This weekend was our trip to Verona (which was originally intended to be to Cinque Terre). And while I was bummed that we weren’t going to Cinque Terre (it’s the one excursion that I truly had been looking forward to going on since we got the itinerary from the program) but I must say that Verona was an amazing replacement trip. It really is so romantic and a beautiful place to spend with beautiful friends. It has the combined architectural beauty of Florence, the gorgeous parks of Rome (and what I have seen of the Boboli) and a hint of the modern world. I seriously would love to spend more than 48 hours there. There were so many different things to see in the city, but the most famous and widely known is La Casa di Giulietta.
Verona was the city of the lovers Romeo and Juliet. Juliet’s house has the famous portico where lovers can write their name on the walls. You then walk into the courtyard where you find the statue of Juliet and then her house is on the right. You even have the chance to go up into her house (which is now a museum) and can stand on her balcony and take a picture. (Of course we did that!) Also, as made famous by the movie Letters to Juliet, you have the chance to write a letter to Juliet asking for advice and supposedly “she” will write you back with her advice. I put my home address on the letter, so if she does decide to write back, they will get it at home. ANYONE AT HOME: If I get a response back, don’t open it and Mom can bring it to me when she comes over Fall Break. We had guided walking and bus tours on Saturday, then had the rest of the night and Sunday free to explore the city.
Saturday night after dinner, we stumbled upon a concert outside of an art museum that was an unexpected surprise. It was an interesting mix of saxophone, electric guitars, trombone and keyboard. A couple of the songs that they played reminded me a lot of the music that you hear at the Brass Band Festival. Inside the museum, there were different art exhibits, very contemporary items. We then headed back to the hotel for a minute to use the restroom (the public ones in Piazza Bra were already closed). I wasn’t feeling well by then, so I stayed in the rest of the night while Sabrina, Olivia and Cat went out for gelato. We intended to make it an early night so that we could get an early start the next morning for sightseeing, but of course we ended up staying up until 1 am talking and laughing together. It really turned out to be a great weekend. Sunday we explored some more, took our letters to Juliet's house and mailed them off, then topped off the afternoon with gelato on the steps of the museum and sketching scenes we saw in Piazza Bra.
Monday we got back to classes and our routine. It really doesn’t feel like we have already been in 3 weeks worth of classes, but I guess that’s what we get for having class Monday through Wednesday! The rest of this week is homework catching up; Sabrina and I have a class field trip to Pienza (Cat is going with us to in another Italian Renaissance class) for the day. So tomorrow, we will be planning our weekend trip to Cinque Terre (Saturday and Sunday). It will be the 4 of us, since Cat’s roommates are going to Verona this weekend. So we have a lot of planning to do in the next couple of days!
I am so excited that my mom is coming during Fall Break, which means I have to take on some personal travel agent duties! Haha. I’m sure that there will be plenty to update everyone on after we get back from Cinque Terre this weekend!
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