Verona: Romeo and Juliet, the Arena, and a Stick-Shift Jeep Ride from Hell

A few weekends ago, Annie and I decided to travel to Verona. It hadn't originally been on our list of places to see, but SO many people have raved about it since we've been here. We had also heard that the Arena in Verona, an old Roman amphitheater, hosted a summer opera festival that was not to be missed!

We left for Verona on Friday night - it was about 4 hours by train. When we arrived, we attempted to locate our hotel on a city map. That didn't work out so well and after walking around for about a half hour, we decided to take a cab. The cab driver then informed us that our hotel was actually pretty far outside of the city, not technically even in Verona - I'm glad we only spent a half hour looking! Still, the cab fare wasn't bad, and the place was really cool. It was a huge old villa that had been converted into a bed and breakfast. Luckily, it was on street with several restaurants, and we found a great place to grab a late dinner.

One of the former Italian grad students that I know well from OSU actually lives in Verona - her name is Camilla and she is amazing - she was born and raised in Verona, studied Japanese during undergrad at a university in Venice, moved to Japan for a few months, and then decided to pursue a masters and PhD in Italian cinema! I had emailed her to let her know we were coming and she offered to show us around for the day. She came to get us early Saturday morning and drove us back to her house. Then, her dad dropped us off in the city - parking is absolutely impossible in Italy! We started up by some old forts that overlook most of the city and then worked our way down to the large piazzas. We stopped to shop in a few stores and also saw Juliet's house (yes - of Romeo and Juliet!) Camilla walked us over to see the Arena in the daylight and showed us an old medieval castle in the city. We had lunch a great outdoor cafe and then later in the day had drinks - called spritzs - they were interesting!

Around dinner, Camilla pointed us in the direction of the Arena. You're allowed to "picknick" (yes, they spell it that way) during the show, so Annie and I got pizza to go. We had to go into the theater pretty early because our tickets were for opening seating and we wanted a good view. The Arena was amazing - we saw Aida, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi about an Ethiopian princess/slave who loves an Egyptian warrior. The scenery was incredible and the singers were fantastic. It was great to people watch too - the floor seats are for the Italian elite, and they all stroll in right before show time in gorgeous evening wear. It made me, in my jean shorts, feel rather inadequate. My favorite moment of the evening was just before the show started when everyone in the stands lit candles that were handed out on the way in. Apparently, this is a tradition that goes way back. The opera didn't end until around 1:00 am, so we caught a late cab back to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning, we got up early to take a bus to Lake Garda, about 10 miles outside of Verona. We had planned to visit an Italian zoo right by the lake first. Let's just say that I have a new moment embarrassing moment. Picture this: The zoo has a safari section that you can drive your own car through. We obviously do not have a car, so we rent one. After filling out a ton of paperwork and paying, we get in the car to discover that it is a stick shift. We clearly do not know how to drive a stick, but the Italian guy working tells us that we'll be fine and shows us how to shift. We get going into the park and then Annie stalls. And then she stalls again. and again. and again. This happened roughly 8 times. Finally, frustrated she pulls over so Italian families can pass us. As they are passing us, THEY ARE FILMING US WITH THEIR VIDEOCAMERAS. I could not have been more embarrassed! We decided that we needed better instructions, so Annie called her dad to ask how to drive a manual. At this time it was 4:45 am back home, so she wakes him up and says, "Dad, I am trapped in manual car that I can't drive and I can't get out of the car because I'm in a safari zoo surrounded by zebras and buffalo and giraffes." Then, her dad yells so loud that I can hear it too, "ARE YOU NUTS??" Eventually a park ranger had to rescue us. I was mortified!

After making completely fools of ourselves at the zoo, we grabbed lunch and hopped on another bus to Lazise, one of the towns along the coast of the Lake. We walked down by the walked and some yummy granita (lemon slushies). Camilla picked us up afterward and took us back to the train station so we could make the 5:00 back to Siena.

Minus the zoo incident (which at least makes for a great story), the weekend was perfect! Verona is definitely on the list of favorite cities!

I'll be home in 5 days - lots of updating to do!

Brittany