Verona: a weekend as a gift

I took part in the mammagiramondo competition with a photo and won a beautiful weekend at the MONTEMEZZI hotel in Vigasio... The hotel is very nice and has been named a funny hotel, so in the room there are lots of fun notes....and then it is very convenient for reaching Verona and Lake Garda in next to no time. We arrived on Friday evening... so on Saturday morning we set off for Verona... very well equipped, with lots of car parks. Through the internet I had discovered Verona for kids... lots of itineraries suitable for children and I must say it was lucky because my little boy was not at all bored, in fact he had a great time... We started from piazza Bra, which is the largest in the city centre. We crossed the two great crenellated arches, topped by a clock, that the people of Verona call the "Portoni della Bra".

Having passed the "Portoni", looking ahead of us, on the left, is the famous Listòn, which in Venetian means precisely "large pavement", full of people sitting at the little tables chatting. In piazza Bra there are: the Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Palazzo Barbieri and the stunning Arena. Besides being the most famous monument in Verona, the Arena is also one of the largest amphitheatres of the Roman era still in existence, after the Colosseum in Rome; in antiquity it was one of the largest-capacity in the whole empire: it could hold about 30,000 spectators!. We had great fun climbing up to the top and imagining the gladiator shows.. Having finished the visit to the Arena we set off into shopping life on Via Mazzini, paved with the famous pink marble of passo ancora, and here we are directly in piazza delle Erbe, rich in splendid palaces and a beautiful fountain.

We pass under the famous arco della costa, where a whale bone is hung, and arrive in the town-hall square where the Torre dei Lamberti stands, belonging to an ancient Veronese family. We climbed it; it is 84 metres high and we admired an incredible view of the city. Also very beautiful is piazza dei Signori, rich in palaces and a statue of Dante Alighieri. We then ate in piazza delle Erbe in one of the many bars with outdoor tables.... We then began the path of love, because, as is well known, Verona is famous throughout the world also for an ancient love story, that of Romeo and Juliet. We started from the Arche Scaligere, opposite which is Romeo's house, which however cannot be visited as it is a private residence.

Before reaching Juliet's house we walk along a street and visit both the Duomo of Verona and the Church of Santa Anastasia, truly stunning...and we touch the famous hump of the two holy-water stoups because they say it brings good luck... We are also fortunate to witness a beautiful wedding of some English people.. After the Duomo we reach the Roman bridge, from which there is a wonderful view of the Adige... Having finished this digression we head towards Juliet's house. Unfortunately this monument is daubed with chewing gum and graffiti that tell us of people's bad manners... never mind... in any case the beautiful love story between the beautiful daughter of the Capulet family and the young son of the rival Montagues, told by William Shakespeare at the end of the 1500s, makes you dream........

Lastly we go to Castelvecchio, where, walking along the walls, you can visit the fine fortified bridge that crosses the river: when they built it, a few years after the castle, it was a marvel of the engineering of the time... a perfect device for defending the castle from enemies but also for withstanding the overwhelming floods of the Adige! The three arches, supported by mighty piers, are different: the first, near the castle, is wider (42 metres!) and thus allows the river to flow freely right at the point where the bed reaches 120 metres in width, and a bend gives more speed to the waters. Beyond the bridge, we sit down to admire a breathtaking landscape and rest a little... Towards evening we return to piazza Bra and eat a very good pizza in one of the many restaurants overlooking the arena... Long live Verona, the city of love... that makes you dream in every corner