Ever seen locks of love?
“By mid afternoon, it was raining but – like the true Brits that they are – Roger & Silvia had umbrellas and kept going, determined to see as much as possible of the city. We left the Old Town and wandered around a park centred on the City Canal. The iron bridges over the canal were festooned with metal locks inscribed with the names of lovers and the dates that they were locked in place – how romantic (but what happens if you fall out of love and cannot find the key?).”
This is an extract from my account of a trip to the Baltic States with my sister in 2008 and the location was the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia.
According to this article in today”s “Guardian” newspaper, the idea of fitting a lock to a bridge as an act of love comes from the 2006 novel “I Want You” by Federico Moccia – something I didn’t know before.
In the novel, the location in question is the Milvian Bridge in Rome, but it seems that the practice has spread around Europe and it is now causing a scandal in Venice. Do you know somewhere where there are locks of love?
August 31st, 2011 at 1:42 am
Such a bridge also exists in Krakow, Roger – newly built and connecting the up-and-coming nightlife areas of Kazimierz and Podgorze. Quite charming to look at, but I gather the authorities are not so keen!
August 31st, 2011 at 11:15 am
Calvin, It looks me that the practice is much more popular in Central & Eastern Europe – I saw it in Latvia and you saw it in Poland – than in Western Europe, even though it started in Italy.