Tales from Italy - Part 2- The unique Verona and the hidden gem Bergamo in March

The second part of the trip in March was allocated to Verona and Bergamo.

The choice of Verona was accidental and mainly due to the more favorable weather forecast. I really wanted to dedicate the day to Lake Como, but unfortunately it was going to rain a lot, and for Verona they promised a nice sunny day.

Although taken in a strange way, quite spontaneously and without prior preparation for the destination, the decision to visit Verona was the best for this trip!

I admit that every city I visit has been thoroughly read about on google, facebook, even bgmama beforehand. The unplanned visit to Verona was the first city in many years that I visited with absolutely no plan and without having heard of a single landmark apart from "Juliet's Balcony". The "balcony" in question even turned out to be a place that was accepted as such, and not a place where some event actually happened. The balcony was so small and the people wanting to take pictures next to or on it were too many in a very tight space. In short, another tourist trap.

Early in the morning we headed to the lovely train station in Milan and got back on a lovely and comfortable train that would take us to the even more lovely Verona.

On the way there were 2 stops at Lake Garda. Despite the rain and clouds, the lake with the Alps in the background made for a breathtaking view. I definitely dream of visiting the Italian lakes, but I want it to be in the spring when everything is green, leafy and blooming and nature is at its best!

The town in the picture is called Desenzano del Garda and it is definitely on my list to visit. I recently came across a show on the cooking channel that featured amazing footage. It's unique! It looks even more magical in the sun!

After about an hour of traveling on the nice train, we reached the station in Verona and after about 10 minutes of walking we found ourselves in the most central part.

I was speechless. The place was so charming and magnificent. Just like in the movies.

Passing through a beautiful square with many colorful buildings, the famous Arena di Verona appeared in front of us, which looked quite preserved and interesting.

But still, about a year earlier, I saw live the Colosseum in Rome, which impresses much more with its size. Interestingly, concerts and theater productions are organized here throughout the summer. I would love to visit one. The acoustics and the experience must be amazing!

Turning right in front of us stood the beautiful building of Palazzo Barbieri - Comune di Verona or the Municipality of the city.

Indeed, the buildings in Italy are in many places so sumptuous that my eyes remain in them.

From there we walked along the narrow and very charming central shopping street. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from her because, to put it mildly, it was overflowing with people and there was no way to catch her, but she was great.

We moved to one of the most important squares in the city, Piazza delle Erbe, which was truly magical.

The squares in Italy are also charming and have a special charm. I felt the same way in Piazza Navona in Rome.

We had no choice but to sit down for lunch in this square.

It is clear that in the most touristic places both the food and the prices are touristic and not the best in a city, but despite everything, sitting for an hour and feeling the atmosphere of the place is worth it.

However, I present to you some pictures of the food, which, despite the tourist area we were in, was very tasty and at a very normal price

It is difficult to cover the square in one shot. That's part of it. I liked it very much.

After the wonderful lunch, we walked along one of the bridges over the Adige river in search of an interesting landmark, which we learned about from the brown tourist signs in the city.

We got on the funicular. It was the price of a public transport ticket.

I am so happy that we were able to admire this amazing city from a bird's eye view.

I can say without any hesitation that Verona was the most beautiful part of this trip in Italy and I am so glad that chance led us to visit it.

Verona is definitely the most beautiful corner of Italy that I have been to. Even Rome does not fascinate me as much as the neat and incredibly beautiful Verona!

After our walk was over, we headed back to Central Station and boarded my favorite train.

I couldn't resist uploading a picture of the speedo. Traveling by train in Europe is definitely worth it! Well, there are certainly far more impressive ones in Asia. Fingers crossed that I get over my fear of flying and one day write posts about visiting Japan, Thailand, and why not Vietnam and Cambodia! Asia is my dream!

The last day of our insanely short, but extremely eye-watering / both literally and figuratively because of the rain accompanying us most of the time, but still eye-watering / tour in Northern Italy was set aside for the city of Bergamo.

Many Bulgarians explore this city, since for some time it is the closest place to Milan, where planes land from Sofia. Some time ago there were flights to Linate airport, but apparently with the growth of the share of low-cost carriers at the Bulgarian airport, the line was removed.

I had heard stories from friends and colleagues that, although small, Bergamo is a very neat town and worth seeing. Anyway, we had to be at the airport by 2 pm, and we had more than 1 hour away from the hotel, it was clear that the last destination of our trip would be the city of Bergamo. There was no time to explore elsewhere and Milan was rainy again and not an option for us.

However, we had rain again in Bergamo, luckily it was not as heavy as in Milan and we were able to see both the low and the high part of the city.

During the walk we saw some really impressive villas with incredibly well kept gardens which impressed me a lot. It is quite interesting to see in one yard both the grasses and bushes common to our geographical latitudes, as well as tall palm trees.

In the bottom photo is the funicular, which is quite old, but is well maintained and takes you to the upper town, where the historical part of Bergamo is, in just a minute.

I was amazed to learn that this funicular was put into operation in 1887 and is still actively used by visitors and residents of the city as a means of transportation.

The rain prevented me from taking more pictures of this delightful town, but I guarantee you it's worth at least an afternoon. You won't regret it!

In fact, it was not just the rain without a hindrance for photos at the end ... I was already afraid of the upcoming plane ride and didn't even want to talk. At the airport, however, I tried a therapy that worked.

You might consider me one of those "buns". However, I walked around the shops at the airport, bought an impressive number of chocolates from the famous Italian brand Venchi, and in literally the last shop I "equipped" myself with 2 new pairs of sneakers at a much better price than the one offered on the Bulgarian clothing sites.

Looking at the beauty of the planes landing and taking off against the background of the beautiful mountain landscape, I began to calm down and was confident that I would not feel fear during the flight.

Well, yes, but no! The flight was more than calm, but the author of this blog kept telling herself that the plane wasn't going to crash and everything was going to be okay, because the fear was intense.

An unknown man who was sitting next to us, and heard my concerns, at the end of the flight decided to join the conversation, reassuring me that if I don't die today in a plane crash, I will die of something else ... black humor, but at that moment he managed to make me laugh.

Well, if someone asks me today if I want to get on a plane and go to Italy again or if I prefer to sit at home ... my answer will definitely be that I'm getting on a plane and going to Italy right now! Without a second's hesitation!