Day 10 – Verona and drive to Garmisch Germany

It was an early start this morning because today had the most driving of any day of the tour. Everyone was on the bus by 8 am as we left Lake Maggiore under cloudy skies for the ride to visit Verona. Traffic going through Milan was horrible due to the rain, so Andreas divided the kids into groups to work on an assignment that would get them thinking about our mid-day stop in Verona, Italy. Each team was asked to create an alternate version of the story of Romeo and Juliet, to be narrated or performed on the bus during the late afternoon drive from Verona to Garmisch Germany, our last hotel destination of the Tour!

We arrived in Verona about 1 pm and went on a driving tour of the city. Verona is one of the oldest cities we have visited, having many Roman walls still standing. The bus climbed up a hill to a church that provided a breath-taking view of the city below, so we pulled on our rain gear and snapped a few pictures and looked at the beautiful panoramas.

Our next stop was in the city center and we took a brief walking tour of the city. The buildings and architecture are beautiful! Below is a picture of Juliet’s balcony.

Below is a picture of the Arena di Verona, where concerts, operas and theatre performances are held outdoors – when it’s not raining!

The rain held off for a while, but eventually returned in earnest, so we schlogged through the rain back to the bus. The weather and traffic delays precluded us from the singing that was planned, but everyone remained in great spirits as we trekked through the Dolomites north from Verona into and across Austria into Germany to Garmisch. On the way, the team performances of the alternative Romeo and Juliet stories were creative and funny!

We arrived at the hotel about 8 pm after a long wet day, but this area is beautiful and we look forward to exploring some of the sites over our last 2 days of the Tour!