Villafranca - a breath of fresh air (with a hint of manure)

 Waking up in Villafranca di Verona this morning wasn't really in the plans - we had expected to ride further yesterday afternoon after leaving Verona. However, this town has turned out to be one of the nicest surprises  on our tour.

Our "shortish" ride to Villafranca

During an afternoon coffee stop after a short but unpleasant section on a busy road entering the town, we began to look ahead at overnight options in the area. Not a single campground was to be found, which we kind of already knew.  As we checked out the other hotels and agriturismos, we were finding a lot were already full. So then the thought struck us - would it be so bad to end the ride after only 37 km? Of course not, we decided! It would make a nice change to be somewhere by 4pm and actually have some time to chill. So we went ahead and booked a hotel in this town, Villafranca di Verona, which we knew nothing about.

Well, the place turned out to be a little gem. Not touristy, not too big or busy but filled with history and beautiful old buildings and regular residents going about their business. Actually it's rural enough that a fine aroma of farmyard manure permeates the air!

Locals gathering for their Friday afternoon aperitifs

The house with the arched doorway is where Napoleon stayed in 1796
the night before one of his battles 

Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul was completed in 1882

A walk to the castle at the end of the street revealed a massive structure with walls built around 1200. Nowadays the beautiful courtyard hosts concerts, and Bob Dylan and countless other stars have performed here. 

Scaligero Castle

These grounds inside the walls have hosted all kinds of rock concerts

The town was also the setting for a big meeting between emperor Franz Joseph (Austro Hungarian Empire) and Napoleon (France) in 1859 when they signed the Armistice of Villafranca which ended the second war of Independence. Pretty cool!!

And furthermore, Shakespeare used Villafranca as a setting for one of the scenes from Romeo and Juliet.

Free-town refers to Villafranca

Romeo and Juliet in the castle

Our lovely hotel right in the middle of all this history 

From here, we'll be heading on towards the town of Ostiglia on the River Po, which will mark the end of this Roman road, where it joins with Italy's largest river and its path to the sea.

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