The house, the balcony, the secret meetings of the two lovers from Shakespeare’s masterpiece of Romeo and Juliet describes it all…If you have 24 hours in Milan and feeling romantic, why not pay a visit to Juliet’s House in Verona. From Milan train station, it is only 2 hours by train to reach Verona.

• 

Lets deal with the most important question first: Is Juliet’s house real? or rather “Is Romeo and Juliet really exist?”..Unfortunately the answer is “Not Really”. But before we gave up on this romance seeking trail, the house does have some relations to the romantic couple.

Shakespeare’s Juliet wasn’t based on a real person; but the house was once inhabited by the Cappello family — a name similar to the Italian version’s Capelletti (Juliet’s Family name) —and dates back to the 13th century.

Even though I am not a romantic person, I do realise that fantasy at times is more important than reality, especially when it is about love and romance. Whatever your perception is, you’ll always find big crowds of people from all over the world who come here to live the romantic fantasy.

• 

We arrived at noon in summer 2014 and as expected there was a huge crowd gathering outside of Juliet’s house. The crowd maybe distracting but coming from a crowded city of Hong Kong, the distraction was acceptable. In the courtyard, you will find the statue of Juliet and lots of people surrounding it.

• 

Nearby is a wall where you can buy “locks” to declare your unbreakable love. I am not a fan of the “locks” though…as I feel that love is really not about “locking” each other.

• 

The statue of Juliet in the courtyard is a magnet to visitors. You have to wait patiently to take a photo with statue. If you believe in magic then you can partake in the popular ritual of rubbing her right breast for luck in love. Not sure how and why this ritual came about. Juliet is not very lucky in love!

Another interesting sights is the thousands of love notes or letters on the walls near the courtyard. The dreamy custom of leaving letters for Juliet actually inspired the romantic Hollywood movie “Letters to Juliet” which tells the story of an American tourist who finds a long unanswered love letter on the same wall.

For 6 euros, you could visit Juliet’s House. Inside the house, you’ll find a small and immensely crowded museum with Renaissance-era costumes and the actual bed used in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation of the story.

There is another similar Juliet’s statue inside the house, in case you do not have the patient to line up outside. In general, there is not much to see inside the house. The star of course is not the house, but the balcony.

This is the balcony where Romeo and Juliet declared their undying love for each other. Although most everything about this house is fiction, the emotions that draw people to it are real. For this reason alone, the trip is worthwhile.

Other than Juliet’s House, there are lots of attraction in Verona. A vibrant city-centre piazza, Piazza delle Erbe is Verona’s main square. Each day a market is set up in the center of the square. Many outdoor chairs and tables of restaurants, bars and cafés are placed on the footpaths.

Piazza dei Signori. This was the administrative center of medieval Verona where you will find many important historical buildings.

This is where we had our lunch before leaving for the next destination. For the romantics, a place that should not be missed is Juliet’s Tomb. It was here that Shakespeare wrote the tragic scene in which Romeo chooses to die next to Juliet, saying the immortal words: “Thus with a kiss I die.”