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.