"Let's go to VERONA for the WEEKEND."
Something I never thought I'd say (note key highlighted words).
March rolled around which meant that for the first time I'd be celebrating my birthday off Canadian soil. Birthdays are a fairly big deal in our family and in the past we'd always get together (either on the day or as close to it as possible) and celebrate with dinner, cake, presents and good cheer. So as soon as this month approached I knew: This year was going to be different.
How different? Well, let's just see...
First off, the possibilities available for a birthday celebration are very different here than back in Saskatchewan. When celebrating birthdays with friends there usually we'd get together for a few bevies, do a little dancing, play some games, have lots of laughs but all within the confines of the city we resided in. Now while we still do that on occasion, the opportunity to do something completely new, intriguing and absolutely amazing is very probable and possible here in Italy. Hence, Randeen's Birthday Bash Weekend in Verona, Italy.
For the first time in Italy our trip was actually going to be a road trip. Yep! That's right. We charted new territory and decided to rent a car, pile five excited ladies in and take off for the weekend. Thankfully we had a former UK resident in our mix who was very used to driving a standard (aka manual) since those are what's available for renting (unless, we were told, you get a REALLY big vehicle which we weren't apt for considering the space in which you have to drive it). Needless to say I quickly realized that without some lessons somewhere along the line I'd not be experiencing driving in Italy while I'm here. Which I'm actually perfectly ok with after watching how traffic works in this country.
The road trip was a perfect choice since we had a driver, we could leave on our own timetable and it was going to be considerably cheaper and a little quicker than taking the train. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to ride in a vehicle, listen to music, enjoy snacks and have a barrel full of laughs as we cruised along listening to a variety of music, from Italian tracks to those we were completely familiar with. I knew right there that this was going to be a weekend I'd never forget.
Working together to make those tricky toll booths work ;)
(Someone needs to get closer next time lol)
We easily navigated our way to Verona, Google maps in hand of course, while battling traffic and speeds unmentionable (oh boy those Italians). After an awkward corner standing experience, we located our Airbnb apartment with the landlord's guidance, then unpacked, settled in, found food (which was surprisingly hard since there weren't too many places open around us - even at 10pm at night) and readied ourselves to take on Verona the next day.
Pizza never tasted so good as it did after our 'hunt' that night.
We decided to make the most of our time in Verona so we were busy from sun up to sun down. We were within walking distance from the centre so easily manoeuvred ourselves there to start our day at Piazza Bra and the Verona Arena. It was interesting to learn that there are still concerts and performances held in this Roman amphitheatre. After walking all around the top, inside/underneath too, and creating scenarios in our heads of events of the past, we headed on to Piazza Erbe where there were various markets there for our perusing.
Piazza Bra
Verona Arena
Disney is everywhere!
Whale bone; part of a Verona fable.
Piazza Erbe
Next up....well, what would you expect from one while visiting Verona? Casa di Guilietta of course! Here we saw and stood on the infamous balcony, viewed Juilet's wall of love letters/notes, saw a gum area too (which I'm really not sure what that was all about, and kinda grossed me out to be honest) and rubbed the golden breast for good luck.
Contemporary street sign, in case you miss it (which we did
the first time lol walked right by it)
Graffiti wall just inside
Hoping for some good luck
Love letters / notes
The gum! Ewww!
Oh William!
Oh Romeo........ ;)
How many can fit on the balcony?
We decided to stop for lunch before heading to Juliet's tomb and this was an adventure all in itself. All along one side of Piazza Bra are various restaurants, each depicting their own style of food and nestled up right against each other. This means that as you walk by, one host melds into another all vying for your attention and business. We were captured by one place that boasted really what we just desired after a few days of icky weather back in Genova: a table in the sun. "Luckily" this also meant that we were entertained by a waiter not shy of boldness and personality.
Asked to take a picture of us then this happened. Oh boy.
What a great group of gals!
After lunch we headed to the Tomb of Guilietta, which I came to find out wasn't really her tomb. It was intended / built for her but never actually got the job done. Then it was back to the apartment to prep ourselves for birthday supper out, and in all honestly to recoup from all the walking we'd done to that point. It was on this walk back and leaving again later that we inferred, from the various ladies standing in different points, that the street we were staying on, via Andrea Palladis, was actually "hooker lane". Yesiree, I sure can pick some excellent locations. We found this interesting though as it was a really quiet, residential neighbourhood where we'd seen families out for strolls and didn't seem that busy. Hmmmm.......I guess even good old Verona, the city of starcrossed lovers, has it's "shady" parts.
Tomb di Guilietta
Counting the coins
Our "Romeo and Juliet" narrator
The tomb
Supper was spent at a German Bier Haus where we enjoyed wurstel, sausages, saurkraut and German beer. We also had the fortunate luck to run into a stag here; the groom at one point even managed to wangle out kisses from us with the feeble excuse that his friends wouldn't feed him unless we did so. Boys, boys, boys. Lol. Later that evening we headed to the steps of the town hall, Palazzo Barbieri, where we got to see a taping of a Karaoke show.
It's funny, well not always at the time but usually some time afterwards, how misadventures seem to follow us - whether it's a broken train, missed planes, or stinky bus rides - we always seem to have "fun" with transportation. Verona was not a loss at this for us either. Sunday morning found us departing the apartment, leaving the keys inside as instructed, only to realize that our car was still in the parking lot.....which was inside the compound and we needed the key fob, that was attached to the key ring in the apartment, to activate the gate to exit. Yikes! When this realization hit us we literally stood there, mouths agape wondering "What now?" After seeing a few vehicles drive out, and thanks to some quick thinking on the part of one of our groups members, we noticed that there were sensors by the gates so that when the arms were up it could tell if the car was still in the way or not. Yep, can you infer what we did next? Thank goodness there were 5 of us. After waiting for the next car to go by, two of us (myself included) jumped in front of the sensors and continued to move in front of them all the while hoping the gates didn't slam down on our heads. Whilst we were doing this, our driver quickly ran to the car and high tailed it out of there. Successful? You betcha!
After this adrenaline spiking task we meandered down to Piazza Bra again, ate and strolled to Castelvecchio aka "Old Castle" and the Castelvecchio Bridge that spans across the Adige River. This bridge was beautiful and absolutely massive. It was easy to see why it and the castle itself were important military constructions and how it provided good defence to the city.
Unfortunately that trek meant the end of our time in Verona and the Birthday Bash weekend was coming to an end. Car loaded, both with gear and ourselves as it was a comfy, cozy ride, we headed back to Genova and back to reality.
In the end I can say this with conviction: I am very lucky to have such wonderful people here in Italy who will take time out of their schedules to accompany me in celebrating my birthday, regardless of time, location and cost. Thank you! You have made this event, one which I was uncertain if I'd even celebrate, into one I'll never forget.
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