Our first full day in Verona was laid back.
How cute is our B&B?!
We walked from the city center and to meet out new friend Tim, who had offered to show us where to get our first pizza of the trip. I was so hungry that I FORGOT to take a pic! Fail.
We ordered 4 pizzas and shared them… they were good, but Southern Italy is really the place for pizza.
Next we were off to tour L’Arena. The stairs in that place were no joke! The only stone was quite slippery. If it were the US, we would have seen some serious “climb at your own risk” signage!
They were setting up for a concert that night with a popular Italian singer/guitarist. We couldn’t get tickets, but just seeing the contrast of the ancient against the new was surreal.
Next up was Juliette’s balcony. We took pictures and fought for a spot to rub Juliette’s boob.
Apparently it’s the thing to do here – there were small children feeling up her statue!
When in Rome…
It was unseasonably warm throughout our visit (we, of course, over-packed with all our sweaters). After all that walking around we were past due for our first gelato of the trip!
Vanilla-Hazelnut for me!
Refreshed after our tasty treats, we decided it was time to tackle Teatro Romano (the Roman Theatre). Doesn’t it look far away?
We got to walk across the oldest bridge in Verona to climbed about a million stairs to the top!
The view from the top was well-worth it!!!
Check out yesterday’s post for another view. 🙂
Next is my favorite part of the day – wine time dinner time!
We loved Antica Bottega de Vino so much our first night that we returned again for dinner! This place is the only restaurant in Verona to be officially recognized as a “historic establishment.”
There are worse places to be trapped!
Tim joined us and we feasted. Everything was delicious, but I am sad to say that I did not get a picture of my favorite dish. We started with an amazing plate of polenta topped with some the most deliciously creamy gorgonzola I have ever tasted.
One of the coolest dishes was an Amarone risotto. I still prefer to drink it in a glass, but it’s depressing funny that Amarone is inexpensive enough in Italy to use for cooking. In the States it’s hard to find a bottle for less than $80!
Yes, I realize this looks like baked beans.
You’ll start to see a theme as I post recaps… we ordered pasta with truffles. For the second night in a row.
The nutty parmesan and fresh olive oil coating homemade noodles combined with earthy, rich black truffles is too much for me to pass up!
You’d think that would be enough, but after dinner Tim had a surprise for us – we were able to meet the restaurant owner, Severino Barzan, who gave us a tour of his impressive 130-year old cellar (seriously – the wine in there was worth more than I can imagine).
The Wandering Winos in their happy place
The restaurant and it’s owner are quite well-known – we spotted a picture of the Clinton’s on a recent visit! Can you make out the autograph below?
Not wanting the night to end, we spotted cognac bottles lining the walls dating back to the late 1800s… and decided we needed to have a glass from each of our birth years.
Tim, Brittany, Corinne, me, and Proprietor Severino Barzan with our birth year bottles
On our 2nd night in Italy we were already making memories more fantastic than I could have dreamed of!
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In all my craziness I forgot about WIAW!!! I’m (late) joining the party with my “What I Ate in Italy” theme! As always, check out Peas and Crayons to see the tastiness everyone else ate today!
I’m out of town in client meetings for the rest of the week. I can’t believe I’m already jumping on another plane!
Did you enjoy reading Shakespeare in high school?
Have you had a surreal night like we did? I want to hear about it!
