Verona, Italy

During our time in Italy we stayed at a resort campground on Lake Garda.  The campground is filled with camping trailers that you can rent out for the weekend.  It's not quite what I would call camping, but for Europeans it's very popular.  It was actually kind of cool though.  Yes, the trailer was pretty basic.  But the resort had lots of playgrounds, several swimming pools, stores, and restaurants.  And the price was very affordable.  We could have stayed at the resort the whole weekend and we would have had plenty to do.

So anyway, on the second day we drove 20 minutes to the town of Verona.  Verona is the home to some of the most well preserved Roman ruins outside of Rome, like the "Arena" which lies in the heart of the city (and is still in use today for concerts and shows.)  Verona also happens to be the setting for Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet."  Walking around the older portion of the city it's easy to see why Shakespeare made this the setting for his classic play.  Many of the buildings reflect "old world" Italy.  There's a lot of atmosphere here, and it's fun just to walk around the alleyways and gaze at the buildings.  We also stuck around for a nice dinner in the main square.  All I'll say is Italian food - authentic Italian food...is pretty awesome.  Another highlight was a street performer we encountered on the way out.  Some guy dressed up as a baby in a stroller.  The kids were really cracking up.