OK, so this is somewhat of a tourist 'must see', with a courtyard jammed full of camera toting tourists, but the romance of the story can also be enjoyed in Verona as a whole - there's an inscription from Shakespeare's play just inside the gate, and when the opera season is in full flow, the town seems made for romance.

The house where the balcony is set is reputed to have belonged to a real Veronese family who's rivalry with a neighbouring clan is supposed to have inspired Shakespeare's story. And wooing a young lady from the courtyard to persuade her to come out onto her balcony, as Shakespeare imagined, was the regular way to court in those days long before facebook. For a small admission charge you can go into a small museum, and your girl (if you have one) can go out onto the balcony for you to photograph her from below. However, you could always propose - you would not be the first.

The two most amusing details of this courtyard are first the entrance way, every millimetre of which is covered in romantic graffiti, and second the statue of Juliet, as she is imagined by the sculptor, who it is apparently 'lucky' to touch. Guess where the bronze is most shiny and worn away? Shame on you, keep your dirty thoughts to yourself..

Written by  James Dunford Wood.

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