Backpacking Italy via the choochoo Train:
MILAN- - ->VERONA- - ->
VENICE- - ->BOLOGNA- - ->
FLORENCE- -> PISA- ->ROME
[Milan Central Train Station]
The next morning, we headed to the Milan Central train station not really knowing what to expect but to get on a train and head for Venice. When we arrived, we found the ticket machines and thank goodness they were in English because there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about train tickets in Italian! 
Unfortunately, the trains bound for Venice that AM were already booked. But there was still chance: catch a train leaving in just a few minutes for Verona, and from there another train to Venezia (Venice!).
So we did catch that train bound for Verona ’til the last minute, so much so that it felt like we were contestants in the Amazing Race. Hoo haa! 
So there we were at this very lovely town of Verona. 
The oh so romantic town where William Shakespeare based his timeless romantic classic Romeo & Juliet. And since we were there, Mai thought, why don’t we go see the balcony 
where Romeo made lugaw ligaw to Juliet. From Verona train station, we took the bus (€1.20 ) going to Piazza Bra. 
VERONA was amazing… It comes out straight from a fairy tale.
All that time, no one ever mentioned Verona in guide books. It was always Rome, Venice, Florence, or Pisa.
Except ofcourse Shakespeare who blogged about this enchanting town during the old times. But as we were backpacking through Italy + rest of Europe, we were also definitely dying - carrying our backpacks up and down a zillion steps through this lovely town. Kah! Kah! (**hingal**) 
So kaka. Kakapagod, cos it’s soo hebigat (pero smile pa rin shempre).
And it wasn’t such a short walk finding Juliet’s House even if we didn’t get lost more than once. The map wasn’t the best map I have ever consulted. At last we spotted a small sign pointing the way 
after wandering up and down via Shakespeare for a bit with me saying -
“It must be round here somewhere.”
I managed to drag Mai past the bust of Shakespeare. 
“Look, there’s another nice fountain over there!” I told her. 
I just sooo love fountains! And Mai just sooo love to go to Venice.. impunto! Just so u know, our family’s namesake, (de la) Fuente, means.. well, u guessed it again – “fountain” and now hers, too. 
[Piazza delle Erbe Fountain in Verona]
Once you get to the piazza, the small alleys, 
the cute old houses with its trademark balconies, the feel was totally different from big cities. 
This city has a character which I began to admire. They have solemn old churches, 
[St. Anastasia church dates back as far as 1290 AD]
lovely cafes, muy delicioso GELATERIAs (icecream parlor)…
The streets were lined up with high end clothes shop, 
combined with the lively atmosphere of street performers, 
and with nice small bars and restos where u can eat and drink at the sidewalk, looking at Life passing by… 
And ofcourse we ate pizza and some other authentic Italian foodies.. eiyahoo! We also ordered some lasagna and pasta at Brek Brek 
it’s a self-service cheap but awesome italian reataurant with whole-hearty Italian food. 
Now, This place has lots of olive oil. 
They pour it on pizza too. The salami in Pizza were gorgeous. Molto 
bene and very Delicioso! Funny thing was, wine here (as in France) was cheaper than “Coca” (Coke), and even bottled water!
And so, it’s the town that shakespeare set his famous play. Nothing special really, it just so happen to be the greatest freakin’ Love story of all time, 
written by the greatest writer of all time, too, das all. 
Juliet’s house (Casa di Giulietta) was ofcourse a major attraction in the town. I’ve never been in such an old house. We were almost feeling thrilled. Then I noticed it couldn’t have been anything else but a living room. And the famous balcony was attached to it. 
So how was Miss Sexy Britches Juliet whispering sweet nothings from the privacy of her bedroom balcony down to young Romeo? All her family would have been playing tong-its and listening in.
What’s Jools up to?” “Oh she is just chatting up the son of our deadly rival”. 
.. But nevertheless, it’s such a charismatic house! No wonder… thousands of lovers has written their names on the gate, walls, and courtyard on the entrance to the house.. Us included. Woohoo! 
Public Display of Affection (PDA). This is a statue of Juliet, and it’s supposed to bring good luck to rub her right breast, which I’m carefully demonstrating the proper technique (as learned in “American Pie”) in this picture.
And Believe it or not — the photo on top shows the actual spot where Juliet was buried (!!!) Hmm…
Roman arena
At the Piazza Bra you’ll find the Arena di Verona. 
This is a Roman ampitheatre built with pink marble in the 1st century AD. It is still used today as Verona’s opera house and is the 3rd-largest Roman ampitheatre in existence, seating about 20,000 people.
[Jan Inside Arena di Verona and making faces]
Just the name of the town is lovely. Verona, verona veronaaaaa! All that time, no one ever mentioned Verona in guide books. It was always Rome, Venice, Florence, or Pisa. I think that when we’re going to have a daughter in the future we might just call her that.. though the name Petra (taken from the Lost City of Petra in Jordan) is still catchy. Watyathink? Ehehe. ↓ ↓
But then again, we’ll think about it when we get to Venice. Who knows? We just might call our future-son-to-be = Venice. But that’s another story…
Having only toured Milan - the place that food forgot - before this point, Verona was our first serious taste of Italy and we were nearly falling over ourselves to absorb it all. 
Everything Mai and I saw made us even more deliriously happy and awed. 
The food, art, history, architecture and never-ending beauty were overwhelming and unforgettable. 
Verona was quite possibly the most fantastic city I had ever seen and I was briefly frightened that there was no way that any other city was going to impress me more.
Then we went to Venice.
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