Fair Verona

Carl told me to buy the ticket to Verona one day in advance at Como station and I managed to catch the early 9am train on Monday. At the treno stazione, this Pakistan ah neh tried to chat me up and joined him for caffe but I sh-iam him and steered another way. On the train to Verona, I shared a cabin with Sandra and her 7-year old boy Manuel who was sulking till I asked him for his name and age in Inglese. She was asking me stuff in Italian but we could not converse at all and just grinned a lot at each other. Somehow I found my way to the centro historic at Verona sweltering under the nigh-noon sun and checked into the 3-star Europa Hotel (55euros) where the rude and bald concierge was relieved by a kind old man. He was very helpful and even said he would bring me out for dinner if he wasn't married and so old!

One thing about Italians I noticed was how vocal and expressive they were, sometimes good if they were nice, and bad if they were impatient. After a heavy lunch of cheesy Gigli pasta with finely chopped rucola and ham near the Roman Arena, I followed the handy tourist map and jostled with the crowds down the shopping street Via Mazzini to reach the highlight of my visit - Juliet's House where her famous balcony and statue were.

The poor gal's left breast shone from being 'molested' by the tourists whom believed they should touch it for good luck in love! Oh hell, why not then? I thought. The walls of the passage to her casa were completely covered with scribbled mushy messages of love. I was tempted to write 'I love Italy' in Chinese but couldn't find a single spot. Anyhow it was great to see it all for myself - my Literature teacher would be so proud of me!

The Roman Theatre and Museum across the scenic bridge Ponte Pietra were worth the climb for a panoramic view of Verona. Here I mastered how to shoot myself at arm's length because the pictures other people took of me were simply not up to my standard! I also learnt to zoom in on selected sights so I won't stress myself out. There were so many churches and monuments to see, but without sounding rude, after a while they all looked the same - all gloriously ancient.

At almost 5pm, the sky turned grey and the temperature dropped by at least 10 degrees, and I was freezing my ass off in the open. Wandering the streets staring at all the Italian dinner menus, I veered towards comfort food at a Cinese ristorante, savouring every sip of my hot & sour soup, jasmine tea, veal with bamboo and mushrooms with a big bowl of white fluffy rice. Ahhhh... that just warmed my body and soul. And it was cheaper too at 12 euros, than the normal Italian meal at 20 euros.

Since it was early, I had a night cap of sparkling prosecco outside at the nearby Antimo Bar (smoking has been banned inside since Jan this year) and listened to the crowd chattering in Italiano. Verona was livelier than Turin and Milan, and there were more young people wearing denim jackets, jeans and sneakers (me too)!