When you’re feeling like no one can relate to the depth and devastation of your pain, a visit to the residence of one of the most famed star-crossed lovers in literary history might help. Because who better to relate to the suffering caused by an ill-fated love than the girl whose husband killed her cousin, fled the city and then committed suicide? Though the famous balcony in Verona is fictitious, the stories of heartbreak inked in the letters on the wall below it are very real.
Every day, people from all over the world visit the supposed-former Capulet residence to ‘mail’ letters to Juliet. A team of volunteer ‘Juliettes,’ acting as part-postal service and part-therapists, regularly collect, read and respond to the letters, offering their sympathy and advice. It may be a tourist gimmick, but sometimes the simple act of penning your past to paper can make for a speedier recovery.