Verona.

Ah Verona......a sleepy little town famous for the roman arena that is better described as a Mini Me version of the colosseum in Rome. Now it is used for opera performances and concerts.

Verona's other big deal is the balcony of Juliet----from Romeo and Juliet. The kids really didn't appreciate the small town quality, they had to entertain themselves during free time rather than be awed and stimulated. Plus, it was stinking hot--unusually so for that region and time of the year.

For me, I remember going to visit a nanny named Meg that worked for some relation of the family that I or Marta worked for....the exact connection has long been forgotten. She lived in a beautiful home that was converted from a monastery. It was gorgeous and historic and modern at the same time. But I can see why that whole scene wouldn't really play well with teenagers of 2012.

Having said that, there were some students in whom I can seen myself at their ages. Walking along the streets older than their baby country in terms of time and history, taking it all in....and for all outward appearances, seemingly bored. Like they might be composing a tweet about some cute guy they saw or thinking about how hot it was and when their next gelato feeding would be.

And then they would ask a question that would explain what wheels had been turning. They had not been brain tweeting, but rather contemplating time and history and wondering how many people had walked the same streets they were walking or what it might have looked like in Shakespeare's time when he was writing Romeo and Juliet and was he actually here....

Their thoughts, questions, observations, and comments help me see the trip through the eyes of newness and wonder, but also through what I have already experienced.

So......we went and got gelato. It WAS hot and we WERE in Italy after all.