Romeo, Romeo

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thouRomeo?"-This famous Shakespeareanline sets the scene for the quaint ( 古雅的),romantic town of "fair Verona", where one ofthe most well-known tragedies is based.With a traditional Italian pizza and a glassof wine, we sat in the open air-restaurant onthe square, basking in the moon-lit sight ofthe beautiful cobbled streets decorated byplaques of Shakespearean quotes from hisvarious plays, old fountains and trotting horsecarriages. The surrounding atmosphere wasbrimming (充滿) with class and culture as wewatched the stream of well-dressed,buzzing crowd filing (排成縱隊前進) out ofthe Colosseum (古羅馬鬥獸場), which, forthe night, served as an opera house.

The next day, we visited the main touristattraction-Juliet's House. A smallcourtyard filled with tourists capturing theview of the famous balcony. Overhearingsome gullible (易受騙的) tourists' exclamationsof "Did Juliet actually live here?" and even"This isn't where Leonardo DiCaprioclimbed... Where's the swimming pool?" (Ashe starred in one of the film versions of theplay), I could not help but smile and recallthe millions of quotes and analysis duringmy GCSE studies. All thoughts disappearedas two actors acted the notorious balconyscene out in Italian, where the girls wouldsquirm with heart-melting emotions, whilstthe men would pretend to be unimpressedby the dramatic passion to prove theirmachismo (男子氣概), but secretly wantingto be the charming Romeo.

Verona served as a graceful town not onlyperfect for couples searching for a romanticescape, but also for travellers discovering themagnificent works of William Shakespeare.It is truly a hidden gem in Italy.

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An unconventional boardingschool-educated gap yearstudent who is about to study atOxford University.

text by Amanda Yu