Tina : “Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?”
Paul : “I’m down here Toots with the hundreds of other people ….. I’m the one wearing the tights!”
Ahh, Verona…… the mystical town of Romeo and Juliet - Capulet and Montague, of ochre terracotta, pink masonry and gentle breezes. Cool leafy promenades begging to be explored alongside clear green rivers tumbling over rocks and leading us to the inevitable market in the piazza.
The city was unfamiliar to us, but, with map in hand and Paul’s unerring pigeon-like navigational skills (a trail of crostolli crumbs also helps) .. we were able to find our way around Verona, the second biggest city in the Veneto region (after Venice). Its ancient centre has hidden Roman ruins and the huge arena from 30 AD. The arena previously hosted executions, fairs, bull fights and more recently concerts and opera productions.
This medieval bridge, built over 22 years, was completed in 1376. The bridge was re-built after it was blown up by the retreating Germans in 1945. Such is the Veronese affection for the bridge that it was re-built by dredging the river to salvage the original masonry.
The Torre dei Lamberti offers stunning views of the city from its viewing platform at 85 metres above ground level. While standing beneath the bells, Paul, who forgot what the time was, got the fright of his life at precisely 2pm – ding, ding! His ears are still ringing!
By the way Bruno, the cost of a coffee in St Mark’s Square is cheap compared to what we paid for 2 Bellini’s in Harry’s Bar, Venice…… try 34 Euro for 2 glasses, that’s about $48. Peach puree and Prosecco! The bowl of olives was complimentary!
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| We're smiling 'cos we haven't got the bill yet..!!!! |
On the other hand, the price of spirits in the Supermarkets is so cheap, $15 for a bottle of Cointreau or Jagermeister. We’ve found almost everything to be so cheap compared to Australia, has the value of our dollar improved so much???
Our morning and afternoon coffees are usually consumed whilst standing at the bar. At 1 Euro ($1.40) each it provides a cheap toilet stop! For lunch, Paul made a panini with salami and cheese and finished off with a punnet of strawberries for about 2 Euro. Bananas are 1.5 Euro per kilo. Wonder what they cost back home at the moment..?
Tara J and Yr 2’s, it was great to read your comments! I have been thinking about the Yr 3’s and hoping they survived NAPLAN. Alex and Nelda, Paul acknowledges your comments and says that Firenze might be the place for jewelry! Bahahaha!!!
Now to the question of HATS. We have a selection ……
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| The "I reeaaly miss my doggie" |
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| The "From Bavaria I am coming and a BMW I am drive" |
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| The "Gandalf" |
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| The "Cranky Venetian" |
ALL COMMENTS shall be appreciated….
We are staying overnight in Bologna and will travel by train to Lucca tomorrow to stay with Tina’s family where we will be able to offload all of our cheesy Australian gifts and AFL footies. Paul thinks there are toooo many soccer balls here and is trying to instigate change – Good Luck…!
Blog Again soon....ciao Tina & Paul
XXXX Bacci a tutti
WE HAVE FINISHED NAPLAN!!! Today we had our last part, Numeracy...we thought it was easssyyyyyy! Because we worked so hard, Mrs Benson and Miss Bateman gave both yr 2 and 3's a lolly for our good work.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment we are reading The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and are liking it. We have also been looking at ANZAC Day and reading lots history, letters from soldiers and maps. We have also been practicing our times tables so we will be fabulous when you return! It is also Ava's 9th Birthday today!
We have voted for our most favourite hat.....we love the doggy hat!!!! We hope you bought that one.
We miss you lots and love reading your blogs! The photos are fabulous!
Love from 2/3TB
hellow Mrs ball can you stop sending blog's have fun instead of writing blog's the year 3 did the naplan today. i see that paul buyed lots of hats. i see how much cheaper the things are. i bet you are excited to see what you can do next love jordan hawken
ReplyDeleteAh the hats. Paul when in Bolognia go to their market (can't miss it as it covers a few thousand square metres). Gandalf gets my vote.
ReplyDeleteTina, love your work but remember, watch the adjectives (only kidding). Really nice to see your students following your journey and are obviously enjoying what they are seeing and reading - great stuff kids.
Ouch on the bellini's but the St Marco coffees were 8 Euro so on todays exchange rate of just over 75 cents that works out at $10.77 per espresso and at 30 ml that's 36 cents per ml - sip it really slowly. Bananas are about $13/kg here at the moment...........Nelda says to bring some back we can cover our next holiday cost from the profits!!!
Enjoy - Alex and Nelda
I think "The Cranky Venetian" looks very artistic - and not too cranky! Wow. I'm sitting here going green. The photos are fabulous. It's great to see both of you looking so relaxed and happy. Tina, you need to stop thinking about school!!! Have a great week - will read more of your travels next week. Love Susan
ReplyDeleteWhat... no comments ??!
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad, we all still love you.
Blogger had a problem yesterday and all recent messages were wiped.
Here's the full comment from the Help Forum under Blogger Service Issues
Brett from blogger, Google Employee
The Blogger Team
6:55 AM
"We are very sorry that users are unable to publish to Blogger right now. We have rolled back the maintenance release from last night and as a result, posts and comments from all users made after 7:37 am PDT on May 11, 2011 have been removed. Again, we apologize that this happened and our engineers are working hard to return Blogger to normal and restore your posts and comments. We will post a report once this work is complete."
-The Blogger Team
Here's mine again:
This blog just gets better and better. Lisa and I can’t wipe the smiles from our faces while reading it.
Love the hats – and your expressions Paul!!
... and getting ripped off in Italian cafés – Well, most of us have been there – it’s all a part of experiencing the real and truly wonderful Italy.
Keep on bloggin'.... oh, and having fun too.
Hi T&P
ReplyDeleteI did my usual disertation but alas, its all been lost, so here goes the Exec Summary:
- hah re paying so much for bellinis (don't feel bad happens all the time.
- St Marco esspressos at 8 Euro = $10.67 current exchange at 75 cents so 30 ml espresso = 36 cents per ml.............sip very slowly at that price
- bananas $13/kg so stuff your suitcases full!
- gandalf hat gets my vote
- what?! still no manbags!
- too many adjectives, bah humbug
- seriously, love the site the pics and stories.
Keep on enjoying love Alex and Nelda (when Nelda saw the gandalf hat brought back memories of home for her).
Finally able to get through to you - you're probably done a million things by now! Wow - Verona - how romantic! Love the story of Romeo and Juliet. To see that balcony ... amazing. The arena is incredible too. The history in these places is mind blowing. Thanks for all the interesting information. You're both looking fab!!
ReplyDeletehi mrs ball
ReplyDeletehope you are haveing a grat time
ella
Hi Tina we are so so so jealous, we wish there with you, we are missing you so much, we hope your having a great great time we are en joying reading your blog. How many pairs of shoes are you up to now, have you bought any red ones? my Dad is even more jealous then me he want's to take us all to Italy because we are reading your witch is making us even more jealous from romy and carlo and christine and micaela
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs Ball this is James Dimech. Hope you are having a great time. Wish I was with you. Dont forget to hide Roo in your blog so we can look for him.
ReplyDelete