Romeo and Juliet

"Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo."

Perhaps one of my favorite plays of all time--I absolutely love Shakespeare..thanks primarily to my middle school and high school days at Latin--it was only fitting that I make the day trip to Verona to see the famous balcony where Juliet would secretly meet Romeo and of course where the movie "Letters to Juliet" was filmed.

After two failed attempts, Vaughn and I finally purchased our train tickets this past Friday (May 4) and were set to go early Saturday morning. Well, as usual, buying train tickets is always an experience. We attempted to buy them at the self-serve kiosk but, when we were given two train stations in Verona to choose from, we had no idea which one was correct and decided to ask for help. The next man we asked printed out the list of times for us as well as the correct arrival station, which we thought would help... However, it only confused us more. Was there not a direct train to Verona?

Finally, we decided to stand in line and purchase our tickets from the man working at the train station to avoid any confusion. And, thank goodness we did. Because there is not a direct train from Santa Maria Novella station, we would now have to get on a train, to take us to the other train station in Florence, where we would  then transfer trains, which would then take us to Verona.  There is no way any machine could have told us that!

72 Euro later, we had purchased our tickets to Verona and prepared for the busy day to come!

Arriving at the train station, our 857,563 tickets in hand, we looked at the departure board and found no departures for 9:12 going to the other train station. Great, we thought. Again, we asked the train attendant, who told us that the "Rome Termani" train was heading to that station at 9:12 and we could just get on that one and get off at the stop we needed. After waiting for the platform number to show up, Platform 12 finally flashed and we, along with 495,748 others headed towards it. We validated our tickets and boarded the train.

....9:17....9:20...9:23...why aren't we moving? Our train to Verona leaves at 9:35..why aren't we leaving...

...Finally, we started moving...

We arrive at the train station at 9:28, check the screen for departures. No Verona. There is a "Bologna" train leaving at 9:35 but no Verona. We panic.

It's 9:30.

We quickly ask another train attendant, and by ask, I really mean, Vaughn practically throwing her ticket in the ticket window and asking if our train stopped in Bologna first.

As we suspected, it did and we sprinted to platform 7 with minutes to spare.

It was 9:33.

As I looked down at my ticket for my seat number I realized I had validated the wrong ticket. I quickly ran off the train, validated it and sprinted back on.

2 minutes later, the train began to move and we could finally relax.

The train took around around two hours, making one stop in Bologna. For the duration of the ride, Vaughn studied and slept, while I read "Rick Steves' Italy 2012" section on Verona.

Arriving in Verona, we were pleased to see that the sun was shining, as the weatherman had called for rain and thunderstorms.

As we made our to the Tabacchi store to purchase our bus tickets, as Rick Steves had so generously told us, we decided we needed a quick pick-me-up and bathroom break so we decided to go to a small cafe. On our way, we noticed that the Tabacchi store was closed, but Vaughn reassured me that you could purchase tickets on the bus. However, as we headed towards the cafe, we noticed a ticket booth was open so were able to purchase a day pass for our bus ride to the city center at the train station after all.

As we boarded the bus, we found that there were no seats open so we stood off to the side so we could hold onto the railing. 10 or so minutes later we got off at the bus and began walking. Moments later  an Italian couple came up to us and began talking to Vaughn, telling her to check her bag and make sure nothing was stolen. Vaughn immediately recognized them from the bus and opened her bag to make sure she had everything--everything was accounted for, Phew! The couple then proceeded to tell us that a man had his hand in Vaughn's purse for the duration of the busride and when they noticed him, they had tried to warn Vaughn by saying,"Signora, Signora." Vaughn then recalled this as she remembered turning around to see what the commotion was all about. And thank goodness she did, because when she turned, she turned her body and purse, forcing the man to take his hand out of her purse. Vaughn thanked the couple profusely and stood there in shock as she realized she had her passport, credit cards, and cash all in this one little pouch, which could have been stolen only moments earlier had it not been for the Italian couple on the bus.

We both made sure our bags were secure and clung to the zipper for the entire day! Of course, this is why you always wear a money belt, right Mom ;)

...............now, time to go explore!

Rick Steves book in hand, we followed his map and the street signs and headed to Juliet's House. However, when we came to a fork in the road we had no idea which way to go and, the arrows were of no help as they didn't really point one way or the other.

Do we follow the mob of people, who were most likely headed to Juliet's House or go on the empty, less crowded path? Of course, we decided to follow the huge group of people, who in fact weren't going to Juliet's house...

We than had to back track, which was no problem at all, and eventually made it to the famous "House of Juliet."

We made our way to the back towards the famous statue of Juliet to get our touristy picture for the day--It is been said that if you rub her boob, you will have good luck. As we stood in the mob of people we decided we would just have to jump in as soon as someone left. Vaughn made it up first and I quickly took the picture. Now, it was my turn. You could totally tell we were tourists as we saw two old women simply go up to Juliet, rub her boob for good luck and leave. Perhaps, they were true believers as they did not feel the need to make a spectacle. Of course, I still wanted to take a picture and believed that even with a photo I would still have good luck!

              

(Vaughn and I rubbing Juliet's boob for good luck)

(A tree full of "love locks" and where Vaughn and I hid our letters to Juliet)

(Vaughn's letter to Juliet) 

(Letters to Juliet from the Trusty girls)

(The graffiti wall of lovers leading into the famous courtyard--this one's for you Mom!)

We then headed to another main Piazza where we were able to buy some fresh fruit and delicious panani's from the open market. We made our way over to some steps a few feet away and sat down to each our lunch. We both immediately commented on how good our panini's were and that we were obsessed with the incredibly large amount of fresh fruit sold at the market!

Throughout the day, we would buy even more fresh fruit. Obsessed doesn't even begin to describe it...

We continued our walk through the many side streets, no specific plan in mind and no map--We hadn't really planned our day after Juliet's house and lunch. We walked past a flower shop and decided we could definitely work there, and peeked our heads in various boutiques.

(I just love the smell of fresh flowers--reminds me oh so much of home)

While shopping in one store, we noticed it began to rain. However, because we had prepared for the weather, we weren't the slightest bit upset and continued to walk through the drizzles around the city.

After walking past the same stores several times, we finally decided that we should perhaps see what Rick suggests and follow his instructions. After looking at the map, I finally decided that we should go see the "Roman Bridge," which was the last stop on his self-guided tour. As we followed the map and attempted to find the river, which the bridge was located on, we ran into several unique windows and doors. At that moment, I immediately wished I had taken more photos of the various windows and doors I had seen around Italy... and Europe for that matter. I mean, how cool would it have been to have a photo album of just windows and doors?

I guess it's never too late to start anything because from that moment on, every window and door, which I deemed "cool" or "neat," I took a picture of it.

Here are a few of my favorite ones:

(An old VW bug I saw on the way that reminded me of my mom's at home)

After a short 20 minute walk, we eventually made it to the Roman Bridge and enjoyed the view of Verona. By now the rain had stopped and we were able to enjoy Verona without the confines of an umbrella. Despite the gray skies, Verona was absolutely beautiful. The architecture was stunning and it was all around "so quaint and cute."

(Vaughn and I on the Roman Bridge)

We continued to walk through what seemed like the entire city and made our way back to the city center where we were dropped off. We purchased some fresh fruit and decided to sit on a bench and people watch. It was fun getting to catch up too. You see, while Vaughn and I had both been studying in Florence this past semester, our different schedules and the fact that we attended different universities here made it difficult to coordinate a time to meet up. I was glad we were able to work this out and see a city, which had been on our list of places to go since January.

("And never was there a story of more woe than Juliet and her Romeo")

Our train ride back was nice as we continued to chat about our time here and the various trips we had taken throughout the semester. We talked about how we missed our friends and family and the fact that we were both looking forward to spending our summers in the one place we had missed the most.

Home.

While we love Florence and cannot imagine spending this past semester anywhere but here, Home--truly is--where the heart is.

Lucky for me, The Trusty's embark on their European Vacation in just three short days. I guess you could say, they're bringing "home" to Florence, Italy!

XOXO,
Meggie