Hotel Paina Malcesine

... the city of the star crossed lovers.....saw the house and tomb of juliet and walked around this fab city. Defo suggest coming here. Had a great dinner last night of pasta and bean soup (local speciality). Jason was suggested to eat horse, so he did. I think it kinda grossed me out, especially when we saw his brother trotting by earlier this afternoon.<br><br>Anyways, off to go explore and eat now, later!<br>

... I was going to do once I got there. I glanced at the train departure board, then headed off in the general direction I believed the lake to be. My instincts turned out to be right, and the ceter was so beautiful. There were some ferries that I thought might be fun to take on a tour, but I guess they were just for going to other towns around the lake, so instead I just wandered around Desenzano. I thought it might be weird to be by myself ...

An early morning as we were heading to Venice for the day which was a bit over an hour by train from Verona. Both Greg and I had been before and it hadn't been our favourite place, but we wanted the girls to at least see it. We had warned them that we wouldn&#8217;t be going on a gondola as it is over 75 Euros ($150 AUD) for a ride. Katelyn said that we had already been on a gondola ride in Las Vegas so we didn&#8217;t have to ...

<br><br>A day to explore Verona so we started at the Arena where we bought a Verona Card which covers Verona's major attractions and proved to be good value as kids only then had to pay 1 Euro to get into whatever we decided to do. We usually avoid these as with the kids we usually don&#8217;t rush from one place to the other. The Arena was pretty impressive- it is a Roman Amphitheatre which is used today for traditional operas such as Aida and also other concerts ...

... is. This looks like a miniature Colosseum. I felt like a coffee but Greg didn't so Tara and I went into a caffe/patisserie and I ordered a caffe latte, not realising that that was actually an espresso with a very small amount of milk- it was nice, but didn&#8217;t take long to drink. <br><br>We couldn&#8217;t believe how many people were out and about. All of the shops were open and the streets were crowded which is something ...

... you about my clean clothes. Capito?<br><br>I did not find canella gelato, I honestly think finding it at the place two days ago was a little blessing from God which I may not receive again. But after wandering and wandering AND wandering I found a cute little place that said, "Caffe shakerato con mente" Coffee and mint gelato sounded pretty good so I was sold. However, nowhere did it say gelato. And nowhere did I see gelato. But I ...

... some vitamin C will kick it out. And I have some succa di arancia e annanas. Not bananas as you might think, but pineapple. Go figure. <br><br>I'm going into the city to find internet and to eat at a little place I noticed the other day. It's called La Cantina De L'Arena. Which I just realized should actually be Cantina Dell'Arena, right Signora Tumminia? Anyway, it called to me last time I was there but was ...

So much so, that it is about to take the title of 'longest stay' while in Italy. I will spend 5 total nights here. Woohoo! I'm about to leave my fabulous hotel that I love to go to an apartment in the city, where I can live like a local with my own kitchen and everything. I am psyched! The only drawback is that it doesn't have internet. So I will do my best to bring my laptop with me and post updates while I'm in town picking up produce. EEEE! :)<br>

Verona may just give you a run for your money.<br><br>I'm in a glorious hotel, drinking German beer -- courtesy Olga at the front desk. And I am right in the very heart of Valpolicella country.<br><br>I've decided that in Paris and Rome I was touristing (though I recognize I didn't see nearly enough in either) but Verona is going to be relaxing time. Which I also recognize is ridiculous since I go on a cruise in less than a week. But whatever, it's my trip, I get to decide what I'm doing. :)

... quick visit to a local doctor. After playing charades and being translated by his daughter over speaker phone, he diagnosed me with Bronchitis and gave me a prescription for a few different things to make sure I got rid of it for the cruise. We stayed in Verona for 3 nights, much of which I took it easy trying to get better. We did have a look around the city one day, seeing Juliet's balcony and a few other sights. <br>