- Romeo, Juliet and a dirty bandaid

Juliet's Balcony

On our way to Venice we made a quick stop in Verona to see Juliet's Wall made famous in the movie, "Letters to Julia". The wall most certainly does exist and it most certainly is packed with tourists. Despite my feeble attempts to contact Juliet though...I failed. I couldn't find a spot on the wall to leave my message. The walls were covered, and I mean covered, with small notes written on everything. I saw notes on scotch
tape, poker chips, snack bars, post-it notes, bits of paper, bubble gum, business cards, a handkerchief.....even a dirty bandage. People have gotten very creative how they leave these so called "love notes" for Juliet to read. I wonder if she writes back on similar media when she gets them? It's unfortunate that severe interest in a Hollywood movie has transformed a small courtyard in Verona into a wall-to-wall trash bin.

Cailin at the Juliet's Wall

Ali at Juliet's Wall

Meanwhile, everyone was jockeying to codify their visit with a photograph alongside the bronze statue of Juliet. This oddest part of this was the tradition developed over time to snap this photo while placing your hands on her breasts. It's clear from the localized patina that this tradition has been in place a considerable length of time. I didn't photograph this so you'll have to go see for yourself.

Amphitheater

Aside from all of this nonsense I have heard very good things about Verona from various Italian's on our trip. Here are some photos we managed to squeeze off in the two hours we were there. Maybe we will someday get a chance to visit this town in more depth and look beyond the courtyard known as Juliet's Wall. It certainly seems worth the visit.

Town Wall

Part of Old Town Verona