Italy Day Two

Well, I've found out the version of coffee I like here - macchiatone! Double shot, hot milk, but not too much. 

Today we had arranged a walking wine and food tour, and it was great! Normally, I kind of dread 'walking tours' of cities, as they're very long, fast paced, endless facts and figures and historical events, no sit downs... But today it was relaxed, not far between each sit down, and samples all the way! There were only ten of us - a family of six assorted ages from America, a young American woman on a short European holiday before taking up a summer teaching job in Cambridge. She's an English teacher. We'd barely walked ten minutes, when we stopped at one of the cafes round the arena to have a wee traditional rice cake (torta de riso). Good start!

From there we stopped to look in a local butcher shop. They're very keen on their meat here. Pork, beef, veal, horse, donkey... YES! But when we sat down for a sample she assured us it was chicken in our little meat balls. There was also a vegetarian option. We sampled some white wine too, this was an aperitif.

Of course, Italians love their pasta! So we went to a place that makes their own, and boy! It was good. We had five samples with different fillings, and all were delicious. Every stop they served ice cold water too.

Then a small wine shop where we sampled three red wines of the region, and the young sommelier talked at length about each one. Bread, cheese and salami was served too. We ended the tour off at - you guessed it - a gelateria. 

We finished off at the market place, where Hazel bought a souvenir Verona fan for this evening. We already have ours - Elizabeth's sister gave us a couple. It was 29° when we finished our walk.

We're having a wee rest (some of us can't hack the pace) before heading out for a meal and then to the opera. Those photos won't be in today's blip, as it doesn't finish till after midnight. We're Very Excited!