Lock Up Your Love and Throw Away the Key

Despite the fact that Ale is away for the weekend having some kind of Abruzzo-style bachelor party (Naked women? Try again. More like cooking a sheep for 8 hours while consuming copious amounts of wine. Don't ask... I surely didn't.) ... I had an incredibly romantic afternoon regardless.

You see, the other day I read this article about Ponte Milvio. The bridge has recently been making news for this new tradition, which apparently only started on Ponte Milvio after it appeared in a recent book called "Ho Voglia di Te," sequel to the teen cult hit "Tre Metri Sopra il Cielo," (which, by the way, if you're studying Italian around the intermediate level, could be a good book to start with... I read it in two days on the beach and it's a fun fluff novel). The article inspired me to take a look for myself. In my five years here in Rome, I'd never actually been on the bridge, since it's kind of out of the way for where I live, but this definitely deserved a look.

Part of the reason I've never been there is probably because I'm no longer 16 years old. I mean, you need to picture a place where teenagers go to have some stolen kisses. But still, it has a special charm all its own and at the risk of sounding sappy, I was taken in by it.

So, if you didn't read the article---the gist is that you go here with an ordinary lock, lock it to one of the lampposts (or other locks on the lampposts), maybe write your name and your sweetheart's name, and then throw the key in the Tiber. Ok, ok, I know... it might sound kind of cheesy. I'm not usually the type. But like I said, there's something kind of magical about the place.

Recently the book was turned into a movie that's of course become a big hit with the teeny-bopper set.



Well, what can I say? Rome might not be Paris, but there's certainly always some romance in the air around here...

You can't really tell from the "entrance" to the bridge that's there's anything out of the ordinary here. But once you get about half-way across...

This is the main lamppost and had the most locks on it. I don't even really want to know how they got those ones on the top. I mean, that could be a pretty tragic end to a teenage love story, don't you think? Sorry, but let's inject a bit of reality here, people. Did they bring a ladder, or what?

Besides the locks, the bridge itself is positively COVERED in love graffiti. I know that some of you aren't too wild about graffiti here in Rome. And generally, I'm not either. But I have to admit that I kind of like the fact that they are tolerant here.

If you kiss with your eyes open, this is what you'll see...

Kind of off the beaten path, and thankfully not really a tourist attraction (yet). But a visit here is bound to make your heart smile...

Ponte Milvio

Lungotevere Maresciallo Diaz (near the Foro Italico)