What did Romeo expect to see when he turned up at Juliet’s house?

Well, Juliet of course.

But before he would find himself bedazzled by Juliet’s beauty, which reminded him of the glow of the rising sun – a cliche more cliched than use of the word ‘amazing’ in travel blogs, he would see the famous balcony from which Juliet would call out ‘O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo‘. Okay, just a balcony in his times, it must have become famous later I guess.

So, it’s no surprise that you’d end up imagining a beautiful balcony, huddled beneath an arch, overlooking an inviting yet mysterious looking courtyard. It’d have intricate designs on its sides, probably glistening with embedded diamonds and jewels, for Juliet was daughter of Lord Capulet, who was seriously seriously rich. The beauty of that balcony could only be limited to your imagination, hoping to find only its resemblances in pretty palaces.

Last year, when I went to Rajasthan (literally translates to ‘Land of the Kings‘), I went to a place called Jaisalmer, a town famous for its golden fortress (it shines golden in sunlight as it’s made of yellow sandstone) and being the town on the edge of the Thar desert. But hidden in this small town are a couple of gems which you might miss if you are in a hurry to experience camel rides and sunsets in sand-dunes and rush to the desert. These are the havelis, sandstone mansions built by wealthy merchants of Jaisalmer who wanted to flaunt their wealth and showcase their proficiency in stone carving.

One of these havelis, Patwon ki haveli, was particularly impressive as I came upon this scene..

Patwon ki Haveli, Jaisalmer

That is exactly how I would have liked or thought of Juliet’s balcony to look like! Minus the dopey looking fellow, who oddly makes the photo look even more charming with his not-in-a-hurry-to-do-anything-in-life style.

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Change of scene: On Eurotrip, driving down from Hopfgarten in Austria heading towards Venice. Our tour manager surprises us by making an unscheduled stop at a small town before Venice. Any guesses? Verona! The setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet! And as almost every tourist would do, we headed off towards Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s house), the location for the famous balcony scene. And this is what we saw..

Juliet's balcony in Verona

A disappointment! Not only did it look very very ordinary, it was also teeming with tourists trying to get a picture of themselves at the balcony. Also note, the big crowd in the left hand side corner of the photo, where tourists are trying to grope a statue of Juliet, apparently for good luck.

I guess, sometimes, it’s just better to imagine than to see. 🙂

p.s. I later found out that this house in Verona had no connection with the characters of Romeo and Juliet. In fact, a balcony was added to this old house in 1936 and the house was declared as ‘Juliet’s house’. Bah!