Verona

I stayed in a small town called Verona for two days, which is the city where Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' was set. There, you can see Juliet's tomb and the house where the Montague's (I believe it was) lived. Apparently, the story of the two lovers is actually based on a folk tale which was later written into a story titled 'la Guilietta' some 80 odd years before Shakespeare, who based his story off of this. There WAS a feud between the two families and there was a couple caught in the middle... etc. etc. I found that little piece of history very fascinating.

Verona is a very small but nice little city. There are a lot of churches to see and once you've seen three, you've pretty much seen them all. There is a castle there which has a cool museum inside with an art gallery as well. The baroque art was so vibrant and colorful; took some cool shots there as well.

The hostel where I stayed was also in a sort of a castle, which was very cool. The only downside was that they were very strict and closed their gates at midnight, but... it was only 15 euro/night and included breakfast. One morning, I woke up early and climbed a huge hill up to what had been part of a city-wall and there read my book for a few hours (Oliver Twist, which i found in an empty drawer in Rome). A very peaceful morning...

And now for the best part- there is a Roman arena in the middle of Verona where Opera's are the the thing, man. So... I saw my first Italian opera in a roman ampitheatre! The show which I saw was called 'Aida.' It's an Egyptian piece, and although I couldn't understand a word they were saying it was very cool nonetheless (will post pictures).

Verona is great and I was sorry to leave.