Verona – where you can see Nick Cave, the Gorillaz and an opera all in one trip

WHEN my brother-in-law casually asked if I fancied going to see Nick Cave in concert, I had no idea it would lead to a fabulous, week-long, Italian odyssey.

That’s because the Aussie singer-songwriter’s gig was actually in Verona, not Glasgow or Edinburgh as I first thought.

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I was not a fan of Nick and his Bad Seeds but I am SO glad I said yes to that invite. It was the most magical gig I’ve ever been too and that’s no wonder considering it was held in the ancient Verona arena.

The Roman amphitheatre has been in continuous use since it was built in 30AD and is best known for hosting operas featuring the likes of Italian giant Luciano Pavarotti and his Three Tenors pals Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo.

In fact the night before the Nick Cave gig, Aida was being performed in the ancient venue smack bang in the middle of this fabulous city and the night after our gig, Gorillaz took to the stage.

So how to get there. Well there’s no direct flights to Verona from Scotland, so we opted for the easyJet route from Edinburgh to Venice and, from there, our two-to-three-day trip spiralled into a week, taking in Florence too. Well, why not?

And when it came to booking our digs for the gig it was a no-brainer. It had to be Airbnb.

We wanted a place with room to kick back after our Florence frenzy and space enough for me, hubby Alan, brother-in-law John and his wife Lyn.

There was a wide selection on their website, in fact so many it was hard to choose.

But in the end we opted for a lovely two-bedroom flat in a courtyard in the beautiful cobbled Via Cadrega, just steps away from a stunning Piazza and — most importantly — just a ten-minute walk to the amphitheatre.

It had everything we needed. Huge living room with TV, wifi and a kitchen with a fridge big enough for our Italian wine and beer stocks plus two bathrooms, so no squabbling about who was hogging the shower.

The host, Verona Journeys, couldn’t have been more helpful, giving us all the necessary info and answering every question.

They even helped us on our last day when we discovered the taxis were on strike an hour before our train back to Venice!

Opposite were three lovely bars where locals gathered for a morning chat over coffee and later over a glass or two of vino. They were all lively, welcoming and great value.

Although we were in the city for the concert, we had lots of time to explore and there’s plenty to see.

One unmissable is the Romeo and Juliet balcony in via Cappello, just round the corner from the arena.

There’s also Castel San Pietro, a hilltop Romanesque fortress, the atmospheric Piazza delle Erbe, which was once the city’s forum and the Teatro Romano to name just a few of the must-sees.

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And when it comes to eating, as you would expect in Italy, you will be spoilt for choice.

We had a fabulous al-fresco meal in a small piazza reserved for the San Matteo Church Ristorante Pizzeria.

Pizza for me, St Peter’s fish for hubby, all washed down with a fabulous local rosé. The bill? Less than £40 for a meal in a setting worth at least double that.

And you cannot come to Italy without sampling gelato. I can thoroughly recommend the pistachio ice-cream from Grom near the arena.

As for the concert? I was dreading it, to be honest, with the temperature hitting 38°C daily, I thought the arena would be as hot as a cauldron.

But the heaven’s opened just an hour before the gig was due to start, clearing and cooling the air just in time for Nick to heat things up again with his two hour-plus show.

It left the 15,000-strong crowd crying out for more — including me, his newest fan!

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