Italy Vacation Day Two- Juliet, Juliet How much have you spent?

Well after yesterday's adventure it was difficult to wake up this morning at 6:00 AM and have our luggage out the door waiting to be loaded on the bus by 7:00AM.  A little breakfast and our Italy tour commenced. 

First was the fortress in Milan and a quick photo opt of the fortress that took five centuries to build.  Milan suffered heavy damage during World War II due to the bombing by the Allied troops.  Next, we visited the center of Milan.  A statue honoring Leonard da Vinci greeted the way.  The Gothic Duomo church was an awesome site.   A cathedral built entirely of marble that houses a sitting bishop.  Cathedrals that house a sitting bishop are then called Duomos. 

Milan is the capital of the world when it comes to fashion and we visited a number of shops in the Galleria, the first covered mall in the world.  Here the best of the fashion icons were present as we walked on the marble mall floors and window shopped.  Okay, Cheryl made me buy a tie. 

Next was a visit to La Scala the worlds greatest opera house.  Here is where operas such as Othello, Aida, and La Boheme have been performed on the stage.  A magnificent view was admired from a box of the theater.  Remember the Italians love their opera. 

Leaving Milan we traveled through the Po Valley which is a fertile wine country.  This is the agriculture center of Italy and the vineyards were plentiful.  But they also grow other products such as Kiwi, Peaches, and Apples. 

Verona most popularly known as the home of Romeo and Juliet.  The two young adults who grew up in opposing families and the romantic tragedy that we all know was played out.  Of course, Romeo, me, in this case did stand under the famous balcony and calling out to Juliet was disappointed when she didn't appear.  She was too cheap to pay the 9 Euros to go into the home and stand on the balcony. 

Verona is a great place to see the life of Italians.  Roaming the narrow small streets and the marketplaces consumed the afternoon.  Verona also has a colosseum that is in better shape than the famous colosseum in Rome.  It would hold up to 30,000 spectators. 

One sad note is that we had a member of our tour group, in a wheelchair, tip and fall out of the wheelchair on the way back to the bus.  Unfortunately, he suffered a good cut on his small finger and possible disjointed the finger.  His partner stayed with him and the ambulance was going to take them to the hospital to have it treated.  Hopefully, by morning they will catch up with us and join us again. 

Tonight we ended our journey across Italy just outside of Venice.  Tomorrow, Cheryl will get the gondola ride of the life time.