Verona wrap up

Our train back to Germany left at 5pm, which gave us most of a day to explore Verona.

Because we had just left the cool mountains, and because the forecast for Verona was for temps in the mid-90s, we headed out early for a walk to Castel San Pietro, on the east side of town across the Adige river, for some views of Verona before the sun rose too high.

Like the rivers in southern Bavaria, the Adige was also high

We headed back down to our pension for breakfast. The fossils were even larger in the Verona sidewalks than in Trento.

Naturally, we continued walking after breakfast. Our first stop was the train station, where we stored our backpacks for the day. Then it was on to Basilica di San Zeno on the west side of town. The basilica was consecrated in 806 and largely renovated in the 12th century.

The crypt

From San Zeno, we walked back toward the old town...

...to the 14th-c. Castelvecchio. The castle houses a museum of historic municipal and ecclesiastical art and other property, and visiting gave us an opportunity to climb around the ramparts.

St. Cecilia

A very expressive crucifixion

This nursing madonna dates from the end of the 13th century. The charming smiley face indicates mama is happy...

...while in this depiction of the crucifixion, the frowny face indicates the witness on the left is sad. 

We then headed to the Dom...

...and then to the Renaissance botanical gardens, Giardino Giusti.

By the time we left the gardens, we were dehydrated and flagging. We had planned on ending our touristy day by climbing the 368 steps of the 84m-high Torre dei Lamberti, but then we decided we had already climbed San Pietro, climbed the hill in the botanical garden, and for goodness sakes, just crossed the Alps, so we bailed in favor of swinging by a Spar grocery store for our second Italian experience of stepping into a designated rectangle on the floor to have all items auto-scanned in one fell swoop.  

WATER

We had purchased two 24-hour "Verona Cards" at the Basilica di San Zeno, which got us free or discounted admission to assorted sites throughout town, and we were determined to get our money's worth. So instead of climbing the tower, we swung by the 13th-c. Basilica di St. Anastasia.

Out of time and energy, we walked back to the train station, collected our bags, and took a train north to Germany.

Trento and Verona

Blog catch-up...

After arriving in Feltre, we needed to get back to Germany. First we took an early bus to Trento, where we spent the morning being whirlwind tourists.

Carly ended up grasped in the jaws of a lion that was guarding the Cathedral of St. Vigilius from tourists wearing shorts. Neither Carly nor I had long pants on, so we waited outside while S went in. 

We took a short (relatively speaking) walk and managed to see all of Trento:

Many of the sidewalks in Trento are paved with stone from quarries in the Italian Alps... 

...which means sometimes they contain cross-sections of large ammonites:

We swung by Buonconsiglio Castle and admired the gardens.

In Italy, as in Germany, people are well behaved about waiting for walk signals, because "children could be watching." Below, in fact, is a child, watching.  

The train station is across the street from a statue of Dante, Italy's Goethe.

We stopped by a grocery store for snacks for the train trip. The Spar had a Big Brother checkout system. No need to scan any items, just stand within a rectangle marked on the floor, with all of your items in your arms, and a surveillance device automatically scans everything in one fell swoop. (Unless it doesn't, and a store employee has to come help you.)

When we were planning our route across the Alps and looking at Feltre as a likely endpoint, S observed its proximity to Verona and said, "isn't Verona famous for its operas?" So instead of heading north from Trento, back to Germany, we headed south to Verona for IL Barbiere di Siviglia in Verona's 2,000 year old Roman Arena.

It felt like being at a pro baseball game: hanging out for three hours outside on bleachers with a large focused crowd, with vendors hawking bottled water and programs, and a brief burst of fireworks at the end.