Feeling the love…and the cold

I shall be sad today to farewell Florence. I love it here and feel like I am at the cross roads of European history, indeed a cross roads of my own for Florence feels like a maturing of travel experiences. While it is a known must visit destination, it is not New York, London, Paris, or Rome. It requires some effort to arrive here and it certainly requires some intellectual effort to understand it. It’s easy just to see a modern interpretation of day to day living, yet it’s applied against layer upon layer of rich history. 

For my final morning I strolled along the River Arno into the sun to enjoy the view once more and up and down lanes window shopping, they sure make them pretty here. 

Eat Italy is my favourite shop, not just because of the Illy counter that is as close to All Press as I’ve found, but because it’s a foodies dream. My beautiful little Leone pastilles are unlikely to make it home…. And I can’t wait to make the truffle infused risotto. After leaving, a fortuitous left took me through the leather market, before returning to pack.

Next stop Verona on a couple of high speed trains. When you’re hurtling along at 300km an hour progress is achieved easily. The whole train thing is a bit of a mine field…and certainly more effort should have been applied to understanding it but sometimes it’s easier to just roll with it and shake your head in that very Italian way. New civil engineering, a popular journal in our house, reports a trillion Euros being invested into trains in the coming years. I do hope a few mil at least is going into self cleaning loos on board!

The journey north was in a blanket of fog, you really couldn’t see anything at all. I caught a snippet on BBC a couple of days back that suggested fog was going to be prevalent. They weren’t kidding and with it comes a chill, with every breath I look like a chain smoker.

Everyone was a little slow today so having chillaxed for a bit, we ventured out in search of Juliet’ balcony, it seemed a good way to start in Verona although we all were somewhat confused as to if we were dealing with a fairytale or real life story!

Juliet’s balcony is proceeded by Juliet’s wall. Here you can declare your love in writing or as this couple preferred, physically display it. Isabella of course penned her love for Will before the obligatory photo.

We are staying  very near the Arena which dominates the area.  Built in 30AD, this amphitheater seated 30,000 people. Today not so many, more like 15,000 but widely used from Duran Duran to Sting along with Adelle there this year…. Now that I would love to hear.

Christmas is in swing here with the market the perfect place to warm up. The German influence evident here with Caleb going back for seconds on the Polpetta, a very meaty burger.  Freshly sliced hot ham in a bun, chocolate waffles, gluewein, musicians playing…. what’s not to love in Verona.