Verona, Italy

Roman Arena

After the natural beauty of the Alps, I approached returning to a major city with a bit of a sour attitude. The clean, fresh air was replaced by the haze of auto fumes as cars jam packed into intersections at evening rush hour. The few but friendly people were replaced by hoards of unfriendly faces. And the scenic mountains, meadows and trees were replaced by buildings lining narrow streets. However, Verona, with all her quaint charm, persuaded me to begrudgingly enjoy myself.

Horse stew -- arugula, shredded horse meat and parmesan

Our first evening, we ventured into the old town to enjoy our first meal of pasta in Italy. However, I found something even more interesting on the menu -- horse stew. It wasn't quite what I imagined. But, the arugula, shredded horse meat and parmesan cheese were a simple but delicious combination.

Inside San Zeno church

Our next day, we returned to the old city in order to take in as many sites as possible. This included the Roman Arena, Roman theater, the castle and three of the churches on the four church pass. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take photos in most of the churches. Although, I did see a beautiful painting by Titian. At this point, I was a bit churched out. But, all the churches were impressive. We saw Zeno, Anastasia, and another church that I cannot remember the name of. If you purchase the 6 Euro pass at the first church, you can enter all four of these historical structures.