We are going to Verona today so Hollie and I are in for breakfast when it opens at 07:30.
Neither of us want much breakfast and we are soon in and out and catching a taxi to the coach park.
We are leaving at 09:00 so decide to go and fill up with fuel and top the drinks water up at a local garage.
There is a tap I can connect the hose to but it is the other side of the car wash that is next to the pumps. Just my luck there is a queue for the wash and my hose is in the way!
I have a choice of two hoses to fill up, one does the toilet water and the other the drinks. One has a blue spot and the other a red or green (I can’t remember!) so I will have to choose as I won’t have enough time to fill both this morning.
I choose the blue hose and fill that tank which takes longer than the fuel.
We are at the hotel before nine to load up the 29 passengers coming today. We have eight people staying in Desenzano.
It should be an easy day today with a journey time of about forty minutes and then we meet our guide at ten o’clock for a two hour walking tour of the city.
No problems reaching the motorway but that doesn’t last as we join a long queue of traffic across all three lanes of the motorway. The signs across the road indicate an accident. I’m never sure whether to stick or twist in these situations as you always think the jam will soon end. It doesn’t!
I come off onto the SS11 (English A road) and join another queue of like minded people! Bum!
It does start moving soon and while in the queue I call the guide and Hollie speaks to her telling her we shall be late. Our guide is still at home as she has been told the tour starts at 11:00!
This is a right result as we won’t be in Verona by ten and she will start heading to the meeting point at the coach park hoping we arrive at similar times.
I know my way into Verona from the motorway but coming a different way has thrown mw and I haven’t my Sat nav on. As is my want this week I fly past my turning, again realising too late but hope I can reach the centre this way. We are going in the right direction but there are lots of roads we can’t drive coaches. This is one of them!
Turning round I reach the correct road and we are soon in the centre of Verona. I did have a little wobble near the centre but we found our way eventually arriving at 10:48! Our guide, Monica, is waving at us from the end of the coach park.
I was expecting a two hour walking tour but Monica thinks it would be better to do some of the city by coach and drive up to a beautiful viewpoint high above the city. Am well pleased with this as it enhances the day no end and will be easier for the group as we have potentially the hottest day of the week and it always feels hotter in cities.
The tour on the coach is excellent and I feel confident in Monica to show the passengers the way back to the coach later as I have to drop them off in a different place to where we pick up and park.
Once we have left them in Monica’s capable hands my courier and me go off to park back where we first met Monica. It is not cheap here with the parking costing €60! And that is not even in the shade!
We go off for a walk and I take Hollie through the city centre to see Romeo and Juliet’s balcony and the statue of Juliet with shiny Thru’pennies! Apparently if you rub her boob it will bring you luck in love! Probably lucky Romeo doesn’t have a statue there!
It is absolutely heaving here and I am soon drenched in sweat as if I have walked into a shower. The temperature must be 100 plus.
We stroll back to through the shops to the main square and sit in the shadow of the might amphitheatre enjoying lots of water and sandwiches. As we are sitting here we see the group return and then disperse on their merry way. They have all done exceedingly well to make it to the end in this extreme heat.
After our lunch the queue for the amphitheatre is short so we go for a look. This magnificent arena is now famous for its opera performances and the stage is set up for another show inside. There is not too much to see but it is hard not to be in awe of a building like this and the stories it must surely hold.
Hollie walks to the highest steps but they are a little too high for me! You can’t stay in the arena for too long as there is no shade and when you sit on the stone seats you burn your arse!
From here we walk away from the square in the shade of some shops and indulge in an ice cream. I don’t often eat ice cream but needs must and this is delicious. You have to eat it quick mind or it melts!
We then walk back to the coach which is too hot to sit on without the engine running so I run the engine for a short while to bring the temperature down.
Hollie is sat on the step pouring cold water over her feet!
The passengers all return with differing levels of exhaustion and by 16:30 we are away. We have a much better run back to the hotel, arriving at 17:10.
Before dinner I speak with the lovely lady on reception and explain my concerns. She is very sympathetic but says the hotel is run by three brothers and they each have their own part to look after. The fellow who helped when we arrived is one of the brothers and he operates the hotel but has no say in how the restaurant is run! It beggars belief!
I am told off the record that they hire cheap labour to keep the costs down so that is why there is no waiting staff properly trained.
I really cannot believe what I am hearing and even though my complaints will be passed on to the restaurant there is no guarantee of any action being taken. Incredible.
Hollie, myself, Dot and Norma are all going out tonight for dinner and decide to meet in the bar at 18:00.
Norma is a little later on parade than Dot but then Dot is always hard to beat to the bar!!
When I came to look at the hotel I went out for a meal at a very nice restaurant and we are going to go there tonight.
Half of me feels a little guilty about leaving the group when there have been problems but then my other half says I need some space. I can’t win! And on most tours I do I always like to go out one evening for a meal at a local restaurant.
And tonight is the night!
We enjoy a lovely evening with Hollie and Norma having pizza, I am boring and have a steak while the most adventurous, Dot, has a bowl of spaghetti topped with mussels, clams and what looks like a lobster. It all looks a lot like hard work but she wades her way through it all washing it all down with a couple of glasses of red.
The wine list here is fantastic and being a fan of Italian red wine I am in my element as I order a bottle of Valpolicella. And another!
Norma and Hollie aren’t drinking so it is left to Dot and I to experience the local culture!
“A little top up Dot?” I ask
“I’m okay thanks” she replies as I top up her glass anyway!
The wine she didn’t want has soon evaporated “Top up Dot?”
“I’m okay thanks”
And she drinks another glass!
Between us we enjoy a couple of bottles of Valpolicella’s finest before making our way back to the hotel.
On the way back there are some lads selling these toys that you fire up into the night sky and they come back down with a little light glowing. The sort of toy toddlers would enjoy.
Well, we have two grown ladies interested! Hollie and I find it highly amusing as Dot and Norma buy these toys.
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