Verona, Italy
My next day trip was to Verona. It is a small town near to Venice in the north of Italy with many medieval buildings surviving throughout the city and an ancient Roman past as well. One of these buildings was of course, the famous supposed home of Juliet from Shakespeare’s play, where this medieval balcony is pictured. This small stone house with gothic elements in the arches as seen above is in a tiny courtyard off of one of the streets in the centre of town, it feels truly intimate and really is a romantic place. You can easily imagine the scenes of Romeo and Juliet taking place here. It is thought that Shakespeare took the traditional tale from Verona and wrote it as a play in England, not even changing the characters names from Romeo e Guilietta. But Verona has more to offer than just this scene, me and Rosie explored a fabulous 16th century garden, the Giusti Garden, which could so easily be missed being on the other side of the river but has stunning views of the city, fresh green labyrinths and tall evergreens hundreds of years old. We tried small sweets called Bacci de Romeo e Giulletta. We visited the Roman Arena and medieval churches. It was a lovely sunny day, and one of the things I loved most about Verona was the materials there. Characteristic of the town is the red Verona marble, that can be polished to give a bright shine, or fades pale pink over centuries. From the ancient arena and the medieval churches to the pavement, pink and white pervades this gorgeous town! I loved it. It was important for me to come here to understand Venetian art further and the wider context of the Venetian empire.