Firstly we found Juliette's balcony along with a thousand other people. From the street, the entrance is an archway that has been signed by lovers over the decades to form a wallpaper of signatures, notes and messages. Walking through the arch, you enter a small courtyard and the the balcony is perched high on a brick wall. A statue of Juliette is under the balcony and surrounding the courtyard are a number of little stores selling, you guessed it, love souvenirs. There is an embroidery store that sews your name onto red hearts while you wait. The balcony is quite popular with tourist and school groups and we had both crammed into the little area. Even so, it was still lovely to see. I also really enjoyed the fact that so many others wanted to be remembered in this place so messages covered every possible space. Of course you always get that one tourist who has to have his picture taken with Juliette's statue and then places his hand over her boob for the photo. Really!!! Anyway, apparently Romeo's home is actually someone's home so you can't see that one.
We then moved on to see the Verona Arena, the very first Colosseum built in 1 AD. It is still used to host concerts etc but it is nowhere near the size of Rome's version. It was then onto Piazza Bra and Piazza Delle Erbe. You have to give it to the Italians, they loved their Piazza's and why wouldn't you. It's a great place to take a break, relax, eat gelato and people watch. Unfortunately the high end fashion stores have taken up one entire lane way so it kills the historical feel of that particular part of the square.
We then took a walk over to see the Castelvecchio, a medieval castle built in the 1300s. Entry was free and we were able to walk up to the turrets and see the view of the city.
Overall a great day. Don't forget to see the photos. This time Sean took them.
Ciao.
Lorraine & Sean
Photos
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