O Romeo, Romeo

Verona

We had high hopes of waking up and catching the early train so we could have all day to wander around while also getting home early so I could get some homework finished before we headed off to Paris. 

Dun. Dun. Dun.... Plans went awry
Somehow we slept through both of our alarms and ended up waking up about an hour after the train had left. Luckily the train tickets we purchased were the kind where you can get on any train you just have to validate it before getting on (which will become important later). We planned to get on the next train that left around 10:30 so we leisurely got ready and had breakfast. Again we lost track of time and once we realized what time it was we were rushed to get to the train station and ended up running. We made it barely in time and then got confused as to which train was the right one and missed the second train as well. 

Third time is the charm. This time we didn't leave the train station but just waited on the grass out in front and were right on time for our train. Verona is a quick train ride from Milan and the weather was beautiful. We followed my Rick Steves guide for the walking tour, had appertivo and finished a beautiful day off with some of the best gelato! (I know I keep saying that, but really this time) 

Roman Arena "mini Colosseum"

For those of you who don't know much about Verona, it has many influences from both the Romans and the Venetians. You can see much of the influences in the architecture as well as the statues and piazzas. Hence the mini Colosseum from above. Verona is also often associated with the house of Juliet, complete with a balcony and bronze statue of Juliet. 

Juliet's Balcony

Touching her right breast for luck

Tombs of the Scaligeri family
Scaligari+Verona=Medici+Florence

Roman Arena by night

Exhaustion from the day before finally hit and we were ready to go home. We hopped on the train and both of us fell asleep in the seats before the train even left the station. Remember how I said that stamping the train ticket is important.. well we completely forgot and the conductor got a little mad with us but luckily he still let us ride after I showed him my ticket coming from Milan that morning. Oops, i'm just glad that I had someone else there with me to laugh about it afterwards.

 We took the rest of the week easy as a little breather before we took off for our next destination... PARIS!

Italian Riviera

San Remo

I was lucky enough to have one of my friends from home, Kelsey, come and visit me over her spring break! We took full advantage of every minute that she had here hence the back blogging... Once she was here and settled in we immediately started planning trips for the first weekend that she was here. We were a little antsy to get out of Milan where the predicted weather forecast was rain all week. Finally, we found a place that had 0% chance of precipitation and semi decent weather along the Italian Riveria, a little beach town called San Remo. We booked our tickets and hopped a train the next morning. We didn't really have any ideas as to what there was in San Remo besides a Casino (1 of 4) in Italy, so we basically just winged it and it worked out pretty well!

As usual Italy didn't cooperate and although the weather predicted that we would have sunshine without rain, it rained. We walked around the town with just a drizzle for awhile and then it started really coming down. Luckily, we were nearby the casino so we popped in to check it out but mostly to get out of the rain. Because it is 1 of 4 in Italy I thought it would be pretty swanky, but it wasn't. Neither of us are big gamblers so we didn't mind we were just glad to have a place inside to hang out until the rain let up. We got lunch at the casino cafe which had a pretty decent panini and Kelsey was able to have her first Italian cannoli!

And.. apparently no pictures are allowed inside of the
Casino... Oops

After a couple of hours of chatting and staying dry we decided to brave the weather and head down by the docks just to check it out. As we walked, the rain let up and we had lovely weather the rest of the time. 

Money belt style... 

Cheesy me with San Remo in the background

After strolling along the beach for awhile we headed up into the town. Adorable typical Italian town with windy streets and little piazzas. We came across a little market in one of the piazzas that had some of the best fresh meats, and cheeses I have had! I also had some of the best flavored gelato so far in Italy there, called torte paradiso (some sort of lemon cake flavor). We decided on a place for dinner that had tables out in the piazza. I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of this little beach town and the people were all extremely nice. About the time that we were finished dinner we heard drums as soon as we knew it there was a crowd of men dressed up in alien costumes with brain heads dancing and drumming around in the piazza, just when we thought they were done a group of brazilian dancers show up and start performing as well. 

Indoor produce & fish market. 

Here are a few videos of what went on, I apologize for the quality in advance!

We still aren't sure what festival was going on but we were lucky enough to be there right when it was happening! We made our way back walking on the beach, a perfect way to end a day. We got home around 11 pm and immediately went to bed to be ready for our next adventure, Verona! 

Bardonecchia Snow Weekend

After a trying week, a ski get-a-way to the Alps was just what I needed. Saturday morning we arrived in Bardonecchia, had a quick breakfast, and headed to the rental shops to get skis. We were up on the slopes by noon, it was beautiful weather not a cloud in the sky. Pretty typical spring ski weather, a little icy in the shade and slushy in the sun. I wore way too many clothes and was hot seeing as it was between 45-55 degrees the whole time. I was issued probably the WORST pair of boots in the entire world. I nicknamed them the Red Devils. After a couple of hours I couldn't handle them anymore and we stopped at a lodge with lounge chairs and took a break, and soon after fell asleep. We headed down the mountain and got ready for dinner. Dinner was mediocre, buffet style food. As soon as dinner finished I headed straight to bed  to get some rest to hit the slopes hard the next day! 

The Red Devils

The hotel we stayed at was called Villagio Olympico, which housed olympians during the 2006 winter games. Bardonecchia hosted two of the snowboarding events. 

View from the hotel Balcony

The next morning we had an early start and I exchanged the Red Devils for a bearable pair of boots, I wasn't expecting high quality but these were truly the worst boots, EVER. We explored the other side of the mountain called Jafferau. Another gorgeous day with stunning views. We may have smeared Chapstick (the only thing we had with SPF) on our faces :/. Before we knew it, it was time to get on the bus and head back home. With no injuries and some sunburns it was a successful weekend! 

 The Alps were amazing and I had a wonderful time. However, Utah still has the "Greatest Snow on Earth"!