This week is exactly 5 years since I saw the movie Letters to Juliet. I have wanted to visit Verona ever since. When I saw that Verona was only a slight detour on the trip from S. Pellegrino Terme to Venice, I made it a plan to stop.
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| For comparisons sake at Hotel Centrale |
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| Heat included? I think not! |
Grumpy old man wished us safe travels - and held the door for me - as we departed from Hotel Centrale this morning.
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| Ciao Papa! |
TomTom told me it would take 3 hours to get to Verona staying off toll roads but less than 2 using toll roads. We spent over €15 on tolls today! The upside was knowing we could easily stop on the autostrada to use the toilet or to get something to eat.
We did fine navigating to Verona but made 2 wrong turns (that I'm aware of) in the city. One put us on what looked to be a road for buses and taxis only. I made Lou park immediately. I pray we weren't in some restricted area!
TomTom doesn't do walking directions and no way to use maps on our phones. We headed to a bar to get espresso, use the toilet and ask for help. The barista had to look up where we were going on his phone! Clearly he's never been a tourist in his own home. A customer in the bar told Lou we were about a kilometer walk away.
Yes, Juiliet's house was a mob scene, and yes, it was super touristy but I loved it. If we'd had more time, I would have visited the museum and at least one Romeo and Juliet gift shop. But I got to see the balcony and more importantly the mailbox for the letters to Juliet! Somehow I misplaced my sharpie or I would have added our heart to the wall of hearts. Oh well...
We strolled around Verona for a bit. It was much more crowded than in the movie! Lou purchased gaskets for our espresso pot and we headed back in the direction of the car to get there before our timed parking ran out. We walked past what looked like a Roman Theater under renovation.
By 14:15, we were on our way to Mestre, the close suburb of Venice where many former residents of Venice have flocked to. We stopped for lunch on the autostrada.
At 16:30 after only one wrong turn we pulled into Villa Barbarich, our hotel for the night. It's a 4-star hotel at a 3-star price, but of course it's not really near anything. Since we're staying here again on Friday night, we can leave our car and luggage here free of charge. They'll give us directions and transportation schedules for our way into and back from Venice.
The hotel is gorgeous. The wifi, once I figured out how to connect, seems strong. Lou is resting before we head down to dinner. The restaurant looks fancy. I hope I can find something simple to order. We're going to have a quiet evening in tonight.
Since I've updated you all on today's adventure, I plan to use some blogging time to get some photos up.
Arriverderci for now.
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