November 2009
Our first stop in Italy on our Trafalgar European Cavalcade Tour is Verona. Verona marks the first day away from the Germanic countries; and thus away from the order and the predictability and now to the artistic and “anything can happen” areas! Our tour guide repeated her warnings multiple times, talking about pick pockets and snatchers and how the vacation can get ruined with a simple mistake. Despite being from the Philippines and being used to all the crime, we stayed cautious and wary still, just to be sure. :)
we walked a couple of blocks from the drop off point. Interesting how a change in country changes all the rules despite the countries being landlocked together. In Italy, unlike the Germanic countries, crossing on pedestrian lanes does not guarantee that the traffic will stop! Our tour guide says (kidding) that the stoplights in Italy are merely suggestions.
We went to the Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s House) and took some photos with the famous balcony and the brass statue of Juliet. For luck you need to rub her breasts. I think that to be clear, I should say it outright; the tour guide was a bit more cautious in saying the B word :P.
Juliet's House / Casa di Giulietta
My wife, who loved having her picture taken in new places, posed with some locals in costume. Unlike in Cologne and in other areas which she did the same, the tip amount was not voluntary; a “suggested” value is given instead. Before, we would give Euro 50 cents or a bit more (a lot of money in our country). Here in Italy they have a small piece of plastic with a Euro 2 coin attached which they show you for the tip amount, AFTER you have taken the photos. My wife tried to give less but they persisted and followed us until we paid the whole amount. That finally taught my wife to avoid such people, and she didn’t make the same mistake with the people in gladiator costumes in Rome. :p
Euro 2 photo! (at the Arena de Verona)
We were then given about an hour to have our lunch and walk around the city. We perused through some of the flea market shops in the middle of the Piazza delle Erbe then stopped for a bit to take our quick lunch (a long full lunch would mean less time to wander around). We tried walking through some side streets and found the Scala dela Ragione / Palazzo dela Ragione / Torre dei Lamberti near the public restrooms. We took a bunch of photos here as there were almost no people around.
Scala dela Ragione / Palazzo dela Ragione / Torre dei Lamberti
Piazza dei Signori
Verona was a good stopping point as it was a good testing ground for the whole Italian experience. It was a good wake-up call for those who have become overconfident against pickpockets and swindlers especially coming from a bunch of days in the quite safe and predictable Germanic countries (Switzerland, Germany, Austria, etc). The crowds are bigger, more tourists, traffic signs are ignored, varied people of various nationalities... a different style to say the least!
After only two hours in Verona, we headed off to Venice/Venizia!
For other photos of Verona, Italy click here
For other blog entries of Italy:
For other photos and blog entries of other places we went to in the European Cavalcade Trafalgar Tour, please click here
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