Verona!

After Germany, we traveled on to Verona, Italy. My oldest son is a lover of all things pasta, so we just had to try out some real Italian cooking. We chose Verona as it is a northern city and my hope was that it would have some charm.










Verona did not disappoint and as you can see, I found many gorgeous sights at which to aim my lens. I know it's a lot to take in, but if you click on individual pictures, you should be able to view a larger image. I'll walk through them briefly from left to right and top to bottom.

The first picture is from our first morning in Verona. We headed downtown under the arches to the Piazza Bra when the ancient Roman arena stands. Then we traveled on to the downtown market which is where the next three images were taken. After lunch we walked around this 14th century castle. The 4th through the 14th pictures are all taken from the castle. The castle bridge provided wonderful views of downtown Verona through which the Adige river winds. We were also able to climb to greater heights which gave me some almost aerial shots.

The next day we walked all the way through the downtown to another point where the Adige river runs. Standing on one of the bridges gave me another gorgeous view of the surrounding city. I was taken by surprise by a collection of locks and keys that were hanging from a string crossing the river close to my spot on the bridge. I thought perhaps they represented sweethearts and a little research on my computer later confirmed this to be true.

Of course the architecture in Verona is stunning as well. I particularly like the building where two different shades of brick create stripes. I also had to have a peek at the famed balcony of Juliet Capulet. I was thrilled to capture a picture of the bronze statue of Juliet without it being surrounded by tourists. That's no easy task, let me tell you!

The last three pictures are actually of stage props. It's the beginning of opera season at the Arena. It was so cool to see the trucks pull up carrying enormous sets for the different operas being performed this summer. The Egyptian themes are for Aida and those fantastic roses with the Arena in the background are for The Barber of Seville.

Oh, and if you're wondering if we found some good Italian food, we sure did! As a matter of fact, our little family now has a favorite restaurant in Verona. I'll tell you more about it in my next post. It was so wonderful, I want it to have a post all it's own!