Verona

Just returned back from Verona! We took the train in on Friday morning leaving Venice Santa Lucia to arrive at Verona Puorta Nuova. The trip lasted a little over two hours and the train was pretty nice; two levels and even with AC! We got into Verona around 4 pm and walked over to our B&B, a quick 5 min walk from the train station. We got into La Magnolia and checked into our room which was tucked away upstairs and was surprising immaculate for 25 euro/night. We immediately rushed to AC remote which we turned on to savor the cool air I have so ardently missed for the past week. After our room was chilled to 16 degrees centigrade we readied ourselves for the opera and headed downtown Verona for a nice authentic Italian meal before entering the amphitheater. We ate at a cute pizzeria just outside of the main square and enjoyed pasta alla bolognese and salad. We arrived at the Arena di Verona a little past 8 and attacked the many tall stairs to nosebleed stage left. The opera was the most visually astounding production I have ever seen as it literally took the whole solid 20 minutes during each of the three intermissions to reconfigure the sets to prepare for the next act. The music was of course phenomenal and the singing was top-notch albeit Carmen was an understudy.
After many a bravissimo at ten till 1 we ventured down the rather treacherous steps to make the 15 min or so walk back to return to our B&B as we eagerly jumped into bed. Breakfast was a typical European style fare featuring Italian meats, fresh baguettes, chocolate pastries, hard-boiled eggs, and an array of very fresh fruits. We left our friends at the B&B and headed out to the outskirts of the old part of town where we ended up hiking up to il Santuario di Lourdes. After the 30 min or so walk up we rested by taking a few pictures and taking in the beautiful panoramic view of the city below. We traveled down and stopped at il Torre for a quick bite of lunch and then walked down to Juliet's balcony. Yes, just like in Letter's to Juliet.
We caught a mid-afternoon train back into Venice and made dinner following our walk home which was surprisingly not sweltering. After an afternoon rain Venice cooled off to about 68F which allowed a couple of my house-mates and I to make hot tea tonight after dinner using a tea kettle and all! I might even use my sheet tonight as a cover instead of sleeping on top.
Tomorrow we are all off to Lido, the nearby beautiful beach right on the Adriatic and home to the Venice film festival. With our student imob pass we can hop over to the island for a euro so it might become a new fave hangout once the film festival begins!