Day 14: Veneto

The time has come for us to bid farewell to our new Italian friends and continue North to the Veneto region of Italy. It was a sad morning for many of us as we hugged our host families goodbye in Piazza della pace and boarded the bus that would take us to Verona. By all accounts we had enjoyed our week in Bologna living an authentic Italian lifestyle with local families. Our hosting families were likewise sad to see us go as they had been impressed with the way we embraced the experience and fit into their families and home lives. There were some Italian students who jokingly tried to sneak onto the bus wanting to spend more time with us, and their parents who would have gladly adopted their temporary Australian child. In the end, we left Bologna behind and looked forward to our next adventure while vowing to keep in touch with everyone we had met at Liceo Malpighi until we hopefully meet again.

From one family to the next one, we arrived after a few short hours passed listening to Italian music on the bus at Mr Tosi's family home where we were warmly welcomed by his parents Eleonora and Attilio. In between eating the generous lunch provided for us, we explored the magnificent greenery of the garden, admired Attilio's fantastic artistic skills in paintings and carvings, and chatted with Eleonora about travel destinations around Italy. We felt so at home as we were greeted with open arms. Grateful for our homely lunch break, we expressed our thanks to our hosts for their ospitalità (hospitality) and friendliness towards us before making our way to our next destination by bus.

After our stop, we were driven to the splendid Lago di Garda (Lake Garda) where we basked in the afternoon sun, explored local shops, and walked along the waterfront taking in the view. It was a truly beautiful spot where we were able to indulge in some downtime and grab a gelato together or simply sit down and relax by the water. We even witnessed a fisherman reeling in a catch from the pier. 

From Lago di Garda, we proceeded to Verona where, after checking into our hotel where we were treated to some lovely piano playing from our more musical classmates, we walked to the main street for some much needed retail therapy. We shopped along Via Mazzini buying clothes, books, jewellery, and other souvenirs to pass the time before dinner. At 7pm we met again and made our way to Piazza dei Signori where we had a reservation for dinner at Trattoria Pizzeria Impero. The atmosphere was magnificent as we were seated at one long table with just enough light that we could admire the statues and buildings in the square without it being overly harsh. We ordered pasta and pizza and socialised with each other, chatting happily about our day out and showing each other our shopping. We were also lucky enough to be joined for dinner by Attilio and Eleonora who gave us great advice from their own local knowledge and experience of the area. This was especially welcome during our post-dinner passeggiata (walk) through Verona. We took selfies with the father of the Italian language, Dante Alighieri (in statue form of course), visited the location of Giulietta's balcony (of Romeo & Juliet fame), and walked past the Arena di Verona where we could hear the Italian band Pooh performing a concert and enjoyed the view of the full moon above the arena which was illuminated by a stunning pink light.

Our final stop for the night was to Castelvecchio, a medieval castle surrounded by a (now empty) moat. We were able to climb stairs to attain a gorgeous view over Verona and enjoyed the romanticism of the place as it appeared at night time. A particular highlight was a section of gate covered in padlocks with various pairs of initials and messages of love and friendship written on them. We tried to find padlocks that could relate to our own friendships and pointed them out to one another excitedly. However, it was getting late and we were getting tired, so we eventually took our leave of the historical castle and returned on foot to our hotel for a restful night in preparation for more travels tomorrow.