Opera and Shakespeare in Verona

This week I’m back to my posts about Italy, picking up in the north as we journey from Lake Maggiore towards the Adriatic coast. At mid-day we stopped for lunch in  the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Verona, a city best known as the setting for Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet as well as its Roman ruins and summer opera festival.

The Verona Arena

"J" is for Juliet

You’re probably familiar with William Shakespeare’s story of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. The play is set in the northern Italian city of Verona and, though the characters are fictional, the city has happily adopted this tragic couple. Visitors now flock to a bronze statue of Juliet in the tiny courtyard of Casa di Giulietta and gaze up at her balcony as Romeo himself would have done.

Statue of Juliet, Verona