Rain in Venice so we are off to Verona

Sadly we had to bid farewell to Beck and David as they left early to catch their train to Florence. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and sharing many adventures with them. Karen and I met Mr Bennito (our bnb host) to hand over the apartment keys.  As the walk to the station to catch our train to romantic Verona involved rain coming down and canal water rising up, we gave ourselves extra time to arrive.

On arriving in Verona, Shakespeare's city of romance, we checked our luggage into our hotel and explored Verona to plan the next two days. We found Verona a very easy city to negotiate with wide well paved walkways, elegant historic buildings and sophicated residents. 

The first Sunday of the month places a E1 charge to any museum or exhibit. This gave us a few days to view the Arena in the Piazza Bra, as well as Cassa Giulietta and the famous balcony.

A two day Verona Card for E15 each gave us much cheaper entry into more than sixteen exhibitions and museums. It's the way to go. On our first full day we decided to take a different route into the main part of the city. The first stop was the Castel Vecchio.

The Castel complex includes the ancient church of San Martino, and a large part of the city wall. The museum was closed because it was Monday morning, however we will visit it tomorrow.

We walked the other side of the river Adige as the light rain started to fall. Back over a walk bridge to the Teatro Romano, an Amphitheatre that is now Verona's Summer Theatre.

We then headed back across the river to have a look at the largest church in Verona, the Sant' Anastasia.

Then on to the Duomo. 

We awoke to a sunny day after a very cold, wet but enjoyable previous day. Returning to Castel  Vecchio which was now open, we were treated to a visual feast of restoration work interspersed with modern pieces. This restoration work is an intelligent refined, masterpiece. There were Perspex relief pieces so visually impaired visitors could experience the exhibition. 

After coffee and our first free aqua, our protracted hunt for the Monet exhibition was finally rewarded. The security at this exhibition was over the top as patrons couldn't even carry their handbags. (None of the paintings would have fitted into Karen's)