Where love comes to town

OROMEO, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

It’s one of the most famous questions in Shakespeare, and Verona has the answer. As Juliet stands on her balcony, lamenting the fact that her love is a Montague, and thus a sworn enemy of her Capulet household (“a rose by any other word would smell as sweet”), Romeo skulks in the bushes below, wondering when to reveal himself.

Visit Verona today, and you can just about imagine the literary lovebirds playing out the scene — just about. Reached via a cobbled archway off Via Cappello, the most fabled balcony in literature is stashed away in a tiny courtyard, boxed in by medieval buildings. Ivy tumbles down one of the walls. Gothic windows are carved into the brickwork. A steady procession of tourists files out onto the small, stone balcony — taking pictures and Facebooking friends.