Verona is a very beautiful city and a treasure trove of Roman ruins, medieval vestiges, historical monuments, antique palaces, and churches that we viewed by simply walking along the streets.
Lake outside Bella Italia
We stayed at the Bella Italia campsite in Lake Garda and got a bus from outside the campsite into Verona for the day.
Bus to Verona
We took a trip to Verona by bus on Easter Saturday. We purchased the bus tickets from the on-site tobacconist shop, as the bus drivers don’t accept cash. You must, however, remember to validate your ticket in the machine on the bus, as inspectors do come round regularly.
It was a bit of a mistake to visit Verona on Easter Saturday, as it was extremely crowded. Only a few people were waiting at the bus stop when we first joined what we thought was the end of the queue. However, by the time the bus arrived 20 minutes later, a crowd had gathered (I say gathered because it seems the Europeans don’t queue like us Brits). When the bus pulled up, you just had to hope the doors of the bus were going to stop in front of you. Everyone shoved and pushed to get on. It was so crowded that people were standing in the footwell of the middle doors.
We had to stand for the whole 45-minute journey, which wasn’t much fun with the way we were being thrown around from side to side. We were hanging on for dear life.
A few stops down the road, the driver drove straight past people waiting at the bus stop, shaking his head, indicating that the bus was full. A few yards further down the road, he had to stop at the traffic lights, and the people from the queue ran up to the bus, started banging on the door, and shouted at the driver to let them on. The driver kept repeating, “Not possible, not possible,” and wouldn’t open the doors. So, a couple of them hung from the doors, preventing him from pulling away. People were looking over the balconies of the houses beside us, trying to see what was going on. People everywhere stopped and looked. Cars behind were honking because they could not get past the bus at the traffic lights, and the bus driver was honking his horn (which sounded like a deafening siren), trying to get the people off the side of the bus. This went on for about 20 minutes until eventually, they gave up and we were on our way again.
We felt sorry for the people left behind because they were locals trying to get their shopping done before Easter Sunday and Monday, and there was only a bus every hour. It was mostly tourists who had taken up space on the bus. Who’s to say that this wasn’t the second bus that they could not get on, and maybe that’s why they were so desperate.
Verona
Verona is a beautiful city and a treasure trove of Roman ruins, medieval vestiges, historical monuments, antique palaces, and churches that can be viewed by simply walking along the streets. It’s packed with numerous interesting buildings and squares, and boasts more Roman ruins than any Italian city except Rome.
We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the attractive medieval lanes, steeped in history, and occasionally stopped for a coffee or a glass of wine to rest our feet.
A short walk from the bus stop is the Arena di Verona (the restored Roman amphitheatre), which is famous for holding operas in the Summer. In this area, numerous market stalls sold food, and many featured excellent displays of hams and cheeses. Also, the most enormous loaves of bread we have ever seen. You didn’t have to buy the whole loaf; they were happy to cut it to the amount you wanted.
We then walked onto the Via Mazzini, an elegant pedestrian street paved with shiny Verona marble. This is the main shopping street in Verona, lined with numerous innovative and engaging shops, including glamorous Italian shoe shops (way out of my price range, but lovely to look at), old bookstores, perfumeries, and glitzy boutiques.
We passed through the attractive fourteenth-century arches of the Portoni della Bra and entered the historic part of town.
Next, we came across the Piazza delle Erbe, which has an extravagant 14th-century fountain. This area is home to the fruit and flower market. A few market stalls were selling containers of fresh fruit salad, which was going down very well with the tourists.
Shakespeare made Verona famous as a romantic setting when he set two of his plays in Verona: Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The so-called Juliet’s house is said to draw half a million tourists a year. We came across quite a crowd when walking down one of the narrow streets, all looking upwards. They were looking at the so-called ‘Juliet’s balcony’ and were writing on the walls in the passageway.
Beneath the street level, you can see the fascinating remains of Roman villas and mosaics. It was a fantastic place, and somewhere we would like to return to and spend more time. We would have liked to have taken the lift of the Torre dei Lamberti, the 84m-high medieval bell tower, which is used to call council meetings or to warn residents of fires. I bet the view from there would have been great.
By about 4 pm, we were feeling quite tired from all the walking, so we decided to get an early start back and try to avoid the crowds on the bus. We had a 30-minute wait, and we were among the first to arrive, but as time passed, more and more people started to gather around the bus stop. I warned Ray that although he didn’t like pushing, he would have to prepare himself for it. When the bus pulled up, it stopped just past where we were standing, so the last people to arrive were the first to board the bus. Eventually, we got on, after doing our pushing and shoving, and I managed to get the last seat, although Ray had to stand for a little while. I am so glad that we queue in the UK and that people are a bit more respectful of each other.
