They also were very helpful in answering all of my questions, were really quick to respond to my emails, and put my mind at ease when we were wavering on the Egypt part of the trip and ultimately asked them to cancel it. (Just our experience, and they in no way gave us a discount, nor are they paying me to say these things.)
Because we had already booked our flight for July 12 from Athens to Seattle, we had some extra days to fill. Our last day in Greece was July 5, so after we cancelled the Egypt tour Chuck suggested that we could go to Italy for the last part of the trip. We decided on Venice. I quickly got to work booking flights from Athens to Venice, and back to Athens for our trip home.
A friend of mine, Alice, is from Italy and had lived in Venice for four years. She had great advice and suggestions for our time there, and also had friends who suggested a Bed and Breakfast for us. At the last minute, and I mean last minute while we were in Athens, I was in contact with the owner of Allo Squero to book the room in Venice. He couldn't take us until July 7, and we were leaving Greece on July 5, so we had to figure out what to do. Chuck decided it was a perfect opportunity to see some other part of Italy, and we began looking online for hotels in Milan and a couple of other cities that are close to Venice.
We decided on Verona. If you ever get the chance to go to Verona do not hesitate. It is so much fun!
Here are some highlights from our journey to, and our stay in, Verona:
July 5
I am sitting in the Santorini airport waiting for Chuck to come back with our slushy or smoothie or whatever it is that he ordered for us. The veranda is filled with little blue tables and woven chairs also painted blue.
There is so much smoking here. Lots of different Europeans, and they love their cigarettes.
We are flying back to Athens to then catch a flight this afternoon to Venice.
Night of July 5
We are sitting in the bed of an apartment in Verona, Italy. We decided to take our chances and hop on a bus from the Venice airport to a train station, and then catch a train to Verona and look for a hotel once we arrived.
The bus ride was a learning experience. We got on a bus going to Verona, but another passenger who was from London told us we had to get tickets. The machine just outside the bus wasn't working, so we had to go back inside the airport to find the ticket counter.
We were too late for that bus once we got our tickets, so we waited for the next one. We were able to buy tickets for the train inside the bus station at a machine. Lucky for us Chuck chose the correct station. There were two for Verona, and he happened to pick the one that took us to the main town.
We met a very nice young man as we stood on the platform waiting for our train to arrive. His name was Francesco, and he was very helpful in telling us how to get about town.
He also warned us that some trains are better than others, and some don't have air conditioning at all while others work sporadically. Ours had air conditioning, but it wasn't very strong.
He sat with us a little later in the ride when some chairs opened up as people got off at stops along the way. Our train stopped at every train stop.
Before the seats opened up, we met a young man from Ethiopia who had chosen to move to Italy to find a future for himself. He specializes in body repair for wrecked cars, he said. He is still looking for work.
He said he has brothers in Greece, and they aren't treated well there.
Francesco is a doctoral student doing his thesis on computer imaging.
He has aunts in New York and used to visit there every summer as a small boy, he said. He talked about the way the US uses air conditioning and how it is too strong. We talked about a lot of things, the whole way.
Our train ride was made easier by our conversation. We asked him questions about Verona and he was very kind to help us.
He told us where to go once we exited the train, and how to find a place to stay in the city.
Once we were off the train I noticed a small monument that I thought was the one he was telling us about, and he said that the main square was beyond that. But there was a much larger one that Chuck said he believed was the one, and then some family came along and directed us to follow them when we asked where to find a hotel. Chuck was correct.
They live in the main square, and we stopped at the first hotel we saw. A Best Western. The only room available for the night was an apartment, $180 per night. We said OK. It was a discount from the normal $259. It is Opera Season, and there were no rooms available. We figured there weren't any in the city.
The apartment is very nice, with a small balcony, kitchen and seating area.
There are electric buttons to raise the shade of the balcony, and to turn off the lights near the bed.
The bathroom is different. It has a jacuzzi tub, but is pretty small. The shower is nice, with glass wall and door. The commode is too high for me, and the seat is shaped such that it presses into my legs when I sit down.
There is a bidet as well. I have used it a couple of times. I think I might want one.
We have a refrigerator and dining table, oh, and the breakfast here is amazing! It's free, and it includes a lot of pastries, eggs, so much meat, cheeses, it's just crazy. In the US I don't usually bother with the free breakfast at a hotel because it's never that good. Here in Europe the breakfast is major.
Evening of July 6, we are at Hotel Firenza for one more night. It's easier to just stay here, and we love it.
We spent our day touring Verona. We bought a 2-day pass to see a whole list of things, but only got to 3 of them today. We won't be here for very long tomorrow, so not sure if we will venture to any museums before we leave for Venice.
My allergies are bad here in certain spots. I think some of the trees bother my allergies.
We tried to get to the Farmacia, but it was closed.
Maybe in Venice I can find a pharmacy.
Things close here at around 1:30 or 2 p.m. and the restaurants open back up for business at around 6 p.m., but everything else seems to stay shut.
I like it here, but it is very warm.
We have eaten Italian here. Our breakfast is Italian, the lunch we had today was pizza and Chuck had a pasta seafood dish. For dinner we tried to find a local restaurant to enjoy authentic Verona cuisine. Chuck ordered a sausage pizza and I had spaghetti with neopolitan tomato sauce and a mixed salad.
It was good, but as usual I couldn't eat much. I didn't save it since we will be leaving tomorrow.
We are having a great time.
We saw the Verona colosseum today, a castle complete with rooms that still had some of the frescos on the walls, and a room with weapons from the 15th-17th century.
That was a real highlight because it was like a fairytale castle with a mote, courtyard, balconies where you could just imagine the King and Queen addressing a crowd.
We also visited some museum that held a lot of marble sculpture and things from graveyards. It was housed on the grounds of some really old building, but we couldn't go inside. It is in use, because we peeked into the windows and saw modern chairs arranged as if there were an event or speaking engagement there.
It is so warm that my hands are swollen.
We visited those places and then came back to our apartment to cool off and took a nap. We got up and ventured back out to find the pharmacy, which was closed, and look around some more. We mostly just wondered around, but we did take a little tour on a "train" that looped around the old city and had a guided info recording about various sites in Verona.
It is the home of Romeo and Juliett!! Shakespeare wrote it partly from real accounts of the tragedy, and also from local poets' poems and prose.
We are enjoying all of this city. The culture, the bicycles everywhere for rent, the mopeds zipping down the streets and alleyways, the different cars that we've never heard of, the language being spoken.
We stopped into a sweets shop this afternoon and had wonderful pastries. The owners were very authentic Italian, and I enjoyed listening to them engage others in Italian conversation while we were there.
Everyone has been very nice here in Verona.
And Chuck just said we got an email from Francesco! Such a sweet young man, and who knows how this new friendship will play out for our families.
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