Verona, Juliet & Dinner for One

ok, so I just had to show a train iternary for a one way ticket from Pisa to Verona.  Normally it's more direct than this but I wanted to save some $ so I took the one with all the stop offs. Unfortunately, the first stop off was too close together , plus my train was running late, so I missed my 2nd stop and had to get re-routed. Which wasn't a big deal but at first I was frustrated. There aren't conductors usually just standing around to help you in the smaller train stops, so you have to get back in the ticket line to ask a simple question...like, 'where is my train and what is it's final destination?' All the while knowing it could be one of the trains departing b/c you had to wait in line to ask.  It's quite complicated but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad, though it seems a bit old school at times. Those are stains from when I was trying to hold my little coffee, tote my suitcase, climb stairs, look for a conductor and a train...and a monitor screen and my watch and decipher the handwriting of the ticket person.  : ) 

So I arrived safely in Verona and this is the view from my hostel window. I stayed in this really awesome place that houses women travelers but they also run a program for women who are coming out of poverty. I felt like I could take the chance b/c once again, Rick Steve recommended it. It was probably the cleanest, nicest hostel I've seen yet on my trip to Italy. And I was the only person in my dorm room so, even better. 

The above photo is also part of the hostel. 

Then, took a walk outside a few blocks.

Juliet's Balcony (or so they think).

One of the reasons I stopped in Verona was because of Juliet's balcony. I had seen the movie, "Letters to Juliet", which is SO good...loved it, and thought I needed to make this a stop. As are a lot of things in Italy - if it's a tourist spot, then, everyone and their mother wants a photo of themselves in front of it. It gets really old really quick (for me)...but nonetheless, I find the joy in it! If I made it all the way to Juliet's balcony with my beloved, I might have someone take a photo of us kissing in front of the graffiti wall with gum stuck all over it too...who knows! I can't say at this point. 

 This is where everyone drops their letters for the Juliet Club, which they then will respond to you. They unfortunately just moved their club outside of the city center so I wasn't able to stop in. 

And the "thing" to do is touch Juliet's right, bronze breast for a good relational future. 

I think if I lived in Italy or anywhere that used bikes, I'd have a bike like this.

I really liked Verona.  Beautiful as usual, quaint, lots of good window shopping - the nicer more quality items. It was a bit cooler this night so I was actually wearing a jacket. 

 Had to take a photo. : )  

And then I ended the evening with a dinner by candlelight looking out at Piazza Erbe. Nice...It was just good to sit down and eat a yummy meal with a glass of wine and look out at the people passing by.  Just me and God chillin' in Verona.  : )

This is the night view from my window at the hostel. So pretty and romantic with the sun setting. Nice end to my evening. 

PISA with LISA!

I made it to Pisa on Saturday morning and met Lisa Puccini at the station. It was actually our first time to meet face to face or even hear each other's voice's as we had only emailed and written over Facebook. Randomly Lisa found me through the Facebook Wwoofing site and contacted me curious to know more about what I was doing, offering to help in navigating a bit of my stay in Italy. She also offered to host me at her mother's house this past weekend and I am so, so glad I took that route. It was either that or Capri and while I would have loved to see more of the coast, I had to head north regardless. I was ready for a little detour from touristy spots, and that is exactly what I got. 

Lisa & her mom have this huge, white dog named, Nuvella (sp) which means the moon.  Nuvella is like a big baby only she is almost like an elderly dog. I love animals so she was always a joy to see as she greeted us coming and going.  Her version of playing is barreling through the yard - it's quite funny, because she is so big. She comes up to my hip when I stand. 

Lisa hosted me for days and 2 nights just outside Pisa. We did see the leaning tower which was great... and then we walked around the center of Pisa a bit. I liked it after visiting Rome. Less crowded, fewer people, quieter, but still that Italian charm.  These photos here however are not of the city center, but rather the countryside of Pisa. I knew that Lisa & I were like soul sisters when she picked me up at the train station and within the first five minutes was telling me, "I don't like city. I like country to relax! " Yes....Me too!

On Sunday morning she planned for us to go on a hike up this huge hill or mountain of sorts down the street from her house. I was a little worried when she pointed to it looming in the distance - so big! But it was actually quite nice. Such a beautiful place and a side to Pisa I would not have seen on my own. So, the following images are of our 3km hike up that hill and then another afternoon walk. 

This is LISA! Isn't she lovely? She is such a wonderful person and I'm so glad we met. We had lots of good girl talk - as if we'd known each other a long time. I will never forget her wording when we talked about waiting for the right one to come along and she would slowly shake her head and say, "no false...no false."  And I'm like, I hear you sister! No false!  I am really pulling for her to move to the U.S. and find a great man who is...true. : ) 

Lisa works for a very well known motorcycle company that makes most of the bikes you see on the road in America & Europe. So after a yummy lunch and quick siesta under the sun, we hopped on her motorbike to another town close by and walked around some more...I think in total Sunday we walked 8km. Such beautiful little towns.

I was a passenger, not a driver.