May 10th: Verona

*Pictures to be added soon*

My oh my, yesterday was such a busy day! We woke up early and caught the bus to the city center at 9. Elena had written an amazing guide for us on what to see in Verona, and by the end of the day we had done all of it! It would take too long to list everything, so here are the highlights:

Pozzo dell'Amore (Well of Love): This was one of those hidden gems that non-locals don't know about - just another advantage of couchsurfing. Tourist-free and and adventure to find, I absolutely loved the well and the poem written engraved on the top. And, of course, since it was a well, I threw in a coin and made a wish (my wish? that the rest of our travels would go smoothly - I think it worked!).

The poem in it's original wording:
Getta nel pozzo un solo soldino,
pensa un momento al
tuo destino,non ti distrarre, non far rumore…
eccolo…eccolo…arriva​ l’amor

Rough Translation:
Toss in the well only one coin,
think for a moment about your destiny.
Don't be distracted, don't make any noise,
for here it comes, here it comes... here arrives love.

View of Verona: We didn't want to pay to ascend the town's tower, but we did get a spectacular view of the city by hiking up a HUGE hill to a castlello (castle). Me legs were tired, but it was entirely worth it.

Giardino G (Garden G): Claudia really wanted to go to this garden, and at first I was pretty reluctant to pay for more greenery, but I'm glad I changed my mind! There was a lush green path to walk on, a great sculpture embedded in the hillside, and my favorite part: a hedge maze! (I've always wanted to do one of those, so I was really excited to finally find one.) Afterward we scored a great lunch at a cute little snack bar off of the typical tourist-beaten path (which meant, of course, the food was much cheaper, the atmosphere much friendlier and quieter, and the meal was delicious!).

Casa di Giulietta (House of Juliet): We went to Juliet's house in the morning, but it was closed until the afternoon! Fear not, though - we were able to take our pictures with Juliet's statue in peace because the other tourists hadn't arrived yet. Her chest is shiney because it is supposed to be good luck to touch her boob!

In the afternoon we returned and went inside one at a time (so we could snap photos of each other on the infamous balcony). I liked the house because I could really picture the story's romance taking place within it's walls.

Tomb of Juliet: For 50 cents extra, the tomb was included in the ticket-price for Juliet's house, so we decided to splurge and make the trek there (it was clear across town). Imagine to our surprise when we got there and the tomb was empty! It was a little sad, because there was a lot of graffiti, and I felt silly looking at an empty grave. The good news is that the grounds were very quiet and peaceful, so it was the perfect place to write me "letter to Juliet" (just like from the movie - it actually exists!). I am hoping my response will come soon!

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From all of the walking we had been doing, by 4 I was so exhausted. We had seen so many things and done so much that all I wanted to do was sit down and rest for... well, forever. No rest for the weary, though - we had to meet our host at 5:30 to get her keys (she's a waitress and works late into the evenings, so we would arrive at her apartment first), so we went to our meeting point (Mc Donalds) to sit and wait. I got a soft serve, and even though I felt like a touristy sellout, I really really enjoyed it. It was a much needed break, and then we had a nice chat with our host before she had to leave for work.

We bought her a thank you gift (which was a Disney mug because she likes Disney a lot) as well as our dinner ingredients (pasta to make at the apartment) and then we were going to catch the bus... just one problem: we couldn't find the bus stop! We wandered around for two hours looking for it and asked for help at countless places. When we finally caught the bus at 8, I was beyond tired and frustrated. It made for a grim evening and a poor end to an otherwise excellent day, but now the bad memories are fading, leaving room for only the good (as well as some funny travel horror stories of "When Things Go Wrong").

We said a fond farewell ("Arrivederci!") to Elena this morning, and now we're off to Milan!