The crowds in Verona were a bit overwhelming. In Acqui Terme a couple of weeks ago we were just about the only tourists. And Cremona was similar. So perhaps booking a B&B 100m from Juliet’s balcony was asking for trouble!

But it was a nice room, and we warmed to Verona. The Piazza Erbe was great – and I loved the cool air coming off the glacial water of the Fiume Adige as it encircles the city.

We visited the Basilica of Saint Zeno, which was a very fine Romanesque building with some excellent frescoes. The Saint himself (or what’s left of him) is smiling in a glass coffin, wrapped in a red robe. He looks exactly like the kind of macabre Santa that used to give Catherine nightmares.

But, of course, we had to visit the famous Arena. No opera tonight, but the set of Madame Butterfly was there for tomorrow. Sadly there were no lions or tigers for Roman gladiatorial combat either.

This morning we lingered in Piazza Erbe over coffee, before the crowds arrived, but then set off for Lake Garda. A flat day’s cycling, always heading towards a huge storm cloud. Whilst having pasta for lunch in a welcoming Trattoria the heavens opened. The final miles beside Fiume Mincio were on a lovely cycle path, but in heavy rain. Arriving at Peschiera, Lake Garda was almost blotted out and we could hardly see anything.

We were intending to camp at Simione, but a hotel got the better of us. So here we are, warm and dry, waiting for the rain to stop and hoping for better weather for our Lake Garda ferry ride tomorrow.

Helen’s track of the day:
Pompeii by Bastille.
Posters for a recent concert by Bastille followed our route out of Verona so this song caught up in my brain for most of today.