My Fair Verona

On Sunday of my Staycation weekend I traveled by myself to Verona, Italy.

This was my first encounter with the European train system. Aside from the confusing tickets, it is a fairly painless process. The trip to Verona took less than 2 hours including a 30min layover in Bologna (which was nice because though I did not see much, I am not sure when else I would have had a chance to go).

Verona is beautiful. I would say it is my favorite city in Italy so far (sorry Florence!). About 2/3rds of the city is surrounded by a pure blue river. There is a path that you can walk or bike that circles around the entire city. The buildings are gorgeous; it truly is the city of romance.

Some people were even kayaking in the rapids here.

On Juliet's balcony, though no Romeo in sight.

Roman Arena! Really cool, except since was renovated into a concert hall reminded me a lot of Berkeley's football stadium. After walking to the top to see the view, I was done.

I mainly just wandered around, taking the city in (I think I ended up walking a total of 15-16 miles that day, but that is only slightly more than a normal day as a study abroad student). Verona is an interesting mix of historical sites/ tourist activities and a modern city. In between Juliet’s house (as in Romeo and Juliet) and the Roman Arena there are high-end clothing retailers, pharmacies and electronic stores. Once you wander outside of the city center the town quickly turns into suburban residences (reminded me a little of London’s outskirts). The day I went there was some large event going on. A lot of people wearing blue t-shirts had an outdoor mass together and then migrated to this one grassy area where they ate lunch and played picnic games. I think it would be a beautiful place to live.

I am very glad that I was able to test out the whole travel alone experience, especially to Verona that all things considered is relatively close to Florence. I am an impatient person and traveling alone bypasses the frustrations of organizing a large group. It does get lonely though (especially in such a lovey-dovey city like Verona). Traveling alone also means you cannot doze off. I woke up today sore because I think I spent all of yesterday in a tense state. There was no one to confer when you weren’t sure about which train to take; there was no company to enjoy the sites with; there was no buffer when you aren’t sure if a guy is being nice or creepy. That being said, you have an incomparable autonomy as a solo traveler. I could be spontaneous and do what I wanted, exactly when I wanted. I could decide on a whim to buy a ticket for Juliet’s house or not feel bad about spending a total of 5 minutes in the Roman Arena after paying 7.50 Euros. So pros and cons.

Oh and did I mention I accidentally missed my stop on my way home? Yes, after my success in navigating my way to Verona, I didn’t get off at the Florence station and wound up in Rome (the next stop, an hour and a half away) at 8 pm.

It all worked out, I got a train back right away and was in Florence before 11pm (which is generally when I would be coming back from dinner anyways). I was grateful though it was only Rome, not a different country all-together. I also had a book with me so the three hours to Rome and back passed relatively quickly. So all in all it worked out, but it would have been nice to have a travel buddy. Oh well, at least I figured it out now rather than later and you’ve got it admit, it makes an interesting story.