Dreamy Europe Trip Summer 2024 - Part 7 Val Gardena and Verona Italy

 

 

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... — Romeo and Juliet, W. Shakespeare

Who has not heard of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Whether you’ve read it or not, you probably know the storyline of the unfortunate young lovers. We’ve had the chance to visit Verona, the setting of this classic play. I’ll tell you more about it, but let’s start with our journey there from the Dolomites.

We checked out of our apartment near Lake Braies and followed Google Maps to Val Gardena. After driving through long, winding roads, we found that Google Maps brought us to the middle of nowhere, not in Val Gardena. We traced back a little and found signage, but decided not to go to Val Gardena afterall. Instead, we parked on the roadside and walked for a nice view of the village.

It was just a quick stop and we continued driving towards Bolzano, Bolzano is the nearest city on the way to our next destination. There was a restaurant called Pasta Lab in Bolzano that I wanted to try. Parking in Bolzano was a bit scarce, and this was my first taste of driving in an Italian city. It was a lot more crowded and packed, narrower lanes and very small parking spots. Luckily it was still a small city, I think it would have been more shocking if we were to go to a large city first. 

We found parking a few blocks away from the restaurant, walked there, got a table and ordered our food. Everything we had were tasty but the smells on the patio were a bit unpleasant. After we polished our plates, we walked back to the car and continued to our next destination: Verona!

Bolzano

Verona is a small city in Northern Italy, known for being the hometown of Romeo and Juliet. Fictional as they are, the city didn’t miss the chance to attract tourists. They dedicated a place called Juliet’s House, or Casa di Giulietta in Italian. It was free to enter the garden area where you can see the famous balcony, and if you feel like it you can line up to take a photo with Juliet’s statue. There is a museum inside where you can actually go up on the balcony but we didn’t bother. It was very crowded.

The famous love story aside, Verona offers other attractions. One of the most famous ones is the Arena di Verona, that looks like Rome’s Colosseum but smaller but in better condition. This arena is an amphitheater built in the 1st century and is still being used today for concerts and shows. 

We didn’t stay overnight in Verona. Instead, we parked the car in one of the two large free parking lots and walked to the old town. We walked by the Porta Palio, Castelvecchio Museum, and many more. On the way back, we took the path on the other side of Adige River and crossed the Scaliger Bridge.

Free parking lot!

Porta Palio

Castelvecchio Museum

Piazza Bra

Arena di Verona

Arena di Verona

At Casa di Giulietta

Juliet’s Balcony

Love locks

Juliet Statue

Snack

First Gelato in Italy!

On the Scaliger Bridge

On the Scaliger Bridge

View from the Scaliger Bridge

In total, we only spent a few hours in Verona and then we continued our journey to Parma where we would stay for 2 nights. But that would be for the next post. :)