Juliet’s house, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Juliet’s house is a museum in a XII century building where they reconstructed the famous balcony, located near the historic center of Verona, Veneto, Italy. This house and balcony became famous thanks to the tragedy of William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, published in 1597. This house was built by the Dal Cappello family and we can see their carved coat of arms on the keystone of the arch internal court. This tragedy was located in Verona and from that moment, the city was considered one og the most romantic cities in the world and it was also called ‘the city of lovers of Verona’. From the nineteenth century, a legend takes place and the building was considered the house where lived Juliette Capulet, where his beloved Romeo Montescchi had declared his love at the foot of the balcony. From 1905, the building was converted into a museum and became a major tourist attraction. The historian Antonio Avena has the house restored completely between 1936 and 1940 and they add the balcony to the facade of the inner courtyard. Here you will find 16th and 17th century furniture, paintings and engravings showing the history of Romeo and Juliet, Renaissance ceramics and the costumes for Franco Zeffirelli’s film Romeo and Juliet (1968). The bronze statue of Juliet, made by Nereo Constantini, is at the end of the courtyard. There are walls covered with love vows and multicolored graffiti left by lovers at the entrance of the building.

Tips

If you want to take a picture with the statue of Juliet, go as early as possible because it is almost always full of public. If you want to leave your message or make a graffiti, you should do the same.

There is a tradition that says the statue of Juliet, gives good luck to lovers, you must touch the right breast.

Bar Eden or Bar del Padrino, Forza d’Agrò, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Bar Eden or renamed Bar del Padrino, is the oldest bar in Forza d’Agro, an Italian commune in the province of Messina in Sicily. This bar was the village meeting point when the TV was not yet installed in homes. It is in the Cammareri Square which is also the oldest square of the village. This is a very simple place with very friendly owners, accustomed to receive tourists from around the world because in this bar, they shot a scene from the famous film ‘The Godfather’ and Al Pacino disgusts the typical products of the region just there. You will find a lot of photos inside that show the different personalities who passed through the bar, a rich treasure that shows us the over the years. In summer you might enjoy tables outside the bar.

Tips

Enjoy your town visiting for a good coffee, ‘granita’ or ‘panino’, you will not regret it.

The bar also has an excellent dairy.

Scullion Garden, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada

By buying abandoned land in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean in 1985, Brian Scullion had begun the development of his business, a production nursery and in 1999 he decided to diversify his activities by creating the Scullion Garden. This garden has a little more than 2,000 species of plants from around the world, many of which have had to adapt to the harsh climatic conditions of the region. This place is a pretty important tourist attraction in the area. You will find beautiful landscaping, buildings and infrastructure, several trails, streams, a mini farm, games for children, an ancient forest camp, picnic areas and several animal species. There is also a new development of 12 hectares with nearly300 species of conifers.

Tips

A very important detail is that all signs are in three languages (French, Spanish and English) and everything is well indicated.

If you want to visit the area of the new coniferous garden project, you can rent an electric cart.

Several packages are available to visitors and children under 5, accompanied by an adult, enter for free. For groups of 30 people and over, there’s a guide service.

Pets on a leash are allowed on the site, except at the restauration service.