The Secret Garden

Today we discovered the most magical place.  A couple girls and I decided to go on a bike ride this morning, and we decided to cross the river to the part of Verona we hadn't seen before.  We wound through narrow streets and alleyways until we pulled over to take a breather.  We looked at our map to see if there was a park nearby where we could chill at for a little while before returning to our hotel, and it turns out we had stopped right next to one.  So we chained up our bikes, walked around the corner, and found...this.  

The "park" we had happened upon looked more like a royal garden.  Fountains, statues, hedge mazes, and hundreds of those triangle-shaped trees that shoot up into the sky like rockets (you know the kind I'm talking about...the fancy garden kind).  We jumped right into the hedge maze, of course. 

After conquering that obstacle we continued to galavant through the glorious greens until we found these stairs.  

Which we climbed, of course.  And it was at the top where we found...

This pile of bricks that is apparently holding up the entire mountain (reassuring)...

This structure that might have made an appearance in The Hobbit...

This other J.R. Tolkein hangout with a heck of a view....

And this creepy door...

We then found this staircase that seemed like it would never end until we came to...

This.  

We sat on this bench for an hour at least, just gazing out over the garden and the rooftops of Verona.  It was the most magnificent sight to behold.  

Tomorrow morning we depart for Florence.  I'm sad at the thought of leaving Verona so soon, especially after finding this treasure.  I could spend hours on that bench.  The world was so still there...I can only hope Florence has such sights to behold.  

Ciao!

*DISCLAIMER:  I hereby ask for pardon for any spelling errors, horrible pictures, or  any other error in my writing.  I am typing this all on my phone, and it's not the most ideal situation.  Thank you for your understanding.  (;