Arriving in Verona finding my way was really straightforward and I met my host at a restaurant around the corner. Whilst we walked to the flat we were chatting and I discovered that he used to live in Plymouth (for those of you who don't know me I only live an hour from here) so ensued a quick gloss over the area and his favourite places, and I was left thinking what a small world it is!
After taking my time to explore this HUGE apartment the first stop, as always, was the supermarket then back home to make some dinner and research for the next day.
The next day it was torrential rain and I was incredibly lazy! I didn't leave the apartment once and not even showering until about 9pm. A well earned restful day is how I justified this to myself and also I had a rather bad back, presumably from the hour and a half I had carried my pack for the day before.
Unfortunately the following day the weather was still the same but I got ready and headed out anyway. Having marked a few places on the map that were of interest to me. First stop was the Verona Arena at Piazza Bra and from there I meandered the street searching out Casa di Giulietta, the Scaliger Tombs, Palazzo del Capitano, Verona Cathedral and of course Chiostro del Capitolo (the library). Utterly soaked and looking like a drowned rat I started to make my way back towards the apartment when I happened across a little place called Caffe Wallner it looked really kitsch and cute so I popped in for a hot chocolate and some mini cakes to end the day. That evening I did some research and decided to visit Lake Garda the next day.
In the morning I walked to the train station and boarded the train for Desenzano, from here I walked through the little town to the dock and bought a ticket for the boat to Sermione. The day started off a bit bleak but by the time we arrived in Sermione the sun was trying to break through, it lasted for seeing the castle and for my lunch in the main square and then swiftly disappeared behind a cloud never to peak out again. I walked through the town marvelling at the quaint buildings on my way to the Griggs di Castillo, the ruins of a roman villa on the northern peninsula. There wasn't much left of the ruins but the views over the lake from this vantage point were pretty incredible and well worth the €6 entry fee. I caught the little caravan back to the town as I was a little rushed for time and wanted to get a gelato before getting on the ferry. Choosing gelato flavours is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make since arriving in Italy, and normally I don't even like ice cream that much! I accepted the ginormous cone and was trying to juggle my money and my purse when the cone suddenly felt a lot lighter, I looked down to see that my scoops had rolled off and landed with a splat on the floor. Trying to hide my giggles, not helped by the giggling couple behind me, I handed my cone back to the lady for a refill. It's safe to say she wasn't as generous with my second lot! I arrived back on the mainland with most of my ice cream still intact, some was busy gluing my hair into clumps, and made my way up the hill to the train station to head home for my last evening in Verona.