- thewineclubverona
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 27, 2019
Our two friends Matt&Stephanie lives in Atlanta, Georgia and came to Italy for vacation last summer: their first child-free vacation since Emily, their 13yo daughter was with grandparents in North-Carolina. They booked the holiday without a travel agency: they are well organized and set all the stops of their tour from home one month before departure. They booked a direct flight from Atlanta to Milan and, after spending five nights in the big city to see the two main attractions: Leonardo's Last Supper and the Duomo di Milano, they booked an express train to Rome. The train is very fast: only 2 hours and 30 minutes. They also traveled with Italo transport company, the cheapest. In Rome they visited the Colosseum, of course, and bought tickets online first, saving time. Then they booked an authorized local guide to take a food-tour and they visited other attractions with him. Their stay in Rome lasted five nights. Then they took the train to Venice: there they ate the fish bought at the famous market and visited San Marco and the island of Murano. They booked a Airbnb for two nights. They booked the train to Verona on the internet on Trenitalia website. On the third day they walked to the Venezia Santa Lucia station at 8:30 am. They took the train to Verona and arrived at Verona Porta Nuova station at 10 am.
Here is where our story begins and where we met them.
They had previously contacted us to arrange a private wine tasting for them to celebrate Stephanie's birthday.
We invited them to participate in the wine tasting in the center of Verona guided by a wine-maker.
He is a member of a family that has run a winery for many generations.
They were enthusiastic: the meeting point is easily reachable from the station. Only 30 minutes on foot, or 15 minutes by bus or taxi. The meeting point is in front of the main church of Verona: the Duomo Di Verona. In the heart of the city. Matt and Stephanie arrived by bus, they took it in front of the train station where the bus-terminal is. Almost all bus lines stop downtown. They bought the ticket on board because they didn't have time, but they could have bought it also in the Tabaccaio (Italian tobacco’s store). Arriving at the bus stop, they walked for 5 minutes towards the Duomo. They met here their host who gave them access to a charming private garden on the river bank.
The weather was perfect, cool, breezy and sunny.
The three of them sipped local artisan red wines and combined them with local foods.
They chatted happily about so many stories, curiosities and insights.
As a special gift, the host has prepared an Italian cake baked by a famous bakery located in the surrounding mountains of Verona.
At the end of the wine tasting, the host greeted them and they had an ice cream in the Gelateria nearby the Ponte Pietra.
It was an exciting day, Matt had a good idea to celebrate his wife's birthday in Italy, tasting excellent local wines. They left their review on TripAdvisor and seemed enthusiastic!
