A:

We were off to Verona today so packed up after two weeks in Florence and were on a local train to Campo Marte for about five minutes and then the crowded inter- urban (Frecciargento) to Verona which took about 90 minutes. (M: Fortunately we had booked a few days ago, because the train was packed. One of the downsides of these interurban trains is that they seem not to have sufficient space for large luggage, and nor do they have a facility for checking your luggage in, which makes for a very squeezy few minutes at each new station!) The train was running a little late and so we got into Verona about fifteen minutes late and then had a few minutes in the taxi line. (M: After we found the very well hidden taxi rank!) The owner of our unit is Marco and he had arranged for Michela to meet us at the unit - Corso Porta Nuova 5. Corso Porta Nuova is the main drag and leads straight through the arch in the city wall to the Arena. Michela was lovely and was keen to show us the unit and ensure we are comfortable, and provided all kinds of helpful advice. She left us to it and we unpacked and had a look around the old city area which is very close to us. (M: Our flat is almost against the old city walls with views over the north of the city right to the mountains).

We decided to simply do an overview today as we will see what Elias and the girls want to do tomorrow. We are so excited about their arrival. We ate a simple lunch in a cafe after looking through the Chrismas markets which have a large number of German and Austrian stalls with carnivores' delights. (M: Mmmmmmmm!) Verona is so close to the Austrian border that we expected to find this here, as we had seen it in Florence. We gathered supplies from the supermarket which is across the road and down the street - two minutes away. This time we had more to buy than usual. Mick collected a most important cardboard box from outside the supermarket on the way back to the flat.

Our flat is fabulous and we can see the snow on the mountains from our balcony. It is quite spacious and the bathroom has an enormous bathub more like a small swimming pool! There is heating throughout, and we have a dishwasher (with five of us here we may even use it) and a washing machine.

As soon as we had put our groceries away Mick got busy. With a pen knife he crafted a Christmas tree out of the box, and put it together with the masking tape he brought from Canada. Then he added the Christmas lights recently procured from the Pistoia markets - good for shoes and socks as well- and then small, colourful bows from the supermarket here. He then made a crib from said box, and placed the presepe (nativity set) from the Vatican in it. His small reading light is perfect to complete the scene. I gathered the five Christmas stockings we had bought from a stall in Friesole which was set up to support the local emergency workers, and put the gifts inside and placed them near the tree. You will see how good it all looks from the photos.

We went to bed knowing the girls and Elias will be with us tomorrow.

The next morning seemed to pass slowly while we waited. We expected the three of them around 11.30. I was talking to Jim on the phone regarding Mum's progress in rehab in Hornsby hospital when Mick received a message that the girls and Elias were in the cab from the airport and so would be arriving in a few minutes, and this was earlier than expected. I apologised to Jim and we headed downstairs to have a coffee in the cafe there and wait where we would see them arrive. It was so good to see them all and we had a wonderful reunion. It is two and a half months since I have seen them and a month longer for Mick. We went upstairs and had fresh bread rolls with delicious cheese, ham, tomato etc and then went for a lovely wander around the township, collecting a map from Tourist Information first. We could smell the German sausage at the Christmas markets and the waffles and pizza from various other stalls and shops. We also saw Casa di Giuletta- Juliette's house. As Romeo and Juliette are fictional characters one has to wonder about this. You can see a narrow stone balcony which was a sarcophagus in a previous existence - but this doesn't stop couples wishing to stand on it! (M: We somehow resisted the temptation!)There is also a bronze statue of Juliette and one is supposed to rub the right breast of this statue for good luck. I don't know what Shakespeare would have thought of this practice. (M: I am wondering what Juliet thinks. She gives up her life to be faithful then she flaunts her wares for every Tom, d*** or Hariko who comes by!) Back at the flat, pasta was an easy dinner, and the travellers hit the sack around 8. They had done well to stay up all that time!

The following day we checked out Verona on foot using the guide in the Rick Steves book - text not audio this time. We started by walking through the Piazza Bra which is close to our unit, and also close to the Roman arena, and Piazza Erbe which was originally a Roman forum, Piazza Dei Signori (with its tombs of the powerful Scaligeri family built up high so they could be revered) and the church of St Anastasia. We had coffee in the sun in the Piazza Erbe which was a lovely spot to warm up, before crossing the bridge- Ponte Pietra- which was destroyed during the war but the locals collected the stones from the river and rebuilt it. The area is really pretty and the river pristine, unlike the Arno and the Tiber. Over the bridge we walked up quite a few steps to the Castel San Pietro which has a great view of Verona. We decided not to go inside the Castel. A look around the outside of the Duomo - the Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore- built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, and then we went back to the unit for lunch, with the huge quarter loaf of bread I had bought earlier (as shops close around lunch time and it looked so good!) It was really tasty with mozzarello, tomato, lettuce, prosciutto etc.

A quiet hour or so for reading, diary and blog updated etc and we wandered off again in the opposite direction towards the station and then back towards the central part of Verona where Marthese was keen to buy some really nice gifts for Wiebke and her family in Switzerland where she and Elias will be in a few days time. Wiebke is the exchange student from Germany in whose house Marthese spent ten weeks when she was in year ten, and we had Wiebke at our house six months earlier. It is good that the girls are still in contact. The family always spends some time in Switzerland around Christmas and they have invited Marthese and Elias to join them there.

Marthese and Elias were keen to shout us dinner so this was the night.

M:

We had done some joint research on good old Tripadvisor and ended up at Osteria Casa Vino - which proved to be a wise choice. Fantastic on every front - pasta dishes, meat, vegetables and we even weakened for a few desserts. On the way back ( a whole 10 minute walk) we detoured to follow the sound of live music to find a band playing outside a shoe shop. Their fingers must have been freezing!