Romeo and Juliet: Fiction or reality?

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Verona = Romeo and Juliet

It is not possible to name this town without thinking about the most famous love story of all times. Crowds of young people (me included) are fascinated by this story and many of them, perhaps, decide to visit Verona just because it is its setting. I admit that a part of me wanted to visit this town to see the well known Juliet's House (but I underline that it not the only thing that makes Verona a magic town), but I must say that I lived this experience as something estranging.

First of all, when you cross the door of the town, a plaque with Shakespeare's verses from the tragedy greets the tourist. The verses say that there is no life out of Verona and until now nothing strange.  

But going ahead with the visit, you realize that the most of tourist business of this town is based of the couple of Romeo and Juliet, reaching its peak exactly in the famous house of the young girl. Now you will say: "Ilaria, it's normal! What did you expect?" 

Nothing different, actually. But the estrangement comes from the fact that these two legendary characters are considered as really existed historical characters.  It is true that there are witnesses about the existence of the families Montecchi and Cappelletti (become Capulenti in the tragedy), but nothing about the couple of young lovers.

Indeed, in Juliet's House there is the possibility to wrote to Juliet and to ask her advice about love (which you can see in the film Letters to Juliet, which I watch on TV every time I can). The whole thing gave me the impression of something quaint and, at the same time, artificial. Even though I liked very much the visit of the House, I was quite dazed by this situation and, overall, by the attitude of some girls and women, who put their trust in the "mistress of the house" for their love affairs, as if she was a person flesh and blood.

What do you think about it?

Besides this feeling, which in any case contributed in making this place unique, the visit to Juliet's House was one of the first things I wanted to do once arrived in Verona (in spite of everything, I am a very romantic girl too...and have I already said that this is one of my favourite Shakespeare's works?)  

Inside there is an exposition of paintings and drawings of the couple and the dramatist, of costumes and of the bed used for Zaffirelli's film and then, obviously, there is the balcony, from which you can look out and see, not your Romeo (unfortunately), but a crowd that trepidatious waits for its turn.

The entrance in Juliet's House will cost you 6 euros and a lot of patience!