We woke up late at around 8:00( relative to previous mornings) got ready and dressed for the day and grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs. We began our morning walking around trying to find a phone store to get Italian SIM cards. We made our way to the fancy stores in the narrow alleyways and did as jido insisted- shopping! Olivia found a great frozen backpack in the Disney store for second grade ( not so Italian but the girls got a kick out of hearing the Sophia the first song in Italian.) we found a gorgeous embroidery shop and personalized all sorts of fun souvenirs. We were all amazed at the artistry of the seamstresses who embroidered the gorgeous names and designs with rehire sewing machines free handed! We visited the balcony of Romeo and Juliet which was set in Verona and meant to be put on in an arena like the ones we are visiting. We saw a few different piazzas, bought more souvenirs and fruit at a yummy outdoor fruit market- and - oh and who could forget the delicious fondue in a cup and gelato! The alleyways were so colorful and European. Window boxes filled with flowers and charming buildings with shudders filled the space. We made our way over the bridge and saw the roman theater. The sidewalks and architecture are so similar to Jerusalem- it's all making sense to us how the Romans brought their architecture and expertise to Israel to build up the city. We saw some castles (castel vecchio)and walked back over the bridge walking on the walls pretending to protect our territory through the peek holes shooting our arrows. Hannah's damaged toe from Switzerland kept getting stepped on by her sisters and she got very upset- the only one that didn't step on her was Teta! Teta protected her all day! After about 6 hours of walking we started getting tired, hot and thirsty and headed back to the hotel. Teta loaded up on water from the cheap market ( only 2 € (euro) for a large bottle) because we all felt guilty for buying the water from the hotel room last night☺️. Just as we got back to the hotel it began to pour!!!! What luck- so far on this trip the rain has come only during our breaks! We rested in the hotel for a while waiting for the rain to slow and went back out outfitted with rainwear and umbrellas to catch the small train on the piazza for a small Verona tour.
By the way Aida still has her retainer!!! 12 more days to go!
We waited in a drizzle under warnings taking bets on when the train would arrive- Ronnie was correct as usual. The train ride was nice but as Olivia said " we are doing the your we just did by foot all over again."- we were hoping the train tour would teach us some of Verona's ancient history but it really was a repeat of the sites we've already seen. When we finished the train tour we found the box office to pick up our tickets for tonight's performance of Aida the opera on the arena and try and buy one for Teta. Hoping it would not be rained out we managed to get one more ticket for Teta. We started getting excited and bought two programs that had the English explanation of Aida in it and translation. We also bought a small book about history of Verona and then went back to the room to change into our fancy opera clothes and rain ponchos. We found out that if it rains during the show they could delay it for 2 1/2 hours, starting at 11:00 ending at 3:00 am. This was going to be a long night! We grabbed a quick dinner right by our hotel but not quick enough because when we got to the gate the clerk told us we couldn't go in until act 2. We said ״we came all the way from NY for this ! We can't miss act 1!" They let us go up the stairs in the arena but not to our closer seats in the wheelchair section downstairs. We all went upstairs to watch act one while Ronnie was forced to wait inside. The view from above was actually beautiful. The girls fought a little over who could hold the programs because they all wanted to follow along. Other than that It was beautiful and fun. We were amazed at the costumes and set design and finally joined Ronnie for act 2.
After act two's intermission it began to rain and the show was canceled!!! We got to see 2 acts and sleep a little too! Can't wait till tomorrow !