Legends, Verona

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As homeland of Romeo & Juliet, Verona celebrates St. Valentine in a special way.... See the central shopping street of Via Mazzini full of red hearts decoratios for Feb, 14th 2006.
In those days, there is "Schermi d'Amore" a "sentimental and melo international film festival".

Of course, every Feb, 14th the "Dear Juliet" award is given to the best love letter sent to Juliet.
Yes, load of letters are sent every year to Juliet, and a few secretaries (no joke, it's for real!) read them all, often reply giving advice.... and select the best for the finals of the love letetrs award!.

See the above link for more! So, are you a real romantic soul? Write to Juliet!

The tragedy of Juliet Capuleti and Romeo Montecchi, first written b the vicentine poet Luigi da Porto in 1524 and immortalised sixty years later by William Shakespeare. Popular imagination, influenced by the sad story of the two lovers, mixed legend and reality .
In my picture you can see on of the two key monuments of the tragedy: Capuleti house. Capuleti house was long property of Dal Cappello family. The building dates from the XII century. In 1905 the house was purchased by the City of Verona. The building took on its current aspect only seventy years ago.

Via Capello 23, Tel 39-0458034303
Hours: 8.00-19.00 Closed: monday
Entrance: 3,10 euros
Students: 1 euros

Watch out for the interesting Whale-rib that hangs down since more than 1000 years from "Arco della Costa".
There is a ledgend, saying that the whale-rib will not fall down untill the moment, that a person walks under it, who never told a lie .
Kings and popes walked underneath and nothing happened - the bone remained there even in the moment, when Lothar(lerch) and I went under it....

...I simply DO NOT believe such ledgends...
...but there are certainly more rewards in real life for liars than for people who stick to the truth . But where else than in Verona will they also be thrown a whale-rip on their head, when walking at the wrong places...?? :-)

It is a pity, we came too late to the gate of Casa di Giulietta, but at least we could take a look through the fence :
During the day thousands , mainly male tourists are trying to touch the right breast of the statue of Giuletta and get a photo as well while doing so.
Look at this statue, that is completely cleaned by all of these touches, while the face is almost black.
It is ment for good luck and ever-lasting love...
There is NO guarantee, but maybe it will work, so why not trying yourself.
During the day you may hardly ever find a quiet moment inside that lovely innercourt with the famous balcony and the statue of Juliet.

In the entrance of the building, where you may see the famous (BUT false) balcony , where Giulietta Capelletti met Romeo Montecchi, you may stick your Love-letters on a wall , where you may find already thousands of other love-letters.
To post your love-letters there is to be said to be some sort of a guarantee for a love lasting forever....

....so take your chance, as even writings directely on the wall seem to be working well !!

This is Piazza Leoni which is following by Via Leoni which leads you to Via Capello and Giulietta's house. Further on, there is Piazza delle Erba with Torre Lambertu which can be seen on this picture. Via Capello is one of the most crowded streets of Verona, here you can hear and see tourists from all over the world speaking in languages you probably never heard before.
Piazza Leoni, with its cafes, is a good place to take a break after strolling around.

Be warned, this custom should be done only in Verona and only with Juliett's statue.......I repeat, do not try this with live Italian girls...
But actually the custom or belief is that if a woman comes and embraces Juliett's breast she will have luck in her love life.
Here you can see Zohara doing it also, I guess she figures it can't get worse.....

Of course Verona is associated with the tale of Romeo and Juliet. which takes place in 1303. At the height of the Scaliger dynasty two of the most prominent waring families fighting for domination of the city were the Capulets and the Montagues ...but did they really exist?? Well in ancient chronicles of Verona there is no mention of the CAPULET family but there was a DAL CAPPELLO family (related to San Bonifacio family, sworn enemies of the Montagues) who lived since the 13th century in the palazzo known today as Juliet's House and visited by thousands of people.