“Dear passengers, we would like to tell you the 10:10hrs to Verona Porta Nuova is about to depart. Anyone not travelling to Verona should disembark now!”
Once my brain had processed the message played across the train’s PA system,  visions of a crowd of people waving off their son/daughter on their maiden voyage played out in my head, complete with a tearful mother gently sobbing into her Burano lace handkerchief. And the above announcement providing welcome relief to the embarrassed youngster…

Our day began with another early start as we only had today to explore Verona and wanted to see as much of the city as possible. Having saved a waxed paper bag from a previous day, we put it to good use this morning to stash a couple of jam rolls (made at breakfast time) as a snack for after we got off the train. The gathered intel from last night’s walk proved invaluable to help ease our journey by river taxi to the station and then a train to Verona. 

Our train glided across the 3850m bridge out of Venice towards the mainland. The railway and tiny road network link Venice to the mainland and much of the cargo not shipped in from Lido (the garden of Venice) arrives by road landing at Venice docks from where it’s shipped to its final destination. As we passed the docks in our river taxi it was bizarre to see everything lined up on the quayside from DHL packages, clean laundry, through to bottled drinks or building materials.

The first three stations (including the terminus), all have Venice in their name and I began to wonder how many unsuspecting tourists had rushed off the train in a panic, only to discover they weren’t looking at The Grand Canal as they exited the station building. 

As we studied the passing scenery it was surreal to see so many cars, vans and lorries after the past two days being in a fully pedestrianised zone (boats aside – after all you’re not in danger of a boat running you down). Once out of the Venice area, the backdrop was the most stunning change. A range of dark-looking mountains, not dark because they were gloomy and cloudy but literally due to their landscape. As many obstacles had blocked the view as the train sped towards Verona, this was the best picture I could get – but it doesn’t really do them justice as the mountains in the background are largely obscured by the foreground hills. 

Once we’d navigated our way out of the station, our hotel was only a 10-minute walk away. But that was far enough to carry both cases in the soaring temperatures (36°C). Fortunately, a couple of sections of the path were really smooth and allowed me to wheel the cases which provided a moment’s relief. Carrying both cases for ten minutes might not sound like a long time, but it felt way longer in the heat. Anyway, enough already. 

As expected our room wasn’t ready, so we left our bags in the left luggage room and embarked on a walking tour I’d put together. The tour began a short distance from the hotel at Archo Gavia which reminded me of a smaller version of the Arc de Triomphe. We then meandered our way around the city taking in most of the notable sights, including an amphitheatre, several bell towers and a couple of castles. Not forgetting a couple of medieval bridges and most famous of all, Balcony de Giulietta and a bust of Shakespeare beside an impressive archway which spanned the main route into the city centre. Understandably there were hoards of people in the courtyard outside Juliette’s house, many having paid the 6e tariff to go inside and have the chance to stand on the balcony.

To gain a bird’s eye view over the city, the tour crossed the river Adige and climbed up to Castel San Pietro.

Before we left England I’d prepared (with the help of online resources) an overview of each of the places we saw. A short pause in the shade to share the information both educated us and gave a moment of welcome rest from the sun’s heat.  About halfway through we spotted a cafe in one of the back streets which served tasty-looking toasted focaccia sandwiches. All too soon the tour was over and we ambled (via the co-op to buy cheap drinks) back to the hotel to reclaim our bags and check in. 

Having cooled off in our spacious air-conditioned room, we headed back out to find a place to have tea and to try gnocchi with tomato and basil sauce – a speciality of Verona.

Today has been a real contrast waking up in Venice and then spending the day in Verona – both ancient cities but completely different. Tomorrow will involve much more travelling as we head to Milan and then up to the north Italian border to Torino.

if youd like to read through the walking tour I’ve added it as a separate postcard.