The Homeland!

Ciao Bella! It's been 10 years since I've been to Italy, and I wonder why it's taken me so long to come back. It just feels like home here, I feel very comfortable. As I walk through the streets of the various beautiful cities, I can't help but think of my Dad, who is fiercely proud of our Italian background. He insisted that I have an Italian band from New Orleans play at our wedding, and it was great. The entire outside part of the reception was Italian-style: the food, the decor, the music. He loves everything about the Italian way of life: food, family, beauty and gelato! It suits him well. It would be fun if he were here. Miss you, Dad!



Just about everything is beautiful in Italy. The architecture, the landscape, the wine, and especially the language. I wish I had a knowledge of it. Everything sounds lovely to the ear, although for the most part, I cannot understand it. It's similar to French in a sense, but to hear casual conversation between natives, I can't really make anything out. Although I have taken the time to learn some phrasing so I can speak a little bit. Just about everything sounds how it's spelled so the words are fun to say.



First leg: Verona, Venice, Florence

Joey relaxing on the train to Italy

Verona



We chose the land of star-crossed lovers as a base in the northern part of the country. From there, we could easily take trips to Venice and Florence via train. And we got to see Verona, too! As you probably know, Verona is where's Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet takes place...and thus tourism is born in Verona. They actually have "Juliet's house" that you can visit...you can take a photo from her balcony. I have to say I found this so silly because, well, Juliet is fictional. So is Romeo. They did not exist. Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes were not dipicting real people in the 1990's hit film. Therefore, they did not have houses in fair Verona. William Shakespeare was English, and he wrote plays, fictional ones. Ok, glad to have cleared that up. :)


Needless to say, we opted not to do lunch with the Capulets. But, we did see the city's internationally renowned opera Arena, built in the first century and is still in use today as an operatic theatre. That's a really old arena! Verona has a lovely square and a river running through the center of the city, as many cities seem to have over here.


The Arena

Verona, Italy

You can tell the days we've been travelling because I look so rough, eh? :)

I'm sorry, I just have to comment once more on the Romeo/Juliet thing...of course we had read about it in our guidebook and thus made the decision to avoid the fake house. However, a lady in a shop in Verona even told us that we must go visit the darn Juliet house because "it's good luck." Um...good luck? Do they not recall how Romeo and Juliet ends?? They kill themselves for goodness sake!! I'm all for romance, but good grief. It.does.not.end.well. for R and J. If only I could say all that in Italian...



Venice



Ah, Venizia! Despite what people say (that it's dirty and smells like Grand Isle), I quite liked Venice. And I didn't smell anything. It really is a city on water. Their subway lines are on canals, it's crazy! Of course it's crowded and there are over-priced (extremely) gondolas everywhere, but I found Venice charming. As Joey said, we needed to see it before it completely sinks. Lovely, dear.



One sight of note was the Basilica di San Marco, Venice's crown jewel. It was begun in the 9th century to house St. Mark's remains, which were stolen from Alexandria by Venetian merchants (whoops). The rose-adorned tomb of St. Mark rests at the altar. Of course, no pictures were allowed in the holy church, but it was very neat to see.

Exterior of the Basilica di San Marco

Venice

Venice consists of 118 little islands in a lagoon

View of Venice from the campanile (bell tower about 96 meters up) in Piazza San Marco

Florence



We needed more time in Florence. There is just so much to see. And the crowds were insane! When I came to Florence in the summer when I was in high school, I really don't remember crowds like this. And that was in the summer. Right now is supposed to be the slow period! We still enjoyed it, although we didn't go inside any museums. We did visit a very charming town on the outskirts of Florence in the hills called Fiesole. It was very picturesque, I would have liked to have visited longer. All in all, we needed another day in Florence, but we enjoyed walking around and seeing the city just the same.

The Duomo in Florence

 

 

The Florentine symbol of the city

 
We hope everyone is doing well! Let us know you were here if you have a chance. Thanks for reading!


Love to all,