Verona, Italy

After totally relaxing for a full day in Chamonix, we turned south to visit northern Italy. Our main goal was to check out the Dolomites (the southern Alps in Italy) for hiking, and Verona made a nice stop to play tourist and pick up a rental car. This view was from our accommodation across the Adige river from the “old town” -

The city is very walkable…

… and there were plenty of walkers!

The first thing we did on our full touristic day was to check out the Arena -

It was built early in the 1st century AD, and was once surrounded by an outer wall. Only 4 arches are left of this wall after an earthquake in the 12th century -

I just discovered that this was the site of the closing ceremonies for the 2026 Winter Olympics!

The Arena frequently hosts concerts and has an opera season in the summer. I loved the pink Veronese marble used for seating -

If there’s a bell tower in a city, we almost always have to use it to see the city from above. The Torre dei Lamberti was beautiful outside…

… and gave us great views…

… both near and far -

Luckily we weren’t in the tower when the bells chimed!

As we wandered around, we enjoyed the thickest, creamiest gelato we have ever had -

I really like the different colored marbles in the entryway to the Basilica of St. Anastasia (construction began in the 14th century) -

There were hunchbacks holding up the holy water fonts -

We had two very nice evenings to enjoy the city…

… in the golden hour…

… as the lights started coming up…

… and night fell -