So before I start talking about Verona, you remember how I said that yesterday we went to Laura's school? Well after that we went to a huge supermarket nearby and I took a photo of the 'tomato' aisle:
Yes that is an entire aisle of tinned and bottle tomato in various states of pulverisation. The pasta aisle was like this but on both sides.
I also took a photo of the most disgusting thing I could see in the seafood section: 
Mmm yummy.Today I went to Verona, in fact I pretty much got straight off the train from Verona and came here to the internet cafe. And yes I have had the song stuck in my head pretty much all day (to and non-Kiwis, Verona is a song by NZ band Elemeno P. Not about the town, about a bar in Auckland of the same name.)
I caught an early train (7.25) so I'd have a lot of time in Verona before the midday heat started (and I believe the reason it didn't rain at all while I was in Verona was because I took by umbrella. If I hadn't taken it, I'm positive it would have bucketed down). On the train I was fined five euros for not validating my ticket, which I didn't know you have to do, but apparantly you needed to put it in a stamping machine thingy before getting on the train. Who knew. Well, apparently everyone else except me and the Polish couple sitting next to me. A man told me that the maximum fine is fifty euros, so I feel like I got off easy, really. The train took just less than two hours so I arrived in Verona at 9.15 am. My plan was to find the Tourist Centre, get myself on a full-day tour and see the sights. Best-laid plans, as they say. I maintain that the tourist centre actually does not exist, although it took me until 11am to give up looking for it. Yep, that's right, 11am. It was on the map, Laura told me where it was, I even stopped and asked for directions and they confirmed it was there, but no dice. I did see an awful lot of people on organized tours led by people with badges that said 'Guide Centre Verona'. But it definitely wasn't there (maybe it's like the Verona version of Diagon Alley. Sorry if you haven't read Harry Potter, you won't get that).
So I bought myself a map that had all the sights number on it, and took myself on a tour instead. First stop, the Scaligeri Palazzo, where a statue of Dante lives:
Next I went to Juliet's house, she really did exist or so Verona wishes you to believe. There is even the famous balcony, very picturesque if not for the fact that it was teeming with people. I did take a picture of the balcony but my camera has just run out of battery so I can't put it on here. This is one off the internet. 
All over the walls around here there are messages of love, mostly people's names in hearts (they must scrub the walls every now and then because the earliest one I could see was about '97). I didn't take this, but this is pretty much what all the walls look like.
I ate lunch SITTING DOWN in a restaurant!! This is the first time I've done this in Italy because it costs significantly extra to sit as opposed to takeaway. I also used a public bathroom, which costs too.I went to visit Juliet's grave (or Guilietta as they say in Italin), and there is heaps of grafitti around that too, see:
And even all over her grave, which you can't really see in this picture but believe me it's there.
A picture of the city walls (which unlike in most Italian cities, are still standing). 
And the Roman Amphitheatre, which happened to be closed to the public at the time that I turned up. 
Now that doesn't really sound like I did much, but I spent the whole day just wandering, it really is a very beautiful city (compared with Milan!), exactly the kind of thing you would imagine when you think Italian city. Tiny little streets with buildings five stories high, a whole row of restaurants all with people outside trying to get you to go in. Crumbling ruins right next to flash apartments.Actually, 'Via Shakesepeare', where the Tomba di Giulietta is, is not a picturesque Veronian (?) street at all. It's actually filled with those concrete-block apartments you see anywhere. Ha.
I don't know if these are all over or just in Italy, but Adidas and Vespa have teamed up to make Vespa sneakers. Cool huh? Yeah, except when I went in the shop to get some they said they only come in men's sizes. And they don't even cater for men with small feet, starting at a 40 (2 sizes larger than mine, and I don't exactly have small feet). So now I'm starting an international crusade to find Adidas Vespa sneakers in a 38. If you see any, let me know.
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