Edited by: Mohan Rajagopal
Are you bored of frequenting the same old cafes with your special someone? Are you tired of the sights and sounds of your neighbourhood’s finest wildlife (pigeons)? Are you in search of an escape from your mundane date nights? Don’t worry, there is another option out there for you. Where better to spend Valentine’s Day than at the site of the most famous romance in history? Of course, you’d have to have some amount of generational wealth to make it there, but I (not having in my possession any amount of said generational wealth) have been told that it’s more than worth it.
You could start your morning off by running the Giulietta e Romeo Half Marathon, as many couples do, which snakes through Verona, taking small streets by the riverbanks and cobblestoned roads to the finishing line, right at the centre of the city. Piazza Bra, the largest square in the city, has palaces and buildings that are over 2000 years old, so you may very well be going past the same buildings as the star-crossed lovers you came here to honour. Now, if Romeo had ever actually raced past these buildings, it would’ve been because a pantheon of Juliet’s male relatives was chasing him with very sharp swords, not because he and his partner thought morning runs were fun, but I’m sure he appreciates the spirit.
Your next stop could be the Valentine’s Market. Architects have laboured over the blueprint of this structure for centuries in order to arrive at the most unexpected, innovative design possible: a heart. You can spend some of that generational wealth buying trinkets of the most unexpected, innovative shape possible: a heart. Images from the market feature heart-shaped chocolates and pizzas and soaps and perfumes. You’d be spoiled for choice when looking for souvenirs and gifts for your friends back home. I don’t actually know how a heart-shaped perfume bottle wouldn’t simply roll off your nightstand, but I suppose it at least fits the theme.
Right in the centre of the market is the Lover’s maze. No points for guessing how it’s shaped, but here’s something new — the ground is pink. It’s a miracle that they managed to grow hedges in pastel coloured soil; I’m starting to believe that maybe love truly knows no limits. You and your partner could enter at opposite ends and find your way to one another, which should be fairly simple if there’s any truth to all those Tumblr posts about having stardust chemicals inside us to draw us together. Although, Romeo and Juliet probably frown upon this. It’s not like they needed another thing keeping them apart.
You could finish your night at the Torre dei Lamberti, a tower that offers a beautiful, intimately lit dinner. Wine, red lighting and a breath-taking view of the entire city would bring your day to a close in true Verona fashion. I’m sure the photos from up there are lovely, and they might let you capture and save an important memory forever. More importantly, they might even let your Instagram have its Emily in Paris moment (I hope from the bottom of my heart that you visibly cringed and that you think this is the furthest thing from a selling point).
I could sit in my chair and make jokes about every part of the city until the cows come home, but there’s no denying that this would’ve been a wonderful day to spend. Especially if, at some point in your day, you visited Juliet’s Balcony. To stand in the once-empty Capulet courtyard to which she lamented her misfortune, to see her roses which by any other name would smell just as sweet, and to touch the walls that witnessed one of the greatest love stories that we know, I don’t think there is a better way to celebrate a love of your own.