Ido's Trip to North Italy

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Trip's Description
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Day 1 - Beatiful Verona
Day 2 - Garda Lake
Day 3 - Garda Land
Day 4 - Venice
Day 5 - Flexible day & Opera
Day 6 - To Cortina
Day 7 - Averau Mountain
Day 8 - Tre Cime Range
Day 9 - To Milan
Day 10 - Last day in Milan
Day 11 - Back Home

Day 5 - Flexible day & a some culture

"Flexible Day" Idea

When I planned the trip I was afraid that it will be too fast paced. The solution was a "Flexible Day" that we will decide it's content when the time comes. I prepared few places we can visit or just revisit places we didn't utilize to the fullest. The options were:
1. Revisiting Verona or Venice.
2. Visit the cities Padova & Vicezna .
3. Go to the "Water Park" and "movies park" in CanevaLand.


Moving to Verona

Early morning we packed our bags and hurried to a new hotel in Verona called Maxim which was in the modern part of Verona (Verona's second train station). Finding the hotel proved a little difficult but we found it nevertheless. The reason for the sudden hotel movement is the Opera show that is planned for the evening. The Opera will end late in the night and since night transport is either scarce or pricy I preferred moving to a new hotel for a day.

Half a day in Venice

Thinking back the "Flexible Day" proved his worth. The decision was quite easy - Dafna and myself both felt that we didn't taste enough of Venice. So we took again the train to Venice to taste a little more.
Rialto Bridge - an impressive bridge, accompanied with an interesting market.
"Basilica di Santa Maria della" is a very impressive in her a size & massiveness.
The art Academy holds a large collection of Venician art. As far as I can remember Dafna didn't enjoy it all too much but many other speak well of it.
Aside from the main attractions we just strolled about the city. Just wondering throughout the city is a very fun experience.


Basilica di Santa Maria della

Opera in Verona

Neither me nor Dafna fonder Opera, yet Italy is one of the Opera capitals and Verona's amphitheatre is considered one of the most prestigious places for opera in Italy. We figured missing it might be a waste and if we won't like it at least we'll know were not Opera people.
I booked the tickets to "Carmen" show in the internet at least a month before the trip and all there was left was to pick them up. If you won't book tickets in advance I wish you all the best getting them - It's completely possible but hard and crowded. The cheap tickets (35 euro) define a area where you can sit. Since some sits are better than other we stood in front of the amphitheatre gates about an hour before they even opened.


Verona's amphitheatre and it's set.

The sittings were cold stone and it was very crowded. When I found some wisdom and gave up on my miserliness I rented a pillow for 5 euro, and ,boy, it made the difference.
If you use the "coming early" system ( as I did) I suggest you buy food beforehand because there is about two hours waiting till the opera starts.
The amphitheatre itself is impressive and the amount of people filling it is impressive just as much. With dusk, the amphitheatre's tradition starts. Each person light a candle you get in the entrance - The sigh is amazing. Thousands of lit candles are definitely a beautiful sight.


Thousands of lit candles - even more pretty when darkness falls

Afterwards the opera starts - Beautiful set, amazing voice that can be heard clearly from our far sits even without speakers.
But ultimately we didn't prove to be opera people. It was an interesting experience but after a long day walk, near complete darkness, and lack of interest it was hard to keep awake.

Night in Verona

The opera ended approximately at midnight. Opera's night proved to be very lively in Piazza della Arba. If it's to your liking I bet that there are tons of night life places to go to. But we were exhausted and took a cab to the hotel.
The hotel (Maxim) received us in a kindly manner. The hotel's atmosphere was very different from the hotel City in the Descanzano. In Verona we reached a very large room, with huge bed. To sum it all there was a feeling of abundance but we liked the homey atmosphere of Hotel City better - But it's really a matter of taste.

Day Summary

Half a day in Venice - this half day was an absolute necessity even if it wasn't as amazing as the first day.
Venice Summary - an amazing city simply a must. In my opinion it is possible to enjoy Venice even 5 days straight but a day & a half give you a good taste of what really interesting in the city. If you are lucky enough to be in Venice while the festival of masks happens I bet you will find Venice even more charming.
Opera - I don't regret going to the opera. The cultural experience was interesting and at least now I know what is a quality opera. For a fonder of opera it's a must. If you are not a fonder of opera it probably won't change much.