Romeo, Romeo where for art thou Romeo?

Verona was a just a quick train ride from Venice so we figured we'd take a day trip.  We actually did it on our second day in Venice, so I'm going a bit out of order, but eh, that's ok.

It was really seeing where Romeo and Juliet is set that made me want to check out Verona.  I wasn't sure what exactly we should see there, so we stopped at the tourist office at the train station.  Emensely helpful. 

Our first stop was Arena di Verona.  It was a nice pink color and had an ice skating rink outside of it for the holidays.  I was impressed how well preserved it is.  They still hold performances at the colliseum during the summer months. 

Of course we had to pretend we were gladiators since we were able to get into the center ring.

Next stop, Casa di Giulietta to see the window from which Juliet longed for her Romeo. Now of course this isn't really Juliet's window, but we had to stop by anyway.  Josh made sure to rub Juliet's boob for good luck.  I really think that is just a lucky charm that was thought up by a boob man.

Looking down at my Romeo.

On our way to our next destination we apparently walked right by the House of Romeo which is a private residence.  We didn't even realize it until we were reading our book later that night.  Isn't this square beautiful?  It's called Piazza dei Signori.

We walked across Ponte Pietra on our way to Roman Forum.  We didn't spend too much time there because it was all starting to look the same.  We did find it interesting that it was all buried under houses before being uncovered by a man after he'd purchased the property.  Who builds over a Roman forum?

Anyway, we were chilly and jonesing to get back inside. So we booked it to the Duomo.  It was another beautiful church and was nice and warm.  We didn't take any pictures in these churches, because you know...it's yet another church. 

Last destination on our itinerary...Castelvecchio.  We thought it was going to be more a cool castle than museum, but hey it was warm and there was some impressive art work and check out these weapons.

Can you imagine trying to carry that or being struck by any of them. Yikes!

Josh really needed a cappucino so we made a stop at a bustling local place then walked back to the train station.  It was time to head back to Venice for some food and relaxation.