Juliet's balcony is bogus, apparently

 Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 May

So why did the walking tour guide recommend we buy tickets online and it seems impossible to buy a single fridge magnet without  R&J featuring, or the Arena which was a total rip-off?

Somebody, somewhere just found a house that looked like the Capulets (real powerful family, along with the Montagues though probably spelt differently) might have lived there, and it had a balcony that looked like a young girl (let's not forget she was just a teenager and not even at the current age of consent!) might have mooned over her new fella under cover of darkness. And the myth became a tourist attraction. And no, I didn't go.

Anyhoo, Verona is lovely albeit rather more (much more) touristy than Vicenza, a city with architecture stretching over four distinct eras - Roman, Medieval, Venetian, Modern. Yet again Google Maps sent me the wrong way around from the station after a short trip from Vicenza (though not helped with the correct path actually being closed off). Arriving at my 2-star hotel in a sweaty heap (who needs a Body Pump class with my luggage?), I dropped off the bags and set off with a map in hand - my favourite thing, even if it was the one for the Hop On/Off tour - it was enough and freed me from the evil of Google Maps for a time. I was much closer to the centre this time - everything within walking distance, including a restaurant I visited twice as it was welcoming and reasonably priced, and a launderette, which was a very clever thing but not reasonably priced. (5 euros wasted on a loyalty card when I could have just used it as a guest - which still cost me 10 euros for a small wash and short dry cycle. I live and learn - Miele Bloomest card anyone? Will have to tuck it away for next time.) 

The Hotel Siena was sweet and the staff lovely, and a balcony with a front aspect was a bonus for me, but I couldn't swing any cats in that bathroom and spent the entire time trying not to trip over the shower tray on the way to the loo, and getting caught up in the shower curtain and attempting not to flood everything while attempting my ablutions. I always know there's going to be trouble when I see a drain in the bathroom floor...

I found the place for the walking tour I'd booked at 3.30pm so had time to check in at 2pm and unpack a bit before setting out. As the forecast showed no rain, I had been bold and put on a sleeveless summer dress and Birkenstocks, which earned me some puzzled looks from Italians in padded jackets and boots (echoes of Milan October 2014). The walking tour started at the Arco dei Gavi, originally part of the Roman defences as a gate into the city, hidden by burial underground from Napoleon who despised all things Roman, then discovered, resurrected and painstakingly rebuilt after WW2. It's right next to the Castello Vecchion and some very robust walls and a bridge.

The walking tour was ok in terms of an overview, but the guide wasn't great - he told a lot of very bad jokes, treated us like children and kept touching people on the arm and shoulder, which didn't seem very appropriate. He focused very much on the era and stories of a ruler of the city who renamed himself Big Dog (really - Grand Cane, and he had similarly-named successors), rather than giving us much more in the way of history.  And with a group of 20, he really should be using a mic and headsets! I only left 5 euros tip which seemed a bit mean, but I only had a 20 note and he certainly wasn't worth that!

We finished up at the Arena, which I decided to visit next day (really shouldn't have bothered), and I headed back to the hotel. Dinner was pizza at a casual joint up the road, because sometimes you just have to, and Valpolicella. Which is and always has been one of my favourite words in Italian. I even had a second one at the faux-German bar opposite the hotel.

Thursday forecast had promised rain, so rain jacket on,  but it didn't materialise until the afternoon - and then by 'eck did it chuck it down so hard, along with plenty of thunder and lightning, it cut my sightseeing short.

While the sun shone I took a different route into the main square, then found myself in the main shopping street, Via Mazzini. Anyone who knows me will be surprised at my self-restraint - I didn't even buy a fridge magnet. Made my way to the Duomo - I didn't pay to go in as judging by the photos it looked more impressive from the outside, ditto the Teatro Romano across the Ponte di Pietro which seemed to be mainly covered in scaffolding.

 

I lunched early as I'd bought a ticket for the Arena and had to be there for 2pm - had come across a small trendy restaurant near the Duomo with an appealing menu and a beautiful bathroom, with free nappies that obviously tell it like it is...

The Bucatini Amatriciana was good but extremely rich and very salty and I needed to walk briskly afterwards to digest it. A quick macchiato and a caffe sospeso (such a lovely idea) and I headed for the arena. Well - my advice is, if in Verona, don't waste your money even if you get a ridotto ticket for being old. Just admire it from the outside. 

Inside, so much of it isn't accessible (lots of red and white tape forcing you to go a certain way), there's really not very much information about its history, and you can't really stand in the middle of it and imagine being a gladiator as it's full of rows and rows of seats for the many concerts that take place there (which would probably be a cool thing to do instead). You can sit on the terrace and admire its size, but I would also say don't go when school parties are likely to be there as it's full of kids having fun screaming at each other across the divide  (I didn't have a choice, as my requested time later in the day was changed by the ticket issuers).

The saving grace after that disappointment was my next stop, the Palazzo Maffei near Piazza Signori (spectacular views of which can be gained from the roof terrace, included in the admission price, though you can purchase separately if you really don't want to look at the amazing art collection.) 

It really was one of the most interesting and eclectic collections I've ever seen, with modern art (much of it early 20th century, Futurist and including the likes of Picasson, Braque, Klee and Warhol and the Italian artists they influenced) and objects presented alongside the Medieval and the Renaissance. It was a real highlight and I took gazillions of photos - here are just a few. Many of them came from a philanthropic private collector who was interviewed in a short video I watched. He said that he took inspiration from an artist who once said that his art died if it couldn't be viewed by everyone. There was also a quote from Picasso who questioned why people put so much effort into understanding art, when we don't try to understand a bird of the sky - good point, I thought, especially as I am from the "I know what I like" school of art appreciation. 

I'd intended to go on the San Zeno di Maggiore, a highly recommended church, and walked most of the way but was eventually defeated by rain bouncing off the pavements and splashed back to the Hotel Siena. After catching up with the blog and the inevitable packing, I headed out for FRZ down the street, a gin/cocktail bar where I was introduced to the producer of a very new gin called Tromba (because he plays the trumpet!) and had a very nice citrussy G&T. 

I had hoped to have dinner in Casa d'Amore, a little place again only a block away, but it was full so I went back to my lunch spot of the previous day, where I embarrassed myself by ordering extra potatoes in error with my secondi - which I have come to understand is basically meat and potatoes. Bless their hearts, they didn't make me eat them and took them off the bill, as they had done with my superfluous insalate mista the day before. I really am going to keep up with those Italian lessons...