Captured in Europe #4 - Love in Verona

42 days, 9 countries, 8730 photographs...countless travel memories. I want to share with you some of my favourite moments from the trip, going beyond the photographs to tell you the stories behind them and give you a little taste of Europe...this could be a long series...

Date: Thursday July 25
Location:Verona, Italy



This is a wall of love locks near Juliet's balcony in Verona, very picturesque and I love the colours.

Verona was a quick stop in our itinerary, our main reason for staying there was so we could enjoy the train ride north to Innsbruck during daylight hours. As a result, we only stayed one night, had a brilliant dinner at Enocibus (amazing and sooo cheap, go if you're ever in Verona!) and wandered through town the next morning with the obligatory visit to Juliet's Balcony.

The balcony was exactly what I expected, very cliche, very fake (it wasn't originally attached to the building) and really not worth the visit. But since there's not a lot else to see in Verona and it doesn't cost anything to duck into the courtyard, still alright for a visit.

Crowds made it a little less enjoyable as well.

The wall of locks was definitely the highlight for me.

Love locks is a trend that started in Europe in the early 2000s, appearing mostly on bridges, couples personalised a lock and attached it as a symbol of their eternal devotion to each other. Personally, not my thing and I'm cynical enough to wonder if those who break up after attaching a lock together should be forced to return and remove it together to keep the symbolism going.

Anyway, I really liked these ones because of the colours. The locks are sold in the gift shop off the courtyard which funds the Club di Giulietta (Juliet Club) who really do answer all the Letters to Juliet that get written and left in the courtyard. The movie is a bit more fictional that the real life story, but in the 1950s the custodian of Juliet's symbolic tomb began responding to letters left behind by tourists  and in the 1980s the Juliet Club took over. They now run the square which includes the gift shop and an embroidery shop (where they embroider your name on paper for free). I guess buying a lock from the shop to attach to this wall is helping some broken hearted souls out there.

And also unlike the movie, you don't stick your letters in the wall anymore (council decided that was a problem) now there's a pretty little red post box.