Love in Verona

/ Verona, Veneto, Italy.

The gloomy vibe caused by the rainy days or cold winter days might make us wanna go back to those hot summer days when the weather is less depressing and that’s why as promised, I’m excited to share one of the highlights from my previous summer trip to Europe, Verona.. A one day trip to one of the beautiful city in Italy.. Yes you read it right, it is possible to explore (most) parts of the city in just one day.. So, shall we begin?

The trip started when we arrived in Milan the day before.. Stayed one night there then we took the 09.45 AM train (Frecciarossa) from Milano Centrale to Verona Porta Nuova.. Double (or even triple) check all the details of your ticket so you won’t get confused especially for the first timer.. The people are nice and helpful so you can just ask the guard, or just read the signs.. You can buy the ticket on www.trenitalia.com

The journey took around 1 hour and there we were.. After we arrived, we were a bit in doubt about which one is better (and cheaper) to do this one day trip.. Thankfully just outside the station, they have a mini tour guide booth where you can ask them and get city tour brochure.. We read the brochure, decided where we wanna go, calculate all entrance tickets.. It was a bit expensive for 1 ticket, but turned out they have a day pass card called VeronaCard for €18 for 24hours and €22 for 48 hours which can be bought at the tobacco store inside the station.. The VeronaCard can be used for bus, sights entrances, without any top ups.. So it’s a good deal since one entrance ticket can cost around €2-8..

We got our card then we walked to the nearest bus station (around 100m from the station) to go to our first destination.. Well, here’s the thing, every country has their own way to write signs, bus lane, number, and bus station.. So we were a bit confused which bus to take.. We googled but still confused and no police or guard that we can ask.. Plus none of us wanted to stay longer under the blasting hot sun so we just went with our guts and took the one that we’re most sure of.. It didn’t take long until we arrived at our first destination Casa di Giulietta or Juliet’s house.. We had to walk a bit through the alley and we have google maps so everything was good..

It is believed that Case di Giulietta is the house where Juliet lived.. As we entered the gate, we saw hundreds of love letter from people all over the world, which actually a bit too much for me because people just used whatever they could find (and write down) in their bag and sticked it there, when I say whatever, it is literally everything you could imagine, from paper to tampon.. Not everything is bad tho, there are also a lot of nice, sweet, and lovely letters.. I understand the reason why people did it, but I wish it could be more proper for something that meant to be beautiful..

Speaking about beautiful, after the love letters gate, we saw this small courtyard surrounded by walls, quite high walls with windows.. Despite of the crowd, there are two things that will attract your attention immediately when you reach this area..

First, the balcony. If you remember from the story written by William Shakespeare, the night when Juliet was waiting for Romeo to come, she was waiting on her bedroom balcony and said the well known phrase “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”.. Yes this is the balcony! And we can of course take pictures there by going to the 2nd floor (entrance ticket required).. You can take pictures from above or from downstair like I did here.. Since there were 4 of us, we decided to split into a group of 2 so we can get more pictures without wasting too much time because the queue was long..

On the 3rd-5th are mini museums with Romeo and Juliet’s costumes, pictures, posters made by famous artists, and also some computers to write your “Letters to Juliet”..

Second, the Juliet statue. Another tourists attraction we saw is the Juliet statue made from bronze.. It view was a bit blocked by the crowd but you can see people were taking turns to take photos with Lady Juliet.. Why is this statue so famous? Because it is believed if you touch Juliet’s right breast you can get good fortune in love.. No wonder the right breast has lighter color than the left breast.. So yes we tried it too.. One thing you have to know, there’s no queue line so you need to be fast but still be polite to other people..

Casa di Giulietta

Via Cappello 23, Verona, Italy

Monday 01.30 PM – 06.45 PM

Tuesday – Sunday 08.30 AM – 06.45 PM

Entrance ticket: €6 (Adult), €4.50 (Group)

FREE ENTRANCE WITH VERONACARD

Moving from Casa di Giulietta, we stopped at the nearest Italian restaurant.. I forgot the name but they have good score on tripadvisor.com.. About finding place to eat in Verona, it’s not that hard, you can use google search or just trolling around the street while looking at their menus and decide which one fits your budget and quite interesting to try.. Unless you have specific type of food that you want to eat (ex: Asian food, or vegetarian food) then you have do your research before.. So far we used that method to pick restaurants (even gelato place) and they’re all served delicious food *all hail Italian food!

Next destination is Basilica di Sant’Anastasia, the largest Gothic church in Verona, known for the hunchback statues and the interior.. We arrived there and at the ticket booth (entrance ticket required) they will check your outfit, if you wear shorts or tank top you have to wear a kimono provided by them for free but you have to return it before you leave.. They also have Audio Guide in many languages plus a map to help you understand more about the church.. If you like history and all that, it is very recommended for you to use it..

The Hunchbacks. By the first columns, exactly at the center of the church, you’ll be greeted by these 2 hunchback statues.. The one on the left is made by Gabriele Caliari, eldest son of Paolo Caliari. The one on the right is attributed to Paolo Orifice. Both statues symbolize the humility and poverty of the Veronese population and it is said that touching their hump brings luck.

Verona red marble. The church also known for the white,black, and red marbled floor..

The view was so magnificent, walls are decorated with giant statues, frescos, altars, and even sarcophagus, each with their own story.. I had to sit for awhile just to absorb everything..

Basilica di Sant’Anastasia

Via Don Bassi, 2, Verona, Italy

March – October: Monday – Saturday 09.00 AM – 06.00 PM

Sunday 01.00 PM – 06.00 PM

November – February : Monday – Saturday 10 AM – 05.00 PM

Sunday 01.00 PM – 05.00 PM

Entrance ticket: €2.50

FREE ENTRANCE WITH VERONACARD

After spending around 1 hour at the Basilica di Sant’Anastasia, we walked to Duomo di Verona or Cathedral in Verona.. They have the same outfit rules as Basilica di Sant’Anastasia and they also have Audio Guide (entrance ticket is required).. When we walked in, we found out that there are 3 parts of the building that we can visit..

The Duomo. The biggest part of the whole complex.. A Romanesque Romanesque built in 12th century.. Too bad when we’re there, they were having a massive restoration so most parts were covered..

The Baptistery. This used to be a place where they performed Baptism.. It’s a big octagon “bathtub” made of sandstone with sculptures on each side, describing the life of Jesus..

St. Elena Church. Which is a Canonical Museum.. You can see many religious equipments and accessories also archaeological materials..

Duomo di Verona

Piazza Vescovado, Verona, Italy

March – October: Monday – Saturday 10.00 AM – 05.30 PM

Sunday 01.30 PM – 05.30 PM

November – February : Monday – Saturday 10 AM – 05.00 PM

Sunday 01.30 PM – 05.00 PM

Entrance ticket: €2.50

FREE ENTRANCE WITH VERONACARD

On the way to our next tourist spot, we passed this bridge called Ponte Pietra where you can see the beautiful Verona landscape, we took some pictures then immediately rushing to the nearest cafe to buy cold drinks cos it’s so freakin hot and you can see there’s no clouds at all!

Didn’t want to waste too much time (it was already 3 PM), we continued walking towards Castel San Pietro, not to see the inside (forbidden for public) but to stroll around its yard and see Verona from above. You can reach the castle by using the stairs as seen on the right picture, or using the elevator (entrance ticket required), or by car, they have parking area.. We took the elevator obv hahaha

At the castle, you can see the city under the skyline plus many beautiful spots to take Instagram worthy pictures, also benches to just sit and enjoy the view.. It’s quite mesmerizing and worth the climb for sure.. If you’re craving for food you can try the restaurant..

Ponte Pietra

Verona, Italy

Castel San Pietro

Piazzale Castel S. Pietro, 2, Verona, Italy

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06.30 AM – 12.00 AM

Elevator ticket: €6

Before heading to our final destination, we stopped by at the Piazza Erbe to see the local market.. Finally, the last destination of our trip, the mighty Arena Roman Amphitheater, the third largest amphitheater in Italy after The Colosseum and The Capuan.. As we walked inside the theater (entrance ticket required), we saw a history guide about the Arena and after that we walked until we reached the open area where you can sit and watch the performance.. I think they’re going to have a performance later that night or maybe upcoming performance I’m not sure but there was a stage setting when we were there.. It is amazing how they still use the Arena until now..

Arena Roman Amphitheater

Piazza Bra, 1, Verona, Italy

Monday 01.30 PM – 07.30 PM

Tuesday – Sunday 08.30 AM – 07.30 PM

Entrance ticket €10

FREE ENTRANCE WITH VERONACARD

More details about Verona: www.tourism.verona.it

We had to catch our 07.00 PM train to go back to Milan, we went back to the station by bus (same price €1.50) so the journey in Verona ended here, but not the drama.. So Verona Porta Nuova station didn’t have complete signage or announcement and it caused us boarding to a wrong train, same destination different train.. All details were right except somebody already sat on our seats! We thought it’s a system error but then we double checked our own ticket before arguing and that’s when we found out we were in the wrong train! Our train supposed to be the one after this train! So we wait until the ticket check and told the woman in charge.. Unfortunately the woman didn’t speak fluent English, so she thought we’re an illegal passengers.. She was mad and told us to buy new tickets, we were shocked! But we tried to explain everything again, finally she understood and just told us to get off at the next station.. It was definitely an extra adventure!