Tour of Italy 2019 – Second Stop: Verona

When on holiday in Italy, my family and I visited Verona for the day, which is a city in Northern Italy’s Veneto region, with a medieval old town built between the meandering Adige River. It’s famous for the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Firstly, we visited ‘Museo di Castelvecchio’ which is situated next to the river Adige and was built in the 1350s. The building was damaged in the Second World War bombings and was reinvented by architect Carlo Scarpa who constructed bridges entering Castelvecchio.

Next, we saw the Verona Arena, a huge well-preserved 1st century Roman amphitheatre, which, in the summer, hosts concerts and large-scale opera performances.

Walking down the main shopping streets, we ended up at a 14th century residence with a tiny balcony, overlooking a courtyard, said to be “Juliet’s house”. Many tourists come to ‘write letters to Juliet’, asking for advice in love. A team of volunteers, called ‘Juliet’s secretaries’ answer these letters in an upstairs room of the house, which inspired the theme of the film ‘Letters to Juliet’.

Lastly, we took a ride up the ‘Funicolare di Castel San Pietro’, to take in the amazing views of the beautiful city down below. We then walked down the zig zag stairs that led to the Roman-built Ponte Pietra, another famous bridge which enters the main city of Verona.