Oct 12, 2010 - Verona, Italy

Tuesday, October 12, 2010. Happy Columbus Day! We left the traffic and clutter in Innsbruck this morning and drove over the Brenner Pass 180 miles to Verona, Italy. The toll road was good but expensive. Tolls were 21 euros, about $29 USD. We are staying at the Hotel Borghetti 5 km outside of Verona, a good hotel at a much better price than in the city. After checking in, the project became LAUNDRY. And it WAS a project, both finding one, finding parking (hah!) and hoping machines would be available. The final cost was about $26. A unique...

Sep 23, 2010 - Near Verona,Italy

After crossing over Brenner Pass,at towards the bottom of the pass we were driving through a small town and stop a Agriturismo vineyard to camp for the night.We camped behind the farm house next to vineyards, breakfast was included.They are really nice people.

Sep 16, 2010 - Verona & Vineyards

Time for our next lesson on how to stay places for free while travelling through Europe. We've covered the Aires haven't we? Right, another alternative for when you're in Italy is the Fatore Amico scheme. This is a scheme whereby farmers offer up a bit of their land for one night to self-contained camper vans and motor homes. You are under no obligation to buy anything from them, but obviously they are involved in the scheme hoping that you might. So, there are vineyards, olive farms, vegetable producers, ham producers, grappa producers,...

Aug 28, 2010 - Verona

Saturday, August 29 - Verona - Today we spent the day touring the major sites of Verona. We followed Rick Steve’s suggestion for a walking tour of the city and the young man at the front desk suggested we also tour the Archaeological Museum and castle. He then handed us a Museum pass to most of the sites in the city - this is really a touch of class - I was so impressed. We probably wouldn’t have gone into some of these sites if we had to pay. I’ll tell you, this hotel is a touch of class. Enjoy the photo’s of this beautiful city, they tell...

Aug 27, 2010 - Venice - Vicenza - Verona

Friday, August 27 - Venice, Vicenza & Verona - Today was long, but quite amazing!! After disembarking our ship, waiting forever for our shuttle bus to take us to the Hertz Car Rental office, we finally get on the road to Vicenza about 9:30. If you don’t already know this about me, I am a fan of the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio who is considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture, and his work dominates Vicenza and the Veneto region of Italy. Palladio gave us the Palladian style which is so...

Aug 15, 2010 - Verona

Through the night, I received 6 text messages from Vodafone welcoming me, alternately, to Switzerland and Italy, so we must have straddled the border for some time. I woke up a couple of times when the train stopped, but the blinds were drawn, and I didn’t want to disturb my 2 roommates, so I just dozed off again. At 6:45am (45 minutes before arriving at Verona), I was woken by the knocking of the train attendant. He brought me some good espresso and a bad croissant/brioche. I am leaving Ruth and Ashley behind -- they are continuing to...

Jun 18, 2010 - A day stop in Verona

Today, we hopped on a train to Verona, it was really more of a sprint. With three girls, it is hard for us to get out on time, as you can imagine. We had to get off the metro and run to the ticket counter, then run to the train which left as we were sitting down. We got to Verona and went straight to the Roman Arena. The arena was neat but they were setting up for an opera so there were chairs on the steps and the floor which took away from the old feel of the arena. Next, we headed to juliet's house from Romeo and Juliet. First of all, I...

Jul 16, 2009 - Travelling to Italy -Verona

Well we were off to Italy at what felt like dawn; we actually got up before 7 on our holiday. But we wanted to get an early start to Italy from all best estimates it could take four to eight hours to get to Verona depending on traffic. Not to mention the Italian drivers sounded a bit notorious for bad driving. We drove through the Swiss Alps and enjoyed gorgeous scenery along the way. We felt like terrible tourists but we took quite a few driving shots of the mountains. But we had no idea how long the drive was so we wanted to make our way...

Jul 3, 2009 - Verona

Today we travelled by boat to Como and then by train to Verona. For those who don't know, Verona is a very interesting little city with many attractions. The first is a whalebone hanging from an arch for a thousand years or so. It's said that it will fall on the first person to pass under it who has never told a lie. Lisa (in turquoise, looking up at it) has told David he's ruggedly handsome, so it won't fall on her. The whalebone isn't the only thing in Verona that's hundreds of years old. The myth of Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona....

Sep 9, 2008 - Buena Sera Di Venizia

OK, so continuing the train station in Innsbruck. After I finished the internet, "22" as Ive dubbed him asks me to stay and have a drink, so I do. The language barrier is challenging. He was very nice and apparently madly in love with me! Then is friend, a black guy from Uganda starts trying to horn in on the action. 22 is getting a bit offended. Uganda guy says that I should go home with him because he can make me a princess in Uganda -- seriously, I blow him off. I took a photo of me and 22 and he seems to be happy now and wants me to...

Jul 20, 2008 - Getting Started

Arrived in Verona at 2pm. It is hot and muggy, New York in the summer style. Arianna, the course director, has made the time, amid all of her other chores, to pick me up from the airport. We stop at her home and I meet her husband Francesco. I help repair some xylophones, then we load her car (typical teacher-mobile) and schlep me and the instruments to the conference center across town. The Center was a religous center, complete with dorms as well as the requisite meeting rooms. It is ideal for an Orff conference. There are 85 "students"...

May 1, 2008 - Visiting Verona

Parking in Verona Like all old cities parking in Verona is difficult so we were fortunate when, at the exact moment we arrived, a space became vacant right outside our apartment. We were reluctant to give up this space so we walked everywhere and planned to visit Gardaland via train. However, on the day, we missed the train and the next one wasn’t for two hours and there was no way the kids wanted to give up two hours of Gardaland time. Unwillingly we surrendered our space and took the car. After a great day out (see previous post) we...