"No Romeo & Juliet here" a Verona Travel Page by rexvaughan

In the photo above you can see the emperor in a Napoleon-like pose surveying his subjects. Okay no emperor, but my name is Rex! This is actually the emperor's box in the arena. The structure has suffered some in its 2000 years, but is remarkably intact and still used (see below).

This is another great place in Italy that we gave short shrift and must come back. It may not have many sights on most people's "must see" list, but it is a lovely place to enjoy its welcoming beauty.

You can visit Juliet's balcony and grave here, but remember that she is a product of Shakespeare's imagination. Whatever will bring tourists!

The Roman arena in Verona is said to be the third largest in the Roman world with a seating capacity of about 25,000. It is a very colorful structure as it features a lot of pink marble on both the exterior and the rows of seats inside. I am always amazed at the beauty and durability of these ancient Roman constructions and further amazed by the amount of great engineering works they accomplished over such a wide geographic area.

Furthermore, when you go inside the tunnels and look at these arenas you realize that we are still using very similar techniques now to build modern stadia.

Verona was an important center as early as the 1st C BCE as it lies on the Adige River and at the crossroads of some of the most important Roman roads. The old city lies in a bend of thd Adige and retains a great bit of the Roman feel. It is not uncommon to see buildings like the one in the photo. How would you like to live in a place that looked like this - simple but wonderful architectural detail, a nice iron railing on the balcony and wonderful and colorful artwork adorning the walls? This one overlooks Piazza delle Erbe.