Juliet's balcony

Verona is an italian city with many hidden (and not so hidden) gems. One of the most famous sights in Verona is definitely the balcony of Juliet, and after several years of deciding whether I should visit Verona or not, I finally had a chance to see the balcony with my own eyes. And guess what, I was not disappointed. Obviously not, because if this medieval city has not fullfilled your expectations, then something is seriously wrong with you. And I am only partly joking.

A bit of history

Even if we all think that school did not teach us much, we have at least learned who Shakespeare was. Well, maybe not exactly, but we know that he wrote the famous tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. For those of you, who are not familiar with the story, here is a really short summary (I hope my primary school literature teacher will not kill me because I probably left out some important facts because I wanted to make the story as short as possible):

Romeo and Juliet were coming from two families, Montego and Capulet, which were living in Verona, and who really did not like each other. But sometimes, life can be cruel, and Romeo and Juliet fell in love with each other at some party. And what is the rοle of the famous balcony in this story? After the party, Romeo went to Julia's house (which has the famous balcony)and told her that he loves her. He then climbed to her room over the balcony. Well, he must have been a really good climber – take a look how high the balcony is. And they got secretly married the next day. Now that was quick!

Someday, Romeo killed an important man in a duel, and even though it was a self – defense, he has to leave Verona for good. At the same time, Juliet's parents, who have no idea about her marriage with Romeo, tell her that she must get married to a man, called Paris. Of course she refuses and the priest that married Juliet and Romeo, gives her a potion that would make her look dead.

A letter should be sent to Romeo to tell him about the plan, but it somehow got lost on the way. So when he returned, he saw the seemingly dead Juliet and he killed himself. When Juliet woke up, she saw her dead husband, and killed herself. Ironically, after their death, both families started to be friends.

How to get there?

The famous Juliet's balcony is situated somewhere in the maze of the narrow streets of Verona. More precisely, on the street, called Via Cappello 23. Luckily, I went there as a part of an organised tour, so the way there seemed easy. But if I would go there by myself, I would probably get lost several times, because those streets in Verona all look the same.

If you decide to go there by yourself, there wil be some signs that will tell you you are close. But not the ordinary road signs. I mean small shops that sell souvenirs about Romeo and Juliet. And they are all situated on the corner before the Juliet's balcony. Some of the tourists in my group were impressed about those souvenirs. They might be nice, but totally useless, such as a red towel with your name sewn on it, and the picture of the famous balcony in the background, or salt and pepper box, both shaped like Romeo and Juliet. As I said, totally useless stuff, but people seem to like it, because I saw a lot of tourists, buying loads of those souvenirs.

After the last shop, you have to turn left to get to the balcony. But at this point, everything is easy, because you will see big groups of tourists, going in the same direction.

Before the balcony

Once you turn left, there is a corridor, that is filled with colourful grafitti. After a closer inspection, I noticed that the grafitti are actually signatures of the visitors. And there is thousands of them! They are written in different colours, which make a really nice pattern when you look at those signed walls from the distance. Some of the signatures are even situated on the ceiling of the corridor. I wonder how they got up there. Who knows, maybe it was Romeo with his climbing skills.

At the end, the corridor opens into a beautiful, but small garden. If there is a big group of tourists, it tends to get really claustrophobic there. At the far end of the garden, and behind the Juliet's statue, you will see the 'love locks'. We all know this tradition from various bridges in Europe, when two lovers put the lock on te bridge and throw the key into the river, which will make their love eternal. But I was wondering where do people throw keys at this garden. And I still have no idea.

Juliet's statue

Just below the famous balcony, there is a statue of Juliet. Of course, everybody wants to take a picture with her, and you have to be patient if you would like one for yourself, too. Also, people there are very impolite, because they are skipping the line. After a while, when several people pushed their way in front of me, I did the same, and nobody said anything. Well, maybe this is normal there.

When I was waiting in line to get to the statue, I noticed that every single man ( no, I am not exaggerating ) is grabbing Juliet's breasts for the photo. Oh, come on. That is not original at all. Besides this, they were also doing other humiliating poses. I guess that this is just men being men. And the security guards (there were two of them on the garden at the time I was there), were just smiling.

Also, at the time when I was there, selfie sticks were already very popular, and I started to count, how many people took a selfie with the Juliet's statue. Eventually, I just had to stop counting because too many people were doing so. And I did not even want to count all the duckfaces.

When I finally got to the statue, I also took some time to take a closer look at it. I must say that Juliet was very beautiful, if this statue really looks like her. I quickly handed my camera to one of the ladies in my group, so I could have the picture next to the statue like everyone else, but guess what, there were several other people behind me on the picture. Oh well, mass tourism sucks.

The balcony

If you look at the balcony from the garden, you can see how small it actually is. Two persons can barely stand next to each other up there. Before I saw this balcony, I imagined that it is much bigger.

You can even get on the balcony (by using the stairs, not climbing as Romeo, of course), but you have to pay a fee of a few Euros. Personally, I think that it is not worth it, and obviously, most of other tourists thought the same, because I only saw two ladies on the balcony. But when they got there, the crowd on the garden immediately started taking photos. Perhaps they thought that it was the real Juliet.

Best time to see the balcony

We went to see the balcony right after we have arrived to Verona, which means early in the morning. At that time, the place was still fairly empty, so we took a lot of time to admire the place. Besides our group, there were only a few other people there. But in a few minutes, bigger groups of tourists started to arrive, and we did not even have time to take pictures before, so we had to wait in line to be photographed next to the statue of Juliet.

We decided to come back during lunch, because we assumed that everybody will be eating. There was a little less people there during lunch, but still a lot. So I would suggest you to see the balcony as early as possible, when there are not many tourists yet.

Well, in case you would just like to see the balcony from the distance so you can say that you have been there, any time of the day is fine.

For the end…

The Juliet's balcony is definitely one of the absolute must – see sights in Verona. If you take an organised tour, the balcony is definitely already included in the itinerary. Also, just try to imagine people's reactions if you would tell them that you were in Verona and you did not see the Juliet's balcony!

"What lady is that, which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight? Ah, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear! Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shoes how a snowy dove trooping with the crows, as yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, and, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. "

Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

Setting of one of the most well-known dramas in literature, Verona is a very beautiful city that's full of romance. With a mixture of fiction and reality, the city laps up the tragic story of the couple, Romeo and Juliet. As if all the romanticism in the city wasn't enough, on 23 Via Cappello you can see what is supposably Juliet's House! The current building was adapted to be closer to the story, even including the balcony where the couple declared their love.

To make it even more appealing, the house's patio has:

• A wall (that was once) white, so that you could write whatever you want (love declarations, sweethearts, etc. ). In all honesty, this part looked like "school vandalism" to me, but if you want to leave your declaration, there is only a tiny space (you have to write above someone else's declaration);

• You also have the option to stick paper and cards on the wall! It has it's charm:

• Padlocks? Yes, like in various other parts of the world, here there is a space for yours (and your love's). If you don't have one, don't worry! Without doubt there will be someone selling them (tourism is great for the business men);

• The bronze statue of Juliet! With a rare tradition: running your hand over the right breast of the statue to find your true love. I don't know how many have had success from this, but looking at the state of this part of the statue it's clear that many have tried;

• The Juliet club! And does it even exist? With the right to make handicrafts (gloves, towels, cloths, aprons... ) and the post box (Juliet's post)! You can leave a letter to she who helps women desperately in love, Juliet. Whether she responds or not, it's not for me! For those who have seen the film "Letters to Juliet", this is somewhere for a lot of imagination!

You also have the option to go into Juliet's house (after having paid, of course). In there you'll find excerpts from the play on the walls, and also other articles to include you in the history (with the possibility to go onto the balcony and feel like a real Juliet).

Conclusions: Juliet's house is a great place to visit (especially for romantic and imaginative people), I liked it a lot. What spoilt it a bit was the number of tourists. There are so many all the time! To touch poor Juliet's breast you have to queue. Then I guess you can imagine that you won't be alone in writing a note in the super-romantic place, thinking about your love (in the style of the film - Letters to Juliet). Even so, it's worth visiting this place that exhales romance, history and literature!