Venice & Verona

Trip Start Jun 09, 2008
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Trip End Jul 04, 2008


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Where I stayed
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(Venice hotels)

Flag of Italy  , Veneto,
Saturday, June 21, 2008

Venice!! I thought it was one of the most attractive cities in Europe. Besides, I had heard that Venice was designated as a World Heritage Site. I am sorry to say this, if you have a plan to go there. Honestly, however, it turned out to be a big disappointment to me. I planed to stay there for one full day at first, but I changed my mind and left there before noon. First of all, the city was smelly and dirty. You could see a lot of graffiti on the walls around the city and might realize the garbages are scattered around. If you visited there, would you really feel Veinice was a beautiful city? In addition, things were very expensive, there were nothing special to see, and it was still crowded. When I dropped by a TI office, I asked for a city map, I was surprised that it cost 2.5 EUR. Of course, I didn't take it, but the event made me feel sick. Furthermore, the money exchangers take a hefty commission, as usual in Italian tourists spots. However, I had a reason to visit Venice. My mom asked me to buy a Venetian glass souvenir for her. A shop seller told me it was called Murano glass, which was made in Murano, a part of Venice Venice
Venice
 . Although the city was disappointing, I liked its beautiful souvenirs like Murano glass and Venetian masks,but after I got a Murano glass saucer, I immediately left Venice for Verona.

Verona was a compact city, but more beautiful than Venice. The city itself was designated as a UNESCO's World Heritage. The first thing to do was to get a Verona Card for 8 euros. The TI office lady in the train station was very helpful and told me a lot about Verona attractions. Then I took a public bus to the city center for free, thanks to Verona Card. I got off in front of the amphitheater which was the third largest one in Italy. I didn't have to visit there, because I had a plan to go to the Colosseum in Rome, but the good atomosphere of the city led me to all the attractions in Verona. In particular, after Venice, I needed to relax in the beautiful city. The second destination was Juliet's house, Casa di Giulietta. As a matter of course, it was fictional. In front of the entrance, there was a statue of Juliet, which had a superstition that if you scrubbed her right breast, you got a new lover. Without hesitation, I scrubbed it. The balcony where Juliet appeared were attached on the house wall. I watched it from a window of the house for a while, waiting for a beautiful girl like Juliet appeared, but no luck. There were also Romeo's house, but I couldn't find it out even in the small city. I also visited a larage church and a grand ruin, which I don't remember their names Juliet Statue in Verona
Juliet Statue in Verona
 . The most impressive thing in the ruin was I was greeted by a staff guard saying, "Thank you (for visiting)". I was glad to meet a sophisticated man even there in Italy.(I am sorry, if you are Italian and disturbed by my word.) Anyway, I was satisfied with Verona and understood why Japanese tours always stopped at Verona after Venice.

When I got back to Venice, I had one hour left before the night train to Zagreb. So I took some pictures of Venice in dusk and sat on a step in front of the station. There were a group of young British sitting next to me. After a while, an Italian came to them and tried to socialize, but they didn't like it and escaped. While I was traveling in Italy, I heard another British bitch about Italians. It seemed difficult for British to get along with Italians.
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