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Just-Imagine!
Friday 9th Jan - our last full day in Italy. We didn't want to hang around in Milan for the day so we caught the train to Verona, and so glad we did. Verona is a main tourist city that sits on the Adige river. It's popular because of the artistic heritage, roman ruins, fairs and operas. A couple of the major attractions are the Arena and The house of Juliet with that famous balcony featured in Shakespeare's play.
The Arena is a Roman amphitheater built in the 1st century completed in 30 AD. It's the third largest in Italy, the size and complexity of the structure made it an important predecessor in planning the Colosseum in Rome which began construction in 80 AD. The arena hosted popular entertainment of the time including gladiator combats and staged hunts on exotic animals, seating over 39000 spectators. Although the exterior looks quite crumbly the interior is very strong and I would love to experience an opera there. The acoustics are amazing with some tourists practicing their singing voices. The most Liam would do is clap his hands and listen to the echo.
Walking through the streets there is an old roman feel to the city and almost every window has a balcony! Of course the most famous balcony at Juliet's house is situated in a tiny courtyard. I'm sorry to say the house actually has no connection with the Shakespeare tale and the balcony was added in 1936 for tourists. The entry walls are littered with love notes on bits of scrap paper and stuck to the wall, some times with gum. In 2012 there were big finds issued for littering, but it hasn't stopped people. There is a bronze statue of Juliet in the courtyard and visitors rub her right breast to be lucky in love or have good fortune, Rob wondered if you rubbed both breasts would that double your chances?
The main square was full of markets today, but ordinarily it would be a lovely place to sit. Doing a bit of window shopping one would need a thick wallet it looked an expensive place.
A nice place to spend our last day in Italy. Tomorrow we are off through Austria and into Germany for Munich.
The Arena is a Roman amphitheater built in the 1st century completed in 30 AD. It's the third largest in Italy, the size and complexity of the structure made it an important predecessor in planning the Colosseum in Rome which began construction in 80 AD. The arena hosted popular entertainment of the time including gladiator combats and staged hunts on exotic animals, seating over 39000 spectators. Although the exterior looks quite crumbly the interior is very strong and I would love to experience an opera there. The acoustics are amazing with some tourists practicing their singing voices. The most Liam would do is clap his hands and listen to the echo.
Walking through the streets there is an old roman feel to the city and almost every window has a balcony! Of course the most famous balcony at Juliet's house is situated in a tiny courtyard. I'm sorry to say the house actually has no connection with the Shakespeare tale and the balcony was added in 1936 for tourists. The entry walls are littered with love notes on bits of scrap paper and stuck to the wall, some times with gum. In 2012 there were big finds issued for littering, but it hasn't stopped people. There is a bronze statue of Juliet in the courtyard and visitors rub her right breast to be lucky in love or have good fortune, Rob wondered if you rubbed both breasts would that double your chances?
The main square was full of markets today, but ordinarily it would be a lovely place to sit. Doing a bit of window shopping one would need a thick wallet it looked an expensive place.
A nice place to spend our last day in Italy. Tomorrow we are off through Austria and into Germany for Munich.
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