Verona - More Than Just Romeo And Juliet

Verona, located just to the east of Lake Garda in the North Italian region Veneto, is a lovely city at its center. Lots of renaissance & medieval flair with more ancient vibes sprinkled throughout. Just very crowded a lot of times during the summer months because it is a big tourist attraction. And the day we visited there was to be a concert at the famous Arena in the evening, so we didn't get to go inside. The Arena is an almost fully preserved amphitheatre dating back to Roman times.

I'm one of the few people who doesn't go all crazy about the famous balcony of the even more famous Shakespeare play "Romeo & Juliet" or, Romeo e Giulietta how they are called here. For me it's just kind of a tourist hook and honestly slightly underwhelming. It's a pretty balcony of an old and very pretty palazzo, but I very much doubt the dude could get there unseen to sing and chat around for any length of time because it's located in an inner courtyard in the city center... or as my husband said: "He probably was very good at doing parcour". Sorry to all you romantic folks out there.

Anyway, Verona has so many more beautiful, interesting and breathtaking old buildings from Roman times onwards that even without Juliet balcony there's no lack of possibilities to immerse yourself in Italian culture or find an romantic atmosphere. Actually, you should go to Verona because of these things and take the balcony as a sort of icing on the cake. Very beautiful, very charming and fantastic ice cream from one of the parlors along the main shopping street. I cannot remember the name now, but it has an old time flair to it.