Fair Verona: Day 3

Well, we've finally made it to Day 3 and our last few hours in Verona. Both of us were feeling pretty weary after day 2 but there were still a few sites to see.

Wednesday is obviously the day for school activities as there were lots of primary age children taking part in an event in piazza Bra, and large parties of older children visiting the various sites.

Some people managed to find some calm concentration amongst the madness.

Our main aim for the day was to climb Lamberti Tower.

So many steps! We took the lazy option though as, luckily, there's a lift which takes you to the first viewing point in the windows above the clock. This photo was taken as we climbed to the highest point which houses the main bell.

Looking down onto Piazza Erbe which was still very quiet, though it's about 10.30am by this point. As the bells strike on the hour and half hour, we were there twice to hear them and thankfully they weren't too loud. (The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the time on the clock in the photo is different - it was taken on day 1 and was just a better photo)

In front of us, this is the view towards Piazza Bra. Can you see the Arena in the middle?

No? OK, let's zoom in then. It seemed so incongruous having the modern telecoms tower and buildings in the distance amongst all these historic buildings.

Turning to our right I practised my very rusty French discussing the domed building on the hill with an older French couple. None of us were any the wiser as to its name at the end. 'Tant pis' as they said,'too bad'. I've since found out it is the Sanctuary of Madonna of Lourdes.

The white tower is part of the Duomo.

Behind us, Piazza Signori with the statue of Dante.

Looking up, the church of St Anastasia.

A little further right, you can see the green space of the Piazza Indipendenza - we'll be there shortly.

Continuing clockwise, the church of San Fermo Maggiore in the distance at middle top.

Sitting in the Piazza Indipendenza later, eating a sandwich bought on the market, it seemed unreal to think we'd been at the top of that tower earlier.

Next stop was the Galleria d'Arte Moderna which is in the building just below the tower. The gallery only opened this year and we enjoyed looking at both the paintings and the architecture of the building. There were lots of benches too which was very welcome for our weary feet.

Last stop was Castelvecchio. It was built in 1354 and now houses the city's museum.

No photos allowed inside but the tour also takes you around the battlements. This is the ponte Scaligero, named after the Scaliger family who built the castle and were lords of Verona for a couple of hundred years.

The sounds of a violin floated on the breeze.

Just time for a coffee and a pastry before we made our way to the airport.

'There is no world without Verona walls'

Shakespeare may have exaggerated a little but we definitely fell under Verona's spell. I wish we'd booked for longer so that we could have explored more at our leisure. It's also a great base for day trips to other places like Venice, Vicenza, Lake Garda and Milan (we've been to the first but not the other three). It's not often that we return to a place - too many places, too little time - but I don't think our Verona story has reached its end. x