VERONA

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Well I have been asking that question most of my life, but apparently he is in Verona, which was the next stop on my trip. The decision to go Verona was a last minute one as, as it was not part of my original plan, but I couldn't bear the thought of staying another day with cabin fever in the rainy hills of Tuscany. So I tagged along with Romany Liz who was going to meet her friend, an actress called Ruth there. Its was so the right decision. Verona is probably the most beautiful place I have been to in Italy and most importantly the sun was shining once again. Unfortunately I had to sleep on a hard floor in the B&B as I had turned up unannounced and there were no spare beds, but I guess it was better than sleeping on the floor. Thinking about it, it was a lot more comfortable than sleeping on the deck of that boat for 5 days in Indonesia as well, as at least there were no cockroaches and I was not damp, 24/7! So really, if I think about it, compared to most of my travelling experiences it was like sleeping in the Savoy! Anyway back to Verona! We spent most of our time just wandering the streets and marvelling at the beautiful buildings and beautiful people as Verona was full of them. It was also dripping in money: Lots of it! We did find Juliet's balcony and courtyard which was dripping in tourists! All of them trying to rub the statue of Juliet's breast (Yes I did it!) and then writing cheesy love messages all over the walls. Sadly there was no sign of my Romeo, only a big red neck Aussie stood next to me who who kind of ruined the setting a bit by shouting to his friend, "Mate this is a big pile of shit! Lets go and get a beer!" Not exactly Shakespeare!