the House of Juliet. We got there right when ithe gates opened, walked through the courtyard, placed our love letters in Juliet's mailbox and rubbed the right breat of the Juliet statue, which is said to bring you love. We continued on through the Piazza dei Signori, which is "Verona's sitting room" with building spanning 5 centuries. The Rchitecture was amazing! The Tombs of the Scaligeri Family, which is Romeo's family, was right there as well. We poked out heads into the Church of Sant'Anastasia and the Duomo, but we made our way to the Ponte Pietra, which is the most beautiful bridge I've ever seen. It links the Austrian side and Italian side of Verona. 

We then hiked up to Castel San Pietro, where we were stopped by two ladies, one Italian and one South Aftrican, who began a conversation with us. The woman from Verona, Cinzia, is trying to help her sons (ages 11 and 15) learn English, so she offered to host us if we were ever in Verona again in exchange for speaking English with her son. We know her for all of 5 minutes and she was inviting us to au pair. I thought I knew hospitality coming from the south, but the grace and curiosity the people of Verona show have made us feel welcome and honored to be among them. 

And with that, lunch! We are at Verona's first pizzeria, Pizzeria da Salvatore. It was so good! I'm not even sure what I ordered, but there werevegetables on it and I ate the entire thing by myself--Italians don't share pizzas. 

This is where our hike to Signora di Lourde comes in. When we descended, we walked to  Enoteca Oreste, a famous wine-and -grappa bar, where we hung out the Oreste and I had a glass of moscato... Yes, it was delicious!!! With the threat of rain, we headed back to our B&B, waited out the wind and drizzles and checked out Castelvecchio, the castle built by the Scaligeri family in 1346-1353. We wondered around a little more and then people watched in Piazza Bra. On our way home we grabbed gelato and the descriptions I've been told don't do it justice. Oh, it's so good. With that, we are in bed, feet sore after walking 12 miles (yes, we clocked it) today. If it sounds like we did a lot today. It's because we did! Tomorrow we're off to Milan and then Monterosso!