Verona

The next day was again a travelling day, but an extremely lazy one. After breakfast we had some time to kill and after checkout a taxi brought us to the railway station for a short one-hour journey to Verona. We left our luggage at our “luxury” Ikea equipped apartment and headed towards the historic centre which was not far away.

One could not miss out on Piazza Bra, the best-known piazza from Verona.  The centrepiece of Piazza Bra is the Roman amphitheater, the Arena di Verona, which dates back to the 1st century AD. The opera season had not started yet but still we could go inside to get a view front the Arena. We must have been spoiled by experiences of the last week but to be honest we were completely underwhelmed by the place.

While we went to the exit, we spotted a beautiful rooftop terrace so we went over there for a drink with a view, now this was already much better.

Next, we strolled through the historic centre and passed by the iconic Casa di Guilietta. The queue to see the famous “fake” terrace of Romeo and Juliet was enormous and conveniently placed in a courtyard one could not get a glimpse of without joining the queue. It was our decision it was not worth it.

Instead, we went for another stroll to the riverside and ended up at a lovely terrace with a fantastic bottle of Valpolicalla.

Then we returned to our apartment to look back on another lovely day and to plan a great time in the one but last destination of our journey. For sure we will enjoy the next couple of days, just hope the weather forecast is wrong as things are not looking good…

With so many things having to be planned this trip the next day we simply decided to go on a walkabout and see where we ended up. But first thing first, breakfast at a local bar.

By coincidence we passed by Castelvecchio, originally called the castle of San Martino in Aquaro, a medieval fort located in the historic centre of Verona. We decided not to go inside but crossed the bridge across the Adige River and continue our walk outside the historic centre.

Both of us enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere which was in complete contrast to the last couple of days in Venice.

Next surprise stop was The Verona Funicular, which was planned in 1939 as a means of transport for the students of the G. B. Cignaroli Academy of Fine Arts, which had its seat in Castel San Pietro, and was in operation from 1941 to 1944, when it ceased operations in connection with the war. Nowadays it is a convenient way to skip the stairs to Castel San Pietro from where we had a fantastic view over Verona and it surroundings.

But from a distance clouds were quickly gathering above Verona and we could hear the thunder from a distance. Once we were down again it started raining so we looked for shelter under an arch. There were some extremely loud thunders trucks and a short shower before we continued our walk.

It was really wonderful to stroll through Verona without a set itinerary and somehow, we ended up at Piazza Bra again which houseds the famous arena. We also saw the Torre dei Lamberti, a prominent medieval tower in Verona, Italy, standing at 84 meters (275 feet), making it the tallest structure in the city. Construction began in 1172 by the Lamberti family, and over the centuries, the tower was expanded and modified, reaching its current height in the 15th century.

Then we had a break again at the same terrace of yesterday where we relaxed and enjoyed a fantastic bottle of Valpolicella Ripasso, whilst watching the world passing by.

Another stroll led us to bistro con amore where we had a fantastic meal. By the end of our meal it was raining again, which didn’t stop us returning to our apartment for a final drink and an early night. Both of us start noticing we are getting tired earlier than usual.

The Next day we started with a well-deserved sleep-in. As we are not the youngest anymore and the number of kilometres walked the last two weeks, we decided just to visit a beautiful garden just outside the centre. Also, to limit the intake of calories somehow (which seems to be mission impossible whilst in Italy) we skipped breakfast.

The Italian Renaissance gardens were planted in 1580 and are regarded as some of the most beautiful Renaissance gardens in Europe, a splendid park of terraces climbing upon the hill. They include a parterre and hedge maze, and expansive vistas of the surrounding landscape from the terrace gardens.

The Giusti family, owner of the palace since the 16th century, was entitled by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor to change its original surname to “Giusti del Giardino” because of the importance of the gardens.

In 2020, the garden was hit by a severe storm, causing severe damage to the plants and killing a lot of the trees, including the 600-year-old Goethe cypress. The garden has since this incident been added to Europa Nostra’s “7 Most Endangered” list of heritage sites at risk.

During our visit the dark clouds might remember some of this severe storm but nothing else reminded of it as the garden was in fine shape. We truly enjoyed our visit as it was something completely different from what we had done so far this trip and the tranquil environment provided exactly what we had wished for today.

On our return to the Centro historic of Verona we enjoyed a, for Italian standards, light lunch but then passed our favourite hangout in Verona, Caffè al Teatro. The friendly waiter welcomed us back and instead of bringing us the menu directly brought us a beautiful bottle of Ripasso Valpolicella. The next hour and a half or so we just enjoyed the atmosphere and the world passing by. Then it was time to return to our apartment for a well-deserved afternoon nap.

Once awake again we headed back to the centro storico and found a nice restaurant for a fabulous dinner and a glass of wine. We didn’t feel like continuing to Piazza Bra to see the arena at night as it was a bit chilly.

Also, today we decided for a lazy start and a bit of a sleep-in. We went for breakfast to a bar in the neighbourhood, after which we returned to our apartment to relax.

Weather had changed and it was raining a bit. Bad timing as today we had booked a bike ride and a wine tasting. Just after 13:00 we took a bus to the meeting point where we wanted to pick up our bikes. Only, in true Italian fashion, the meeting point turned out to be the end point of our biking trip, the winery itself.

The hospitality manager of the winery brought us back to the centre of Verona to pick up our bikes for a second attempt to go to the winery. By now it had started to rain a little more…

As we started our bikes trip through the Veronese hills about half an hour late, I could not really enjoy the ride through the breathtaking area. There was no time to stop, enjoy the scenery and make some pictures as the wine tasting started at 16:00. We arrived about 20 minutes late, but according to true Italian fashion we had to wait another 10 minutes as the other guests arrived even later than us.

First, we enjoyed a wonderful tour through the small museum where we were explained that the famous Amerone wines were actually discovered as a result of a mistake. Next, we visited the basement of the Montresor winery where the tanks, in concrete, steel and wood were, in use for the fermentation and maturation of the different wines.

Then the tasting of 5 wines started, a Lugano (white), to Valpolicalla, an Amerone Classico, and an Amerone Riserva. As expected, there was a good build up in flavour and complexity. As a bonus (because the confusion created by the meeting point information on the tickets) we were offered a rare tasting of a 25-year-old Amerone.

The bottle was still closed but by a wine preserving system the cork was penetrated by a needle to serve the wine, after which the empty space immediately was filled with argon gas to preserve the precious wine.

To be honest, both of us were blown away by the complexity of flavours, I can’t recall ever to have tasted a wine as good (and for sure as expensive) as this. It was the perfect ending of a great wine tasting.

As another excuse for the mess up we were given a bottle of prosecco before we returned to the bike shop to return our bikes.

During our tasting the heavens had opened, and during our return ride to Verona (We had to take the short route anyway as we were seriously behind schedule and the bike shop was already informed, we would arrive after their closing time), both of us got soaking wet…

The bikes were returned, our umbrellas unpacked and we made it to the first trattoria for another glass of Amerone whilst the weather gods showed their middle finger to us.

When the worst seemed over, we continued our walk towards our apartment, but by now it was clear that taking the umbrellas out of our cars before we left was a wise decision.

Two days ago, we had really enjoyed dinner at bistro con Amore so we returned there for our last dinner in Verona. Today, obviously we sat inside, from where we could also hear the cook sing along to the operas filling the small room. The atmosphere was great. But not as good as the food. We opted for two different first courses as well as a different desert each. It was food like only Italians can make, absolutely spectacular!!

Then, still using our umbrellas we returned to our apartment. Our tour from today might have started with some issues and ended up extremely wet, still we absolutely loved it.