O Romeo, Romeo!

"...Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

From Siena, we caught a train to Florence (where I had to pay 1.5 Euro to use the train station bathroom, say what?), then Florence to Bologna and Bologna to Verona.  One of our favorite things while travelling through many train stations in Europe was the Coke Zero promotion that was happening, where Coke Zero girls were handing out free mini cans at most major stations.  We loved cracking open those fun-sized, cold cans after getting off long train rides.

Then... we arrived in Verona.  What can I say?  It was such a wonderful surprise!  It was way more than we expected it to be.  We were blown away by the beauty and colors of the city within the walls, the culture of people dining outside, the ancient Roman arena, ah-mazing shops, the romance, and of course, Juliet's balcony.  THIS... is the place to stroll.  We wandered until the wee hours, enjoying gelato, sitting on park benches, and window shopping in oober expensive designer stores.  Spencer researched a delicious Italian restaurant to take me to for dinner.  We had spinach noodle lasagna with meat sauce and meat-filled tortellini in cream sauce with ham pieces.  It was insanely delicious.  A sweet, old Italian man cooked it up for us.  Oh how I loooved this city.  It was a major highlight.

These are super neat panoramic pictures Spencer took with his iPhone. Love them.

Arena di Verona (built in 30 AD)

This is one of the best preserved ancient structures in the world. Incredible.

Here it is... Juliet's balcony!  This was so neat to see.  

The only problem, a million other tourists wanted to see it at the same time too.

We had to time it perfectly to get a pic without someone walking out to look over the balcony.

One of my favorite movies is "Letters to Juliet",

so naturally I was bummed to not see holes in the wall to leave her a letter!

This is my "fountain pose".

There was a really fun market going on in the square.

We loved strolling and picking out delicious, fruity treats.

In this shop, we bought the most delicious cheesy pizza I have ever tasted. Seriously amazing!!

We just had to go back for seconds...

Just outside the walls was this gorgeous view.

We then had to book it back to the hotel, grab our bags, and head off the to train station.

Next up... Venezia here we come!

Siena, Italy

Our next stop was Siena, the most lovely medieval city in Tuscany.  Getting to this hilltop town was quite the adventure.  It was probably our most complicated and memorable leg of the trip.  We travelled through Florence and several Tuscan towns, which was so beautiful.  We forgot to validate our train tickets prior to boarding one train, which led to the smelliest train conductor man I have ever taken a whiff of yelling at us in Italian.  I could literally smell him from three train cars away.  It all worked out though... he let us off the hook.  Also, up until this point of the trip, we were very proud of ourselves with how map and direction savvy we had become.  Well, that all ended once we arrived in Siena!  It took us at least 30 minutes, asking 15 different Italian people for help, trying to recall Rick Steves' Siena travel tips, and wandering aimlessly through a four-story parking garage to finally find the correct bus to take us to the center of Siena.  We figured it out and made it to our hotel.  We loved the two days we spent in Siena.  It felt so good to relax and explore such a charming city.  

I'll never forget it.

Below is the view from our hotel. Simply stunning.

Hotel Villa Elda

This was one of our very favorite hotels of the trip. 

The room was super comfortable and the service was great!

...and I have to mention the big bed and blackout blinds!

We took a nap here after our long day of travelling.

This gorgeous view of the city was right out front of our hotel.

We couldn't wait to get an Italian dinner (pizza and ravioli) and explore the city at night.

We took the next day to relax and enjoy the city.

Below is Siena's central piazza, called Il Campo. This area is known worldwide 

for the famous Palio, a horse race run around the piazza (two times each summer).

It was so fun to stroll, eat gelato and pizza, shop, and people watch.

I had the best gelato ever -- pineapple and strawberry. I still dream about it!

Duomo di Siena (completed in 1215)

The architecture was absolutely stunning!

Here we enjoyed a can of luke warm Coke Light. Thirst quenching I tell you.

We walked up and down these streets in search of a true Italian cannoli. 

We struck out -- the locals told us they are found in southern Italy, closer to Sicily 

where they originated. We ended up finding the most delicious ones later in Positano!

My Italian Stallion

I bought this cute shirt in Siena in one of my favorite European stores, Sisley.

Spencer told me I had to mimic the kissy face!

The next morning we took some pictures from the roof of our hotel 

before we headed to the train station.  It was a great farewell to beautiful Siena!

Our cab driver said he knew of Salt Lake City because of the 2002 Olympics.

He also told us he knew all about the "Utah Mormons". :)

I thought this was too funny! At the train station in Siena, the grocery store had 

these funny little carts on wheels.  I was just laughing so hard following Spencer shuffle around.

This little bag of mini madeleines quickly became my favorite go-to treat of the trip.

Each time we had a long train ride ahead of us, I would buy a bag (or two) of these goodies.

Mmm. My mouth is watering just thinking of them.

Ciao Siena! Off to Verona to see Juliet!