FAIR VERONA......

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life.

We all know those words, we all know the story, and I got to see where it all happened!

Today we spent the day in Verona! Brandon said he liked it so much better then Venice because there is more to see but the truth is, we had a map of Verona, and didn't have one of Venice! There are a lot more people, the roads are more rough then in Venice, but I think he's right. I liked Verona better too. Why? Well, even though there might be more people, it's not as crowded as Venice was, there was more to see in just the walkig that we did without a map, it was easier to find your way around (probably because you're not surrounded by water at every turn) and you could just drive. We drove around and got lost for the most part so that was fun!

Here's a rundown of the day: We drove into centro and parked right along the "Walls of Verona". It's only a two hour parking place but I figured that would be enough time to just go and walk around.

From the Walls we just started walking and saw a ton of cool things. First was the coluseum/theater. They had all the stuff out of the theater and we didn't pay to go inside because it's not really a place for strollers but you can go inside it. There were a ton of people dressed up as spartans and some wearing masks and stuff that would take pictures with you (as long as you paid them a tip).

We saw Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II (1st King of Verona Statue)

Fontana di Madonna Verona (Fountian in the Centro)

Casa di Giulietta (Juliets Home) to go into her house, it's only 1 Euro but there again, not a place for strollers!


Portoni della Bra (Gateway to the city)

All in all, there are a lot of people in Verona, expically on a Sunday. A lot of the stores are open but not all of them. They had everything from Rolex and Gucci, to Foot Locker and Blockbuster! There of course are little shops to stop at as well with tourist stuff like postcards and keychains. Once you got out of the hustle and bustle of the Centro it was quiet and easy to walk around. We drove for a bit just trying to see where the road would take us. We had also bought a map to find somethings we wanted to see. We stopped along the river and just watched the ducks floting by too. The girls really liked the bridges. This one is Ponte della Pietra (the "Stone Bridge").

There are a ton more pictures that I'd love to put on here but of course, I'm just going to put them on my facebook and MySpace! We ran out of time to do it all in one day because the kids were getting kind of cranky so there will be more pictures of Verona another time. Ah, I love living in ITALY!!!!