Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene

September 14, 2023

Out the door by 8

Shakespearean fans have probably already guessed our destination for today, Verona.

After climbing to the train station on our bikes, an hour train ride and carrying 7, yes 7, bikes down the stairs at the Verona train station we made our way into the old section of town.

We had to take the elevator up to the platform to catch the train in Desenzano this morning. One bike at a time….

Desperately searching for gum in the train station vending machine.

When the elevator breaks, having an e-bike is not a great advantage….. they are heavy!

When we got in to Verona we found that the elevator for our platform was broken! That meant 7 heavy bikes carried down the stairs one at a time while keeping control of them so they didn’t run over anyone…. It was a two person job!

In Verona the old Roman Arena still stands and is used not only for tours but concerts as well. The town square has a large curving facade of buildings opening into a large plaza complete with bronze sculptures and the arena.

The Arena was likely built around 14 to 57 AD. The size and complexity of the arena made it an important predecessor to the Colliseum begin in 80 AD. Arena hosted the most popular entertainments of the times: combats between gladiators and staged "hunts" of exoticimported animals.

A short walk down a pedestrian shopping street leads to Giulietta’s Casa, of course we dropped in for a quick visit and photos.

Once the photo ops were completed we headed carefully out of the city and began our 35 mile ride back to Desazano.

The route today was often on well traveled roads with traffic. There were some bike trails and some more rural roads through wine country. Several villas seemed open to tourists.

Lunch at the halfway point. Most of us chose Nonna’s special tortellini . Can’t go wrong with grandma’s recipe. It was delicious!

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 299 miles (481 km)

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