i heart Verona

I opened my eyes Friday morning and saw Kim peaking out the crack of the door as if she was scared of something in the hallway. A few seconds later, Shannon joined her in this staring contest and I was a little frightened because I had no idea what was going on. Apparently we were sharing the bed and breakfast with a couple of nice looking young men, and the girls were scared to go out of the room in their pajamas to brush their teeth. After realizing what Kim and Jess were doing, I explained to them that they were only men, not hellish animals, and I promised that they would not bite. Although I have never seen anyone dress up so nicely to brush their teeth, Shannon and Kim finally got over their fear and went to the bathroom across the hall. Waking up at 8:00 a.m. Friday morning was tough, but well worth the agony for what we had planned for the day. After the disastrous previous night, we all decided that instead of ‘going with the flow,’ as we are all accustomed to doing, we would each pick one thing we would like to do. Ever since I visited Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and The Vanderbilt Mansion in New York, I had an increasing interest in houses of old money and people of importance. Therefore, when I read that Verona had two castles I jumped for joy. Shannon, Kim, and I all have boy problems back at home that we would like to forget, and because of this we were all in agreement to go to Juliet’s wall and write her a letter. When we were all finally ready, we indulged ourselves in the second benefit of a bed and breakfast, and then we ventured out into the beautiful town of Verona.
While walking, or in my case running, to the 14th century Castelvecchio, I became more excited with every step I took. When it was finally in sight, I was in awe by the size and the impressive condition it was in. I spent a few minutes outside of the castle investigating the previous uses of certain things. There was a very deep ditch that surrounded the whole castle, and the bridge was attached to these large metal beams that seemed to be part of a lever system. I was delighted to discover that I was standing in front of an actual moat and drawbridge! One could only imagine how happy I was to walk over this drawbridge in order to get into the castle. Once I was over the drawbridge, there was an impressive courtyard that led us to the ticket office. Six euro later I was off on my adventure through the ancient castle. The castle was well worth the money I spent to see it, in fact it was so astonishing that I have spent three days trying to describe it, and I have found that words cannot justify what I experienced. What I can say is that it houses some of the most moving art pieces I have seen in Italy thus far, and out on the terrace there are some awesome views of Verona. I truly believe that this place can be enjoyable to all that have souls, or any interest in art and antique architecture.
In the castle, Shannon, Kim, and I were all thinking how romantic it would be to have a boyfriend with us in Verona. After realizing that none of us have a boyfriend, we went to Juliet’s house to ask for her help with our love life. Of course, the Shakespearian play was not based on a true story and nothing similar to that story happened in Verona, but the setting of the play was supposed to be in Verona, therefore they have a house dedicated to the play as a tourist attraction. There are two things that are common to do at her house; to write a letter to Juliet asking for help, and to touch the left breast on Juliet’s statue for good luck. I did both. My letter read something like “Dear Juliet, please break the Bahamonde curse. Love, Megan.” As for the boob grabbing, it was entertaining but I do not feel like I need luck, because I am in Italy having the time of my life.
Our next stop was the lesser-known Roman Arena of the world, which was a very rewarding experience in itself. The Roman Arena was built in the first century AD, and has graciously withstood the tests of time. Not only did I get to sit in this arena where people for centuries have sat, but also, due to the incredible echo the Arena produced, I was able to hear the screams of people on the opposite side. Sitting on the marble structure appreciating everything I just mentioned, a fun yet strange idea came to mind; I wanted to run around the whole coliseum. I proposed this idea to Shannon, knowing that she would be the only one to even consider the idea, and luckily, she agreed. I can now proudly say that I ran around the top of an ancient Roman Arena and did not fall or have a heart attack. After a marathon, photo shoot, and about an hour of relaxation on the marble seats, we left the arena.
The rest of the day was filled with shopping (for Kim), or people watching (for Jess, Shannon and me) in the wonderful Piazza Del’Erbe. The sun went down and our stomachs started to grumble when we decided to find a place to eat dinner. Although I do not remember the name of the place, I do remember that it was a Disney theme and we had a nice waiter who spoke a good amount of English. At dinner I was feeling a bit adventurous and ordered pasta with truffles and donkey meat (both a specialty of Verona). I have to say that what I expected was completely different from what I feel about the truffle and donkey meat. Since truffles, a special kind of mushroom, are so expensive in the United States I was expecting them to taste heavenly, but in my opinion they taste as if it was crunchy dirt. On the other hand, I reluctantly have to say that donkey meat was actually pretty good; it tasted like very soft form of chicken.
After eating and talking for three hours, Shannon, Jess, Kim and I left the restaurant but decided that we did not want to go back to the bed and breakfast just yet. Since we were on vacation, we decided to find a place to get a drink, and only had to walk a couple of steps to find the perfect place. Picking this place was very easy; it had a bunch of handsome boys outside of it, and they were all Italian, so Bekah’s rule of ‘eating where the Italians eat’ was not broken. The place wound up being a German restaurant, and since the Germans are known for their beer, Shannon and I ordered one. Also, against our better judgment, we ordered chocolate fondue. The beer was pretty bitter, but the chocolate fondue was the best dessert I think I have ever had. This bitter-sweet dessert was the perfect ending to this day, so we returned to our hotel and fell asleep.
The next day we went to the other side of town to see the Giardino Giusti. On the way to the renaissance-style garden, we passed over a very charming bridge with a wonderful view of the river. While looking over the side of the bridge, I noticed there was a place beside the river where people can sit and admire the landscape, and I immediately ran to it. A few minutes later the other girls followed me, and here we were able to take many pictures of the naturally beautiful landscape of Verona. We sat in this spot for about two hours sunbathing, relaxing, and taking in the beautiful landscape. This was the most relaxing time of my trip, and I was very reluctant to leave.
That lovely, tranquil detour was perfect for what we were about to encounter. For the first time our map guide Kim misdirected us, and we found ourselves climbing stone steps in the suburbs of Verona. It was not until this nice elderly Italian man told us that we were on someone’s property that we knew we were actually going the wrong way. Thankfully, this man was just as nice as the Italians in Sansepolcro and actually walked us to the road that the Garden was on to make sure we did not get lost again. The Giardino Giusti was not very impressive at first sight. The statues on the first level of the garden were under construction, and due to winter the flowers were not in bloom. Little did we know that there were three levels of the garden, each with its own special attribute. On the first level, once explored, one can find an old chapel inside of the mountainside. The second level of the garden is where the entrance of the tower up to the third level of the garden. In this tower there are windows into an old house of some sort, which was very interesting to me because it seemed untouched. The third level was my favorite level because it had a wonderful panoramic view of Verona. I can fortunately say that this was only the first half of my stay in Verona, and there are many more memories I will share in my next blog.
After the Garden, we were all exhausted tried to regain energy by eating lunch. The calories did not do their intended job, so we returned to the bed and breakfast for a nap. I was woken up by Shannon to eat dinner around 8:00 p.m., and was less than enthusiastic to go out on the town. Since we bought an expensive lunch, we were all in agreement that we would not spend over 10 euro on dinner. Shannon, Jess, Kim and I stopped at a place that looked like a pizzeria, but it turned out being a whole different, humorous experience in itself. The restaurant wound up having a specialty menu that offered burgers, fries, and a soda for only 8 euro. Since I have been craving some good American food, I gave in and ordered it. When the waitress brought me the food, I suddenly realized how the world views Americans. My glass of soda was HUGE, and I am sure that I could have poured a whole gallon of soda in it. Unless the king-sized burger was occupying some space on the plate, my pizza-pan sized plate was filled with fried potatoes. It was the most food I have seen on one plate my whole time in Italy, and it was a funny reminder of why America is the biggest nation in the world. After eating most of our food like typical Americans would, once again the calories did not do their job so we went back to the bed and breakfast to sleep.
That next morning we woke up to destruction and disorder. It was so quiet the night before that we thought we were sleeping alone; but we were very wrong. Three of the most destructive grandmas decided to stay at the same bed and breakfast as us, and they created damage and commotion wherever they went. When Jess went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, one of the grannies ferociously knocked on the door and kicked her out, saying that she had to take her medicine. Upon returning to the bathroom after the granny finished, Jess found the toilet flusher broken and the bathroom floor flooded with water. When I went in the kitchen to get my daily dose of coffee, I found that the coffee machine was broken! I was so confused because I have the nicest, most gentle grandma the world could offer and could not imagine any women of this age to be so mean and incendiary. Thankfully it was our last night sleeping there, but we were all so worried since they were such terrible old women that they would blame the things they broke on us poor, young women.
On this trip I learned that in a small town like Verona it is nice to have a list of things to do with a lax schedule. I think that if I had an hour-by-hour itinerary to follow I would not have had such a pleasant, relaxed time, nor would I have appreciated the things that I experienced as much as I do. It is also helpful to be aware of Italian words that would appear on maps, and to have the telephone number of the place you are sleeping in. I know that I will never, like many other trips I have taken thus far, forget my time in Verona or the very important lessons that I learned in my time spent there.