As soon as we crossed the border on a sunny September morning there was no mistake that we were no longer in Switzerland. The highway traffic was everything we thought Italian traffic would be, and more. We were driving past Milan surrounded by crowds of trucks from seemingly every single country on the European continent, trying to figure out why the lanes merge without much warning, why everyone is driving way past the speed limit, and how to get to Verona in one piece. It was all rather chaotic. We passed so many minor accidents where people just stood there, waiting for help, with absolutely neutral facial expressions as if having someone merge into you was just a part of daily life. But I must admit the drive was exhilarating and not boring at all, not one bit. Noone felt sleepy, not even Daniel in his child seat. I also enjoyed reading traffic warnings on those giant electronic billboards because even a warning of an accident or roadworks ahead sounds like pure poetry in Italian. A few hours of very focused driving we ended up in Verona, where we quickly got lost one street away from our hotel, and even the GPS was not too sure how to get us there. We did reach it eventually, but parking our rental Mazda 3 station wagon on level three of underground parking designed to fit only tiny little European cars and not our shiny red behemoth, all while being shouted at in Italian by an old lady in a dainty white BMW whose garage door we were blocking while trying to reverse into the most narrow parking spot on Earth called for a glass of red wine immediately after getting the keys to our room.
The hotel was spectacularly located – just a few minutes walk from Verona Arena, where we found ourselves shortly after arrival. I was immediately blown away by the light – it was soft and golden and exactly how I would imagine the famous light of Northern Italy would be. And that was where I fell in love with Verona.
All we did for the next two days was simply wander the streets, visit those beautiful churches, eat amazing food, listen to the sweet music of Italian language and throw pebbles into Adige. I took thousands of photos. Daniel played with local kids at Arco dei Gavi. The weather was perfect. Everything was perfect and peaceful in that enchanting light of Verona.
And here is this story told in images (except for the driving on the highway story as words do describe it way better):
this photo above perfectly captures the feeling of our whole trip – the magic of sharing new places with Daniel
Beautiful colours everywhere you look
if you want to see Juliet’s balcony, go when it’s still really early as it gets extremely crowded. It is a typical tourist trap but we did enjoy it. You don’t need much time there and there is something so touching in those heart-shaped padlocks and love notes scribbled on various surfaces (including band-aids)
this gelato came with a bib which was greatly appreciated
at the end of our last day there, while trying to find snacks for our drive to Tuscany the next day
We stayed in Hotel Verona which was very conveniently located, quite reasonably priced (especially after coming from Switzerland), and we got a spacious room on the ground floor in an apartment building next door, and we loved it because we felt less like tourists somehow. But if you drive there and have a large car parking can be rather challenging.
