From Florence we traveled half a day to Verona (actually, we began the day in Florence with a visit to one last museum; then we drove to Verona). We went to Verona because of its location between Venice, where we wanted to go, and Milan, where Tammy needed to leave from. We planned to stay at a hostel there too, but it was never certain that we had a reservation. To make matters worse, we couldn't find it! We spent about an hour (with a map, and even asking for help (one nice guy actually had us follow him in his car part of the way)) and eventually found our way to an overlook of the city.

We were actually pretty sure that we could see the hostel in the picture on the left, but we just couldn't figure out how to drive there in the car (we had already driven down some amazing, tiny streets). So, using our American resourcefulness (aided by our Visa card), we dredged up the memory of a recent TV commercial, which had the line "What do you think this is, the Holiday Inn?," to which we answered, "Why, as a matter of fact, yes!"

By this point the kids had seen enough Italy and promptly took advantage of the in-room movies and AOL dial-up, leaving me and Tammy the chance to explore Verona, the city of the Capulets and Montagues (sps?). We saw Juliet's tomb, the famous balcony, and a statute of Juliet that you should rub for good luck.

The street scene is just amazing. Here is a typical picture of a two way street.

Verona also has a nice left-over Roman arena that they still use. Bon Jovi was apparently going to play there in the near future, according to signs we saw.

These cities all seem to have a wall around the center and there is usually an arch in the wall. I have decided that in general one should always park outside the wall and then walk, though lots of people do drive inside (and we have too - it's just not a piece of cake).

 Always, for us old fogies, an interesting juxtaposition of old and new: cell phones in a medieval city (our kids just yawn when we talk about it). I believe this picture is of two guys who were walking together when their phones both went off!