Shakespeare brought Verona to the attention of the English-speaking world almost a half-millennium ago, even if he never actually visited the place and even if (***spoiler alert***) the story of Romeo and Juliet is pure fiction.
I’m sorry to break this to you, my friends, but the story of the star-crossed lovers was, as they say in the best Disney tradition, “inspired by a true story.”
Two real families, the Montecchi and the Cappellos, were indeed feuding and were the models for the Bard’s Montagues and Capulets. And that’s where it stops, despite the fact that there is in fact a tiny courtyard, with a balcony where you too can enter for €6 and blow kisses to your loved one below.
It’s a beautiful balcony, for sure, and credit goes to a clever tour guide who started it all in the early 1970s to attract visitors to Verona.
The courtyard walls are now covered with amorous graffiti and there’s a Juliet Club that receives letters mailed from around the world and addressed to “Juliet, Verona, Italy.” Each year the club awards the author of the sweetest letter with a free trip to Verona.
As well this wall of padlocks enables lovers to spend money prove their hearts are locked up forever. The shop that sells the locks also thoughtfully sells pens with which to write on the locks.
Our guide Monica while most informative may have spent a bit too long talking about the fictional elements of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy.
When last I checked, Lord and Lady Montague were not amused.
The Country Mice 