Once over the border though, the ease of it all didnt continue and I was reminded of the organisation of the Italians. The plan for the day was to catch a slovenian train from Bled to Novo Gorica in Slovenia then walk across the border and catch a local bus to the other side of Gorizia (the Italian side of the town)....which all went smoothly but this is where the easy ride finished...
Upon arrival at Gorizia station I was told I couldnt have a ticket to Verona because the man at the ticket booth didnt know when the trains were leaving and at that point no trains were running from there to anyway...classic Italians and their constant strikes!!
Eventually the ticket guy called me back over and advised me to get the first and next train to a bigger interchange station nearby and hopefully there would be more trains going further from ther...
I finally made it to verona at about 9pm, found my hostel (another almost empty one...just my luck!! haha) and all I could manage for dinner was to stumble out and find the closest pizza place and get a take-away...welcome back to Italy!! haha
I spent my 2 days here wandering the streets and looking at all of the classic touristy things...not to mention the Romeo & Juliet pariphenalia!! And all this was even more enhanced with it only being about 10 days before Valentines and so there were love hearts in every shop window and hanging all donw the main pedestrian prominade...
I went to "Juliets house" with the balcony that apparently is what Shakespear based the story and events on...and of course eveyone has wanted to leave their mark of love outside for their lover...
And to escape the cold middle-of-the-day drizzle one day I escaped into a great little trattoria and had a feast of a main dish, side dish/salad buffet, coffee and not to mention free basket of good bread for 10 euros...what a bargain...and what a belly full!!
I saw the castle, a few churches and climbed the tower to get a view of the centre of town which sits in the bend of the main river...
I did meet one young guy at my accomodation though, from New York, but he left the following morning. The night I arrived though we had a bit of a chat as I think he was feeling a bit lonely in the apartment style hostel as there was no one-else there not even the owner or staff...and he recommended a bar to me in the main square that did good house wine for 6 euros for 1/2 litre, and then a free aperitivo buffet of nibbles and antipasto to go with it which sometimes included a plate of risotoo too!! So I went one night and it was great for a cheap dinner and even ventured out to try in at another bar on my last night...it was a great way to save a bit of money on food...
Ci vediamo
xox
