Verona
On August 5, Sybille and I arrived in Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. Unlike the movie with Claire Danes and Leonardo di Caprio, this city consists of small streets, romantic little restaurants, and a river - but no beach. However, if you have seen the movie and come to Verona you will also notice blue neon light crosses on the churches. Our guess was that the director must have used some elements of the real Verona.
In our Interrail guide, there was a description of a good campsite so we took the bus - according to the woman at the tourist information - to Via Marsala. It was not easy to get there but finally, two elderly women showed us where to go. It was a long way up a hill - again with our backpacks. Well, since Desenzano we were accustomed to walking long distance with our backpacks.
But it was worth it! This campsite was absolutely gorgeous, it remained on number one on our campsite list until the end. Our tent was right next to many other interrailers’ tents. A few meters from the tent area, they had put some tables and chairs for reading, eating, and such. From there, we had a absolutely beautiful view on the city. The Italian houses’ roofs were all red. Sometimes we just sat there watching the city. At night, we ventured out to the city to experience this special, warm atmosphere.
The next day, we went downtown. Verona lies right at the S-shaped corner of a river. By crossing the bridges you get to the heart of the city. Since it was peak season, there were a lot of tourists in the city. Nevertheless, it was very nice, and we spent a beautiful day downtown. Of course, we had to see Juliet’s balcony, the number one tourist trap. We also needed groceries. So we asked for a grocery store. 20 mins to find it. The sign at the door said: “Closed on Wednesdays” (luckily, we could figure out the Italian words). About 45 mins to find the next one. “Closed on Wednesdays”. We thought this just applied to some grocery chains so we went out of downtown. Almost an hour to find a grocery store. “Closed on Wednesdays”. We went back to the campsite. When we arrived, we asked where we could find another grocery store that is open. Back down the hill, another hour before we found it. Of, course it was “closed on Wednesdays”. Wednesday was definitely a bad day for getting groceries. Completely mad at Italy for treating us that way on a hot summer’s day, we went back to the campsite and bought some expensive items from the site’s minimarket. This night, we sat at the beautiful view again and wrote letters and postcards. Our plan was to do a daytrip to Venice the next day.
