Oh Romeo, where art thou... your Juliet has been turned into Verona's whore

I have always loved Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet... I think I've seen every version of the play, including the one with Leo Decaprio (which wasnt very good LOL). But I was not prepared for the fondling and whoring that Juliet endures every day in front of her balcony in Verona.

Verona

We arrived in Verona and were rewarded with classic Renaissance homes full of frescoes and sculpted balconies. In its day, Verona must have been one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Every house was lavishly decorated with images of love, flowers and history. Today, you can see the frescoes only if some of the stucco has been scraped off the walls. It seems that during the Black Plague, the Veronese thought that the houses and buildings were too optimistic for such dark times, so they covered them with plain stucco (in a variety of colours). Walking through the city we were able to see many of the nobility tombs - some of them with the bodies embronzed on a bed. The nobility of Verona called themselves 'Cane' which means dogs… they saw themselves as the big dogs of Venice, and on their tombs they even fashioned self portraits with heads of large dogs… reminds me of Snoop Dog but that’s probably just because I cant get his new song ‘Oh Sookie' out of my head.

We then passed by Romeo’s house, which is still inhabited but the descendants of the Montacherri family. Our guide says that the Montacherri family and the Capuletti family were feuding during the time that Shakespeare wrote his play, but she didn’t think that their children were tragic lovers (that part must have been Shakespeare’s own genius).


The creepiest part about Verona was the house of Juliet. Entering this courtyard you are assaulted by all the ‘love’ graffiti on the walls. There are also many love notes taped with gum on the walls of the courtyard. People have taken to writing prayers to Juliet for love and praying to her for a good marriage… huh? Do these people know she’s a fictional character? It seems in Italy anything and anyone can be made into saint. The most disturbing of all though is the new tradition of groping Juliet’s statue. I don’t know if you can see in the picture but Juliet’s right breast is shinier then the rest of her bronze statue. People climb up behind her and take a picture holding her breast. I was further creeped out by our guide who, upon entering the garden, let us know that Juliet “is very busy”. EWWW…. I could barely snap a pic because all these people were lined up to grope poor Juliet who looks away as though the humiliation is too much to bear. I don’t know if I’m too sensitive but I had no inclination to molest Juliet, even if its supposed to bring me good luck :)



Capri - where emperors forget their empires, and light comes through the ocean waves
The island of Capri should really get its own blog but I just haven’t had the time to really write that much ;)

It is really an island paradise. With a nightly rate of $800 euros, and its numerous designer shops you would think its only a playground for the rich… but it is soo much more.

We were lucky enough to book an island tour that took us up to Anacapri which is where the famed author, and genius doctor, Axel Munte built his villa over the remains of Tiberius’ villa to Jupiter. It took him 30 yrs to build it, and his effort is evident everywhere you turn.

After getting lost on his property we went on a chair lift to the highest peak of the island. The cliffs below us were stunning and I have to say that I have never seen anything this spectacular before. Once we came down and had lunch we were invited to visit Augustus’ gardens which were on the opposite side of the island and left us breathless. Augustus spent many summers in Capri naming it the garden of Eden of the Roman Empire. His collection of flowers and sculptures did not disappoint.


Once we came back down we were able to take a boat tour around the island in order to look at all the grottos and their reflection of light. Capri is famed for its colourful grottos - they have a whiter, red, green and (its most famous) blue grotto. For a small fee ($10 euros) you can have a row boat take you into the grotto and watch the light come from within the water and reflect on the walls. Amazing!

The island was fascinating and really the only place I have seen so far that I would think is worth visiting twice - other than Venice :)

Tomorrow we head to Pompeii and Sorrento. I’m looking forward to more ruins and then more shopping. Did I tell you that we have done so much shopping in Italy that we had to buy 2 extra suitcases? OMG the shopping is amazing! Leather, jewellery, shoes… the list could go on and on... 4 more days until home YAYYY - no matter how pretty and interesting Europe is, nothing beats home…